As a whirlwind term comes to a close a look to the future brings promise and excitement

摘要

As our Mining Engineering staff will tell you, I've always sent in my columns well in advance of the deadlines. This will also reach them by late December. I'm actually sitting at my desk on December 21 writing this - before Christmas, before New Year's Day - thinking back on the year and looking forward to the next. It's been a whirlwind. I've been able to meet many members at many venues where I've represented SME, given my stump speech, and been humbled by the response to my columns. That's the thing that has surprised me most about being SME president - people read the columns. As I write this final presidential column, I'm looking forward to the year as past president. This role requires less travel, thankfully (though I might begin to miss my premier access on United), but it will allow me to liaise with the Young Leaders and also be the chair of the Local Section Grant Selection Committee. The Young Leaders represent our future and the Local Sections are our rocks. And I've already established myself as the chair of the SME committee to celebrate the AIME 150th anniversary in 2021.