The first three week forest engineering summer school was successfully presented in South Africa.

CMO’s first-ever, fully international forest engineering course was presented in George, South Africa between 23 November and 12 December 2015. The course covered the management of integrated mechanised harvesting, roading and transport operations. The feedback from delegates has been exceptionally positive. The course covered the full scope of harvesting, roads and transport activities and targeted practitioners, researchers, academics, and staff employed by equipment manufacturers from all over the world.  The course was presented by a team of 7 world class lecturers.  Students attended from 6 different countries, namely: USA, Australia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa. Some of the feedback received is as follows:

• “Excellent learning experience from well-travelled lecturers. Really worth the time to attend this Summer School”
• "The mechanical harvesting knowledge that was part of the course content was excellent. The lecturers and guest lecturers from Ponsse, Tigercat and John Deere were very enriching. All was fantastic. The content covered all that is part of the mechanical harvesting as I expected."
• “There was balance between theory and practical and this course being for field operators and supervisors.”
• “The course empowers us as managers/supervisors with tools and knowledge to manage harvesting operations in a holistic, effective and efficient manner from planning, doing, checking and appropriate action to take.”
• “This was a very enjoyable, well-worthwhile course to attend. The material presented was interesting and stimulating, and the presenters were passionate about their subjects. It was a privilege to meet with like-minded people from different parts of the world and learn from everyone’s experience and comments. I would recommend it to any forest engineering practitioner who is serious about his job and self-improvement.”
• “Was a great experience learning with other passionate forest managers to develop key understandings and gain clarity in dealing with risks and challenges through the teaching approaches. It is always good to incorporate team building into the program. Kloofing was great!”

The course will be presented again 21 November to 09 December 2016, and the maximum number of delegates is 20 people, so register soon. Logging-on will also provide more information in the January 2 newsletter.  The numbers are again limited to 20 delegates.  To register, please mail michal@cmo.co.za and for more information see http://www.cmo.co.za/international-forest-engineering-summer-school/