148 / 234
EMERGING NATIONS
regarding their national capability in implementing IIW education, training, qualification
and certification in their respective countries. Besides India’s excellent contribution, the
members of SEENet also embraced the concept of a NWC following a successful workshop
during the IIW International Congress held in Timi oara in 2015, illustrating the excellent
global teamwork developed between IIW and its members with a view to extend this project
to the benefit of all developing nations within IIW.
International congresses, as a result, are very much a part of IIW and
WG-RA’s overall strategy and continued to be an excellent catalyst for
people from industry, government, research, education and training to work
together and to establish networks to resolve issues and foster relationships
throughout many regions. These have included the science and technology
of welding in challenging situations such as: the tropics;
the arid deserts of North Africa and the Middle East; the
storms of the North Sea; and cyclones off the north west
Australian shelf.
As an example of tackling challenging environments such as
these, IIW and the WG-RA provided typical support for the
1st International Congress on
Welding in the Artic
hosted
by the Canadian Welding Association (CWA), when it was
held in Vancouver in late September 2014 to address the
issues and challenges of working and welding at sub-zero
temperatures.
33
In keeping with this, IIW through the WG-RA
Dorin Dehelean of Romania (right) receiving the inaugural
IIW Regional Activities Award from John Burnett, President of the
Welding Technology Institute of Australia which sponsors the award
Marin Beloev