AUSTRALASIAN FLUID AND THERMAL ENGINEERING SOCIETY

CONSTITUTION

[Adopted December 1996]

1. Name

The name of the Society is “Australasian Fluid and Thermal Engineering Society”, hereinafter referred to as “the Society". The full name of the Society may be abbreviated as "AFTES".

2. Affiliation

The Society shall be a constituent Technical Society under the auspices of The Institution of Engineers, Australia (IEAust). This constitution is subject and subordinate to the Royal Charter and By-Laws of the IEAust.

3. Mission Statement

The general mission of the Society is to promote and foster the understanding and application of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer and related subjects within Australasia to the general benefit of the community at large.

4. Aims

(i) To advance science and engineering in the broad areas of fluid mechanics, hydraulics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, mass transfer, drying and related areas of endeavour.

(ii) To encourage interdisciplinary activity and exchange of ideas between those working in different specialisations, such as mechanical engineering, power industries, civil engineering, environmental control, chemical engineering, oceanographic and atmospheric sciences, aerospace and maritime engineering.

(iii) To provide a basis for communication amongst a wide range of members through mechanisms such as newsletters, journals, electronic bulletins and other appropriate communication media.

(iv) To foster the advancement of understanding through the conduct of meetings, such as special purpose workshops and regional conferences.

(v) To develop activities over a wide (horizontal) range of industry activity and over a wide (vertical) range of specialisation (corresponding to the representation of corporate, affiliate and associate members in the IEAust)

(vi) To give general support to the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conferences and the Australasian Heat and Mass Transfer Conferences.

(vii) To provide for international cooperation, forward planning and coordination, in particular with regard to conference organisation.

(viii) To become a member Society of the International Assembly of Heat Transfer Conferences and similar organisations, and thereby to enhance Australian participation in the international scene.

(ix) To attract International Conferences to be held in the region.

5. Patron

A distinguished person who has made a significant contribution in the field or who may assist at a high level in promoting the Society, may be invited to become the Patron of the Society. The term of office for the Patron will normally be for a renewable period of five years, but may be for a different period by mutual agreement between the Patron and the Chairman.

6. Membership

(i) Membership will be open to all interested people with or who are in the process of obtaining professional qualifications or experience related to fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics and related disciplines. Society members need not necessarily be members of The Institution of Engineers, Australia.

(ii) Membership of the Society will be subject to payment of an annual subscription. The amount of the annual subscription will be determined by the Society Council and shall be payable by 1 December in respect of the following 12 months. An individual's membership will lapse if payment of his or her subscription is more than 8 weeks overdue.

(iii) Members of IEAust may nominate AFTES as their Society of first choice, thereby authorising IEAust to subvent a payment from their IEAust subscription direct to the Society. The fee due to AFTES will be reduced (by the amount of the subvention) for members who so nominate the Society to IEAust.

(iv) Membership of AFTES is open to all grades of IEAust member, including student, graduate, associate and affiliate in addition to corporate members, who nominate AFTES as their society of first or other choice and who subvent the IEAust payment to AFTES or contribute subscription directly to AFTES.

(v) The Society will have not less than 30 members at any time, with an aim to achieve a membership of at least 300 professionals representing all interested organisations within Australia.

(vi) Membership of AFTES is open to all members of IPENZ on terms which may be agreed upon between AFTES and IPENZ from time to time.

7. Management and Council

(i) Management of the Society will be vested in the Society Council, which will consist of the following honorary office bearers:

Chairman

Vice-Chairman

Secretary (Council)

Treasurer

Secretary (Newsletter)

and up to four Councillors.

The positions of Chairman and Treasurer must be filled by Corporate Members of The Institution of Engineers, Australia.

(ii) The Council will be elected by a postal ballot of the Society membership for a two year period, with the exception of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. The Vice-Chairman will be elected one year prior to the retirement of the Chairman such that, within a 4 year period, the person so elected will serve as Vice-Chairman (Chairman-elect) for one year, Chairman for 2 years and Vice-Chairman (Immediate Past Chairman) for one year. The Secretary will call for nominations for each position at least 4 weeks prior to the ballot mailing date. All nominations, having been duly proposed and seconded and agreed to by the nominee, are to reach the Secretary no later than one week prior to the ballot mailing date. Votes will be counted four weeks after the ballot mailing date by the Secretary and one other office bearer of the Society, and will be reported to the Council for ratification. New office bearers and councillors will take office immediately following confirmation of the ballot outcome by Council, which will be reported to the next General Meeting for confirmation.

(iii) The Society Council may appoint an auditor, solicitor or sub-committees for special purposes as and when required.

(iv) When a Councillor or office bearer is unable to perform the duties of office, the Society Council will be empowered to co-opt a replacement. Such an appointment will continue for the remainder of the original office bearer's term, subject to confirmation at the next General Meeting.

(v) A quorum of the Society Council will be four members, (one of whom must be) either the Chairman or Vice-Chairman and either the Secretary or Treasurer.

(vi) Council meetings may be held by teleconference.

8. General Meetings

(i) A General Meeting will normally be held at least once every two years, concurrently with either the Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference or Australasian Heat and Mass Transfer Conference.

(ii) The functions of the General Meeting shall be to:

a) Confirm the minutes of the previous General Meeting

b) Receive the Chairman's report of the activities since the previous general meeting

c) Receive the Treasurer's financial statement and auditor's report for the last financial year(s)

d) Confirm the election of the Society Council

e) Consider any matters referred to it by the Society Council

f) Consider any other item(s) of business

(iii) The Secretary is to provide the membership with written notification, at least 6 weeks in advance, of the time, date, venue and proposed agenda for the General Meeting.

(iv) Any member of the Society may propose additional agenda items for consideration by the General Meeting, provided that such agenda items reach the Secretary at least 4 weeks before the proposed meeting date.

(v) The final agenda for each General Meeting, is to be distributed to all members by the Secretary at least 2 weeks before the set meeting date.

(vi) Special General Meetings may be convened at the discretion of the National Council (and shall be convened as expeditiously as possible after receipt by the Secretary of a petition of not less than 20 members of the Society.

(vii) The Secretary will provide the members with written notification, at least 2 weeks in advance, of the time, date, venue and agenda for any Special General Meetings.

(viii) At the General Meeting and all Special General Meetings a quorum shall be one fifth of the financial members or 20 members, whichever is the lesser. If a quorum is not obtained a further meeting will be convened as soon as possible, of which 2 weeks notice will be given to all members.

(ix) At all general meetings the Chairman will take the chair. In the Chairman’s absence, the chair will be taken by the Vice-Chairman, or a member of the Society Council appointed by the members present.

(x) At all general meetings, each member will have one vote. A member may submit a proxy vote in writing to the meeting Chairman. In the event of voting resulting in a tie, the meeting Chairman will have a second or casting vote.

9. Subscriptions

(i) The Annual subscription will be set by the Society Council, and will be regularly reviewed to ensure the viability of the Society and compliance with regulations of the IEAust.

(ii) The Society Council will normally set the membership fee at a level which equals the subvention from IEAust for that year.

(iii) The Annual subscription fee for membership is payable in advance on 1 December each year.

10. Finance

(i) All monies of the Society will be deposited in such financial institutions as the Society Council deems advisable in the interests of the Society subject to agreement of the IEAust.

(ii) The Society Council will determine the signatories and manner of operation of the Society's bank accounts. All financial commitments and payments will require at least two signatures.

11. Amendments to the Constitution

This constitution may only be altered by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting at a General Meeting.