Dear Members, I would like to wish everyone a great 2026 and thank the members and council for voting me in to the position as president of the institute, it’s a true honour and I hope I can live up to those who have gone before me and continue to grow and improve the institute.

As I write, I am entering my tenth year of IRE membership and seventh year as a member of council. I’ve seen a lot of change within the IRE over the last ten years; the re-branding and new website, re-organisation of the council and administration, outsourcing of the journal, closer ties with the Australasia branch, launch of corporate partner packages and a renewed interest in the IRE in terms of increased numbers of members and of those willing to participate on the council.

Within the institute we have just wrapped up another great year, complete with some fantastic content in the journal, a Technical Evening, Golf Day, Conference, Dinner and Training, also, whilst writing, it appears that we have finished the year in the black with a small profit and positive cash flow.

All this change and growth has taken place over a time of much deindustrialisation within the developed world, that we continue to grow as an organisation through this period highlights the relevance and importance of the institute to those who work in and around the industry.

I am not from a technical refractory background myself but have seen the interest in our technical evenings, continued great attendance at the training days and an increased interest in technical papers published in our journal. We are fortunate enough to have members both on council and within the membership who have decades of experience and a willingness to share and train. During my term I do therefore hope to match this ‘supply and demand’ of technical know-how at as many opportunities as I can create, starting with the extended Technical Event, which will be held in April.

Importantly, I would like to hear from the members about what they would like to get out of the IRE, we do send feedback polls out after all IRE events and get a lot of constructive feedback. In the coming months we will be polling you from time to time on issues which we think important to the institute and for which we need membership input before making decisions. So please use these polls to have your say on how you want to shape the institute.

Finally, I look forward to working with council, membership and external partners to grow the institute further over the coming two years.

Dominic Oates, President
Institute of Refractories Engineers

#IRE #Institute #Refractories #Engineers #Journal #Conference #Training

_______________________________________