Profile. The President 1995-96

When I asked Patrick Dowling how he had found his presidential year he said, ‘the word that springs to mind is, exhilarating.’ John D. Allen

What have 1976,1984,1990 and 1995 in common? - long dry summers - followed by record insurance claims for subsidence; in fact, this summer is the driest for 250 years. Fig l shows the peaks in insurance claims for these exceptionally dry summers. G.D. Johnson

Safe design using computers This theme continues to arouse wide interest. Though almost every engineer now uses computers in some form, and all those writing to Verulam agree that there are undoubted benefits, there is still a very great diversity of comprehension. The speed of change is bound to create a certain degree of puzzlement. David Brohn believes that some of the problems are inbred into the system but suggests that the Institution should define some guidelines. He writes: The responses from Alan Peet and Kenneth Northgreaves (The Structural Engineer, 18 July 1995), suggest that there is still a fair amount of confusion over this issue of the use of computers. It will not really be laid to rest until the Institution produces a definitive publication which addresses these issues and gives clear direction as to the way in which members of the Institution should handle the computer. Verulam