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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
In the face of this growing interest,
the concept of running international
congresses every 4th year was cast aside
and Iran was the first to take advantage
of this in 1998, when it demonstrated a
commitment to becoming more involved
in international affairs. In stressing the
importance of this event, IIW Treasurer
Mr Bevan Braithwaite (UK) and the IIW
CEO Mr Michel Bramat, together with
Board of Directors member Dr Glenn
Ziegenfuss (USA), attended the Congress
on behalf of IIW. Iran, interestingly,
became a frequent organiser of IIW
International Congresses from that point
on with a second Congress in March
2002, attended by Braithwaite, attracting
over 430 attendees from Iran and 20 from
other countries, most of whom presented
papers. This Congress, presided over by Dr Mustafa Hosseinioun, Managing Director of the
IranianWelding Research and Engineering Centre (IWREC), was held at Tehran University.
A third Iranian Congress was held in December 2003 with over 500 attendees and again
generated a commendable international perspective to Iran’s welding activities. This was
of great assistance to researchers and welding professionals in that country who saw
opportunities in showcasing their work and in establishing a dialogue with other welding
specialists external to Iran and throughout the region.
Apart from encouraging the formation of regional groupings, the
overall focus of IIW was on many other very important matters through the
1990s, such as merging of the two Secretariats, drafting a new Constitution,
preparation of a corporate business plan, financial issues and a multitude
of other challenges in getting a training and qualification scheme off and
running. Smallbone, a newly elected member of the Executive Council and
a Vice-President, in 1993 had been given the imprimatur to get the newWG-
RA in place. At the Beijing Assembly in 1994 the initial beginnings of this
group started to take shape and discussions centred on the implementation of
a WeldCare programme, with the international community working closely
together to improve the global quality of life through the optimum use of
welding technology.
Mustafa Hosseinioun, Managing Director
of IWREC, speaking at an Iranian
IIW International Congress