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President's Update
There was a great turnout to last week’s Rotary meeting. Our guests included Rajeev Sood from Shimia, India and his son Sanchit who is working in Queenstown. Stanley Paris was also there and is keen to join our Club for the summer months.
Shane Binns gave an enthralling presentation on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which have transformed many industries and government and local businesses. Artificial intelligence is going to enhance and take GIS to a new level of technology. Used for the right reasons this technology can benefit humankind. It doesn’t bear thinking about if this technology was used for unjust purposes.
We need 6 hosts for a visiting Rotary Exchange Team from New Orleans mid-April next year. Please contact me if you can help out here.
Our newest Rotarian, Roger Marsh, was our guest speaker last week. Roger studied at, and qualified from, Manchester University with a Degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. His work included the measurement of various rock properties to determine the extent and type of gas or fluids in potential oil and gas wells.
Roger provided a comprehensive and highly informative presentation covering oil exploration, oil components, renewable energy sources and alternative fuels for motor vehicles.
Amongst other things, Roger showed us where oil deposits are located in the earth’s structure and locations around the world. He explained the different types of oil rigs for various situations/locations from the older to newer ‘technology’ rigs. He also described an oil well and showed the use of various types and sizes of bits for different rock characteristics and the means for accessing oil in the rock.
Roger informed us that engineering calculations are made to determine the size of a field and this information is sent to the oil exploration accountants who determine the economic viability of a potential well. He went on to say that coal, oil and gas deposits contain unwanted components including mercury, hydrogen sulphide, sulphur, cadmium, and carbon dioxide.
Roger spoke about renewable energy resources and related that NZ’s energy supply is close to 80% renewable energy, 13.2% gas, 7.6% wind farms, 0.45% solar energy, and 0.07% coal plus small amounts of bio-energy. He also explained the ‘pump storage’ process as proposed for Lake Onslow to store surplus power.
Roger concluded with electric vehicles (EV’s), their advantages and disadvantages. He related that research is ongoing with new battery technology ahead re battery weight, the life of each charge, and battery life span. He also informed us about the potential of Hydrogen as a fuel with its much higher energy (power) level i.e. x2.5 that of petrol and x3.0 that of diesel.
Shane, a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) specialist, was our speaker this week.
Shane, born a kiwi, moved to Perth with his parents where he attended the Curtin University of Technology, Perth. There he qualified with an Applied Science degree majoring in Surveying, Geology, GIS and Mathematics. Shane now works as a consultant to business and local government and is currently working with QLDC.
Shane explained GIS, a system that creates, manages, analyses and maps all types of data then connects this data to a map. GIS began in Canada in 1963 and became a commercially available system in 1981 that everyone could utilise.
There are 10 key industries using GIS technology today, the 3 biggest players being Agriculture, Oil & Gas, and Architecture, Engineering & Construction.
Shane moved on to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – ‘the simulation of human intelligence’ and its uses. He provided an example of forestry where AI is used in the classification of trees. This enables improved efficiency of plant assessment to determine optimal harvest time that will provide maximum yield for the grower. In future, local Govt, using AI, will be able to make land information available to ratepayers and the public will be able to report faults and issues e.g. potholes as well as view repairs, and more.
Rajeev joined us last week whilst in Queenstown visiting his son, Sanchit, who has lived and worked here for 4 years. Rajeev related that he was born into a family of Rotarians. His father was a President of the Rotary Club of Shimla.
Rajeev began his Rotary experience as a member of the Interact Club at St Edward’s School in Shimla. He moved on to the Shimla Rotaract Club during his college days and became its President in 1986. He was also a RYLA participant.
Rajeev joined Rotary in 1993 and has extensive Rotary experience and service. He became his Club’s President in 2004-05. He served his Club, and District 3080, and was honoured for his Secretary and Presidential roles in receiving a coveted ‘RI President’s Citation Award’. He was an Assistant Governor in 2010-11.
Rajeev was a ‘’Group Study Exchange leader to District 6990 Miami in 2012, and has been a member of 3 medical missions to Rwanda, Gabon and Zimbabwe. His commitment and achievements have been recognised with several ‘Paul Harris Fellow’ awards.
Rajeev said that he finds visiting other clubs provides a unique opportunity for him to connect with other Rotarians from different cultures and backgrounds and this fosters international understanding and fellowship.
Lisa presented a ‘3 Minute Talk’ at Rotary last Tuesday, very worthy of sharing. She once attended a short program concerning Bequests. She passed on this advice:
Ensure that you have a Will
Update your Will annually
Discuss the contents of your Will with your beneficiaries – this will help manage their expectations (some families fall apart over the dispersal of estates)
Consider leaving some monies to a charity(s) – one or more that you have a passion for. This will make a major difference to their work in helping others
Identify charity monies as a percentage of your estate, not a dollar value.
Mark your calendar. Coming up on 3 October District Governor Phil Gully, from the Rotary Club of Whakatu, will visit our club. Let’s try and buck the current downward attendance trend and have a big turnout on this night. The 3rd would ordinarily be an off-site meeting date. The off-site meeting will be the week following, on 10October.
If there are tickets still available, and you are interested to go, please email Lee-Ann asap and she will organise a ticket. llines@xtra.co.nz
The debate this year is hosted by Jack Tame and will be between the current Finance minister, Grant Robertson, and the Finance spokespeople from the top four polling parties.
Celebrating Five Years of Growing Local Philanthropy
This is a great night out for a great cause. If you want to support the Cancer Society and feel like a glamour night out, the Inner Wheel Club has booked a table of 10 and have a few seats left. It is a fun night out and would be made better sharing it with the Inner Wheel Club.
Tickets are just $210 and include canapés on arrival, a delectable three-course menu inclusive of beverages, live and silent auctions and fantastic entertainment throughout the evening and a live band to dance the night away.
We must have apologies in by 5pm on Sundays. If no apology is received by then, members will be invoiced for the meal as Holiday Inn will invoice us for it. We will be strictly enforcing this.
You can put in an extended apology and just inform us when you WILL attend a meeting.
If you have already put in an extended apology or LOA, can you please email queenstownrotary@gmail.com to update and confirm this is still required.
MEMBERS LIST
If you need an updated copy of the current membership with contact details, please email queenstownrotary@gmail.com to request one be emailed to you.
BANK ACCOUNT
The Club bank account with the ANZ - 01-0867-0722903-00 - always put your name and what it’s for as the reference.
