'Fulfilling the vision'

New President Alex Naraian on plans for CIAT's future

Last weekend saw me inaugurated as the 28th President of our Institute. This occurred at the end of our AGM when the chain of office passed from Gary Mees to me. Hosted by the Northern Region in the Stephenson Quarter of Newcastle Upon Tyne, it was a packed weekend.

The Friday evening charity event was organised by the Region, held at BALTIC. The evening was so popular it had sold out, with 120 members and guests attending. It was a fun event consisting of socialising, a quiz, raffle, food, much laughter, good conversation, table top games and there was a talk charting some of the interesting history of Newcastle. The chosen charity that the evening supported was CHUF - The Children’s Heart Unit Fund. I am informed that in excess of £2000 was raised for the charity, which is a tremendous effort.

Saturday was when the main business of the weekend took place. As well as the standard agenda items, the AGM incorporated presentations given by our Vice Presidents – Technical, Education and Practice.  

During my inauguration speech I reminded delegates of my manifesto vision and the key focus of deliverables. Moving now into the Presidential term for those reading, it feels appropriate to re-share this information.

The Vision:

It is to see our Institute:

• become an exemplar of how Institutes should be; leading and setting trends in the industry in the field of Architectural Technology;
• see our members continue to expand on being represented at all levels;
• see our discipline automatically considered a necessity for any new construction project —we should have an ‘equal place at the table’.
• I wish to see every member of the Institute empowered and proud of their profession.
   

The key to fulfilling the vision

Three key areas of focus:             

• Identity
• Presence
• Growth

I also confirmed the work on wider initiatives which included the launch of Strategic and Corporate Plans: 2018 – 2023 that will come into force next year between March and September.

There were 118 delegates at the AGM representing our Institute, discipline and membership worldwide with some flying in from our Centres – a fantastic amount of experience and expertise in the room at once!

Making use of having all this expertise gathered together, led neatly onto a session following on from the AGM entitled ‘Grenfell Inquiry: CIAT’s Response’.  My first duty as President was to introduce and chair the session. The purpose and context of the event was:

• to focus upon Dame Judith Hackitt’s questions;
• to focus and debate the CIAT Response to the Public Inquiry; and
• for international members to address the question of International comparison and other sectors.

For the detail on the questions and the Public Inquiry, please see here. 

Professor Sam Allwinkle PPBIAT MCIAT was forum facilitator and Dr Graham Smith MCIAT and Fire Engineer presented. Delegates were split into working groups, reviewing the Call For Evidence questions; a different question being assigned to each of the working groups.

The session concluded with feedback from each group being made and this will now form the basis of our response.

Architectural Technology professionals via CIAT have a critical role to play in the Inquiry and a duty and obligation to society to do so. For me, this was the single most important part of the weekend.

The evening saw the Presidents’ Ball taking place, and an opportunity to celebrate, with our guests, CIAT’s successful year.  To receive dignitaries and guests, was my second duty as President, which I was honoured to do. It was lovely and meant so much to me to have my wife and son attend and to spend time with such an amazingly talented and diverse group of people. I gave another speech, announced and presented 2017 Gold Award recipients with their very much deserved awards. There were around 200 in attendance and the event was held at The Boiler Shop in Newcastle’s Stephenson’s Quarter. An amazing venue with a great vibe.

Our Central Office team worked so hard dedicatedly all weekend — really the unsung heroes.

It was a fabulous weekend with real substance. We do have a vibrant Institute made of a vast array of talent that we need to be proud of.

I look forward to presiding over the Institute over the next two-years. You can keep a track of what I am doing on Twitter and Linkedin.

My Twitter handle is: @CIATPresident

and on LinkedIn just search Alex Naraian PCIAT ICIOB to connect

I will also be writing various articles that will be published in AT, AT Weekly and wider publications and will keep you posted on these.

Please capture the Vision, get involved, share my posts and fly the CIAT flag at every opportunity.