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TOWARDS 2000
reminded everyone that ‘From time-to-time one must stand back and
take stock of an activity that has gone on for a very long time
along certain well-defined paths and ask oneself where one has
got to; whether one is travelling in the right direction and where
one is hoping to arrive. Different people will, of course, favour
different answers and men of advancing years, such as myself,
will inevitably be somewhat more pessimistic and critical.’
3
Weck was also dismissive of some of the activities
of the IIW Commissions indicating that ‘the conclusion
is inescapable that we have started to go around in
circles’. These remarks by Weck were received rather
uncomfortably at higher levels in IIW and Mr Philip Boyd,
General Secretary of IIW 1968-1990, considered Weck, the first chair of Commission X
Residual Stresses
(C-X), to be ‘a long-standing and highly critical member of the Governing
Council and Technical Committee’.
4
In retrospect, there was an element of truth in what
Weck was trying to get across to what he felt was an unresponsive executive at that time.
If his comments carried any weight then Eaton, the incoming President in 1990, would not
find it easy to turn around an organisation such as IIW during his coming period of tenure of
only three years. The WG
Strategic Planning
was the vehicle which Eaton expected would
deliver cogent reasons for determining a new vision for a revitalised Institute. It was stated
as part of the working group’s terms of reference that it was not to involve itself in technical
matters, since these were considered to be strictly the role of the Technical Committee and
Commissions and no one else.
Wallner had previously made a great impression on Eaton who
considered Wallner to be one of the most important persons in changing
the direction of IIW. Wallner’s influence had brought a new perspective to
the Institute since he was the first industrial executive to have a significant
influence on IIW. Eaton and Wallner then worked closely together in order
for IIW to have a more commercial/industrial focus since, previously,
most of the executive/presidents were of an academic or Member Society
background.
5
One of the key strategies noted in the WG
Strategic Planning
paper delivered to the
Executive Council by Eaton was to respond to the needs of Member Societies far better
than before. It noted that IIW also needed to reflect socio-economic issues of the day. In
particular it lacked direction with regard to working for the benefit of mankind and other
living creatures, directly and indirectly, through not recognising the frailty of the world’s
environment.
6
This topic had already received some support from another direction when
the joint Presidents of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the
Philip Boyd