Hi all Hope you all are having a great summer and that the exams went well. New committee and finally a new year, a chance to play by our rules from the start. Which is why I feel by working our ass off, we can take the new year by storm. Now credit, where credit is due, thanks for Richie doing his best to keep connected to the members on the facebook page( but seriously stop stealing 9gag jokes you read the very same day :P). Big thanks to Laura for organising a meeting with Joe Stokes (and dragging me out bed to go) where we got his support for our annual orientation event (get them while there young) as well as some other thing which are currently in the works. Now, to business. There are several things that must be taken care of before the start of the new year. I would like to host a* meeting soon *to discuss these items. 1. Now that everyone has their results everyone will now know if the want tutorials for the repeats. Of course the main question is do we have the people or the money for new tutorials. Smaller classes directed to each student would be ideal. 2. The orientation event. A day event, advertisement includes facebook, boards.ie and the our own* flyer sent out in the orientation packs*. This means we must be completely ready before the packs are posted. 3. The trip away. The trip last year was the highlight of the society. I would love it if we made this an annual event. For this trip we need to decide a location and a detailed itinerary, this itinerary must be completed, reviewed, completed again all before we request funding. Better itinerary = better funding. 4. Speaking of funding. We need to have our grant app ready. I want it to have tools, trips, toys, materials, gadgets, tea, biscuits, parties projects and competitions. We need details accounts for each item, three different prices, a bulletproof argument why we need it (even if we don't) and we're still probably only going to get half of it, so I want our grant app to have everything. 5. Clubs and Socs day. To get the more member and more credibility from the other societies our stall for clubs and socs day has to rock. We need stuff that will draw crowds and show that we can make stuff. I was thinking something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KosJK_ZMMu0 or this http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/ or this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7U8hDclFfE&feature=related some of these http://makeprojects.com/Project/-The-Towel-R-C-Stunt-Plane/2042/1. Before you ask, I intend to build them. 6. Something needs to be going on at least every second week, be it tearing down computers (or waffle iron, anything we can get our hands on really), teaching programming (fun programming), making big projects (like 8 bit orchestras out of old gameboys or an home made quadcopter that follows people up and down the halls and shouts at them.) or making small projects (and just loads of the them) like these http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Cockroach-Virbobot/ or these http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Throwies/ or even some L.E.D dancing shoes. 7. As for going out. I believe that first we need to encourage peoples to come to workshops, classes and take part in projects. There they will make friends with other people in the society and then they'll be interested in going out with the society. 8. Competition, what ones are there we can enter? Are we going to any? Are we hoisting any? What money do we need for them? I feel we should bringing home some glory (and swag) every chance we get. It good for DCU, it good for our members and its very good for Eng Soc. 9. Showcase. If we build R/C planes, let have an air rally. If we build a bunch of nerf guns, let turn DCU into a battle zone. If it snows? Snowball launcher. Make some magic by using technology. Make some light up clothes and throw a tron party. Ok No.6-9 not exactly important, but we need to be on top of this stuff by new year, So I am calling a meeting, time and date to be confirmed. I want feedback on how to convene a meeting while we are all away. We can all make the trip to dcu, host a chatroom, write our thought on a google doc, or use google hangouts/ skype. Finally, I know its early in the year to be thinking about this stuff, but I know by the next societies awards we can turn Eng Soc into one of the big players, on par with redbrick and known by every student of DCU. -- Regards Eoin Ó hÓbáin 10322375 Mechatronic Engineering Engineering Society Chairperson 2012 - 2013