IIW History 1990-2015

progress of thework undertaken; whether it was research activities and development of the latest techniques, or the dissemination of these findings to the world at large. For instance, at the General Assembly in Montreal in July 1990, a total of 30 documents were recommended for publication in IIW’s authoritative journal, Welding in the World, on a range of research topics including metallurgical aspects of laser welding, joining of plastics and the application of fatigue test data to welded structures, all of them important in their own right with respect to the latest advances in these areas of expertise. 10 The Montreal International Conference

John Norrish

also had a theme that encompassed Advances in the Welding of New Structural Materials , which included composites, new metallic materials and ceramics. At the same time, an International Congress on Joining Research was organised by the IIW Study Group Welding Research Strategy and Collaboration (SG-RES) which attracted 119 people. 11 This was a clear statement of intent that research was foremost on IIW’s agenda as it prepared itself for the technological revolution expected to take place over the next 25 years. This became no less apparent than at the next International Conference, Joining/Welding 2000 , at The Hague, The Netherlands, in July 1991 when robot welding, high energy laser welding and electron beam welding featured highly among the papers presented at the conference. 12 In 1991, Prof. Horst Cerjak (Austria) and Prof. Dr Kenneth Easterling (Sweden) organised an International Seminar on Numerical Analysis of Weldability in Schloss Seggau, a castle in the wine area close to Graz in Austria. This seminar arose from an intermediate

meeting of an informal Working Group Mathematical Modelling of Weld Phenomena of Commission IX Behaviour of Metals Subject to Welding (C-IX). Since then this seminar series has evolved to be a world-leading conference in the growing field of development of methods for the prediction of the microstructures and properties of welds. 13 The Graz-Seggau Conference has proved to be of vital

practical and academic importance in the support of computer modelling to help optimise welding processes and consumables as well as the service behaviour of welded components. Held on a biennial basis and attended by leading experts the 12th conference is scheduled for September 2018. The Kenneth Easterling Award for the

Horst Cerjak

RESEARCH & INNOVATION