IIW History 1990-2015

paper on the ‘best contribution made over the two preceding years on the advancement of knowledge or practice in respect of mathematical modelling of weld phenomena’ is made at each conference in memory of Easterling who was the first Chair of the original Working Group within C- IX. In the early 1990s a plethora of unique research documents was published by IIW on a diverse range of topics such as laser cutting, guidance on specifications of ferrite in stainless steel welds, and plastic welding directives. This was a time when friction stir welding (FSW) came to prominence after previously being invented by Dr Wayne Thomas at TWI in the UK. Of interest from an IIW perspective was an earlier document on FSW by Thomas that was recommended for publication at the IIWAnnual Assembly at Helsinki in 1989. 14 This was a perfect illustration of the research capabilities of a member of the Institute combined with a willingness to share this information through the membership of one of IIW’s Commissions. This was true not only of TWI, but also of many welding institutes which were active members of IIW Commissions, most of which had strong, fundamental, research facilities at the heart of their activities. Indeed, the 1990s was unquestionably an era where welding research had a prominent place in the minds of many of the Member Countries within IIW. In some instances the governments of those countries provided funding to sponsor this research. The Federal Government of Australia, for instance, provided such funding that resulted in a significant impetus for research into the fundamental aspects of welding and the benefits that this would bring to the health of the nation across a broad spectrum of industry. 15 As a result of this injection of funding, Australia became the largest supplier of high-speed car ferries in the world and it also became a leading exponent of microjoining in the production of cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf. This was not done in isolation since other centres of welding excellence throughout the world, allied to IIW, were leading the advances that would improve the quality of life for all. It was from this profound interest in research that the Henry Granjon Prize was created by IIW, on the initiative of the French delegation, to acknowledge the great service that Granjon had given to the Institute for almost 40 years. In recognition of Granjon’s interest in education, the French delegation, in its proposal, insisted that the competition be based on theses written by students specialising in welding. 16 Due to the difficulties in comparing the wide range of topics in this field it was decided to create three different categories for the Granjon Prize, since changed to four, the first of which were awarded in 1992 to Mr Alfredsson of

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