IIW History 1990-2015

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hilst qualification and certification were not a central part of IIW activities during its first 40 years, it did start to change

its attitude following the first IIW International Congress in Hobart, Australia, in 1988, where a key emphasis of the Congress was on education and training. The conclusion drawn from discussions was that a regional committee should be formed and a regional Commission XIV Welding Instruction (C-XIV) (and possibly others) set up in South East Asia.¹ These proposals were reported to the Governing Council when it met in Helsinki, Finland in September 1989. The creation of the regional committee was duly ratified at this meeting and C-XIV agreed to set up a regional Commission to provide advice on education and training in the Asia-Pacific Region. C-XIV, which had been in place since 1950, had already started work on the definition of the minimum knowledge requirements of welding engineers in 1987 under the chairmanship of Prof. Manfred Jacobi (Germany) and the work, which could result in a recommendation or a standard, was considered to be very important in the context of the mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications.² It is important to point out that at this time there was considerable confusion regarding the actual meaning of the term welding engineer. For instance, it could be a company title having no institutional or other forms of recognition whereas, in some countries, it may be a protected title which can only be used when the person has specific qualifications and experience. This was to also apply to other forms of professional welding categories since, literally, there were many thousands of welding professionals throughout the world who had little or no formal welding qualifications. Certain countries, such as the USA, Germany and Russia, already provided tertiary courses for welding engineers but, in the main, most welding engineers graduated to this position through an informal process of acquired knowledge and experience. Education in welding technology was reasonably commonplace at a university level, either as part of another engineering degree course, or as a stand-alone subject, on a semester or annual basis. For students who had completed their engineering degree, postgraduate courses and sometimes master’s degree courses were offered in welding technology. The Institut de Soudure, in France, introduced a one-year postgraduate course in welding as far back as 1931 and Ohio State University in the USA was perhaps one of the

Harmonised ETQ&C