Who I Am

For the past 19 years I have continued to support people and organisations primarily in the water sector, through writing and editing reports and papers for publication – much of my work is described in more detail on this website. I am also Exec Secretary for the UK Irrigation Association – a UK irrigation farmer-based organisation. This gives me a foot in two camps – one in international agricultural water development and another in high-end UK irrigation farming – a unique two-way learning experience. I continue lecturing on irrigation and hydraulics at Imperial College, London. I also lecture on ‘report writing and presentation’ to students at Cranfield University, UK.WHO I AM
MELVYN KAY – DIRECTOR RTCS LTD
C Eng MICE FIAgrE MSc DIC BSc civil engineering

I am a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 40 years’ international experience in consultancy, teaching, and research in water and natural resources development.

set up RTCS Ltd (Research, Training, and Consultancy Services) some 19 years ago having spent one life-time consulting, researching, writing, and educating and training young professionals from over 60 different nations and from a wide range of professional backgrounds. I now do what I enjoy most which is helping people and organisations to write, edit, and communicate information, experiences, and ideas in simple interesting ways, and in plain English.

My early career with Sir M MacDonald and Partners (now Mott MacDonald), consulting engineers, in the Middle East and Africa was in planning, designing, and building irrigation schemes. Then followed 25 years with Silsoe College (now Cranfield University) teaching postgraduates from over 60 different countries about irrigation and hydraulics. A great training ground for ‘learning how people learn’, how to explain principles and practices, and get ideas across to a whole range of people with different disciplines, abilities, languages, and cultures.

For the past 19 years I have continued to support people and organisations primarily in the water sector, through writing and editing reports and papers for publication – much of my work is described in more detail on this website. I am also Exec Secretary for the UK Irrigation Association – a UK irrigation farmer-based organisation. This gives me a foot in two camps – one in international agricultural water development and another in high-end UK irrigation farming – a unique two-way learning experience. I continue lecturing on irrigation and hydraulics at Imperial College, London. I also lecture on ‘report writing and presentation’ to students at Cranfield University, UK.

Oh – and I (with my wife) also try to organise and keep track of our ‘rainbow’ family of 10 children+!

Clients include: AfDB Tunis, ASARECA Nairobi, Booker Tate Ltd, Cranfield University, DfID (UK), FAO Rome, GWP Stockholm, IFAD Rome, IHE Delft, ILRI Wageningen, IWMI Sri Lanka, Imperial College London, Kilimo Trust, Kampala, Ministry of Energy and Water Kabul, UK Irrigation Association, UNCTAD, UNESCO, World Bank, and Wye College London.

I have worked in: Belgium, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, St Vincent, Swaziland, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and made professional visits to Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, France, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, India, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, and USA.ir

RUTH GAGE – ADMINISTRATOR
BA (hons) Architecture Dip Arch

My background is in architecture and began my career working for the Kent Architecture Centre, which focuses on urban regeneration. I was involved in developing appropriate methodologies to enable community, education, voluntary, and professional groups to engage in shaping their local urban environment. As a project manager I led various community programmes and education workshops, facilitated public consultations, recruited design professionals, and organised competitions for local architects to show innovative ways of re-developing run-down areas.

My work is mainly concerned with adminstering the UK Irrigation Association (UKIA) for which Melvyn and I provide an executive secretarial role. But I also get involved in proof reading and facilitating graphic design and printing. For UKIA I look after the membership and organise farm visits for members both in the UK and overseas. Recent visits were to Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, and Israel. I also organise the annual conference which attracts some 120 delegates and arrange speakers with guests from overseas bringing an international perspective to UK irrigated farming.

VISUAL IDENTITY – GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
We can take publications through to graphic design and printing with Visual Identity, a company we have worked with over the past 10 years. They have that knack of adding the ‘wow’ factor to our publications! It means they are tailored to their audience are attractive to read and digest. We can arrange printing here in the UK or, more usually, we supply high resolution pdfs for printing in your own country.