IIW History 1948-1958

CHAPTER VI

THE PAST~ THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

Those \Yho have been associated \Yith the II\V throughout its existence will inevitably feel deep satisfaction and, indeed, a certain emotion, in reading the reports in this book. ·what was the IIViT ten years ago? Only a potential need felt by many \Vho could see the advantages of exchanging vie\\·s; only the determination of some of them to meet this need. ·what is it to-clay? A great international network connecting institutions as \vell as the men who form them, bringing a growing number of people into closer contact with one another and making possible an increasingly beneficial and fruitful exchange of technical thought. Ten years ago, only the outline, at once inflexible and weak, of this network existed; the majority of the national organisations were not themselves firmly established and only very modest participation in the work in several sectors was forttcoming. The well-ordered combination of activities and investigations ,,·hich makes the Institute to-clay such a live organisation; the pool to which ideas can be freely brought so that they may be perfected and enriched by the camments and criticisms of other experts; the tireless work carried out within the framework of the Commissions in a spirit of cooperation sometimes reaching the level of sacrifice; these were then only objectives to be attained. The history of its first ten years can therefore only be a source of sati - faction to all the countries which have devoted their efforts to establishing the IIW. But it can also give rise to another feeling, that of confidence in future results surpassing those achieved up to the present; for these first ten years ha e tested, among those supporting the II\\, two spiritual factors which are essential for the true advancement of any human enterprise : willpower and faith. Faith in the more rapid and more widespread progress of technology through common effort; willpower to persevere in this effort, not to be discour– aged in face of the imperfections inevitable in any human acti\ ity nor in face of the difficulty of maintaining and fostering cooperation; concern to ensure that very diverse activities are satisfactorily coordinated and maintained at that level of idealism through which the institution was established. These ten years of work of the IIW have been most fruitful. Important tasks which the Institute had undertaken have 1 een accomplished, and others are in hand under the enlightened and eneraetic guidance of the Chairmen of the Commission . All this is manifest from their reports, which make it superfluous to go into detail here; the most important problems connected with the technique of welding are divided among them; taken as a whole, the work accomplished has been remarkable and it ha been made knO\\·n to and put at the service of