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Harmonised ETQ&C
w
hilst qualification and certification were not a
central part of IIW activities during its first 40 years, it did start to change
its attitude following the first IIW International Congress in Hobart, Australia, in 1988,
where a key emphasis of the Congress was on education and training. The conclusion
drawn from discussions was that a regional committee should be formed and a regional
Commission XIV
Welding Instruction
(C-XIV) (and possibly others) set up in South East
Asia.¹ These proposals were reported to the Governing Council when it met in Helsinki,
Finland in September 1989. The creation of the regional committee was duly ratified at this
meeting and C-XIV agreed to set up a regional Commission to provide advice on education
and training in the Asia-Pacific Region.
C-XIV, which had been in place since 1950, had already started work on
the definition of the minimum knowledge requirements of welding engineers
in 1987 under the chairmanship of Prof. Manfred Jacobi (Germany) and the
work, which could result in a recommendation or a standard, was considered
to be very important in the context of the mutual recognition of diplomas and
qualifications.²
It is important to point out that at this time there was considerable confusion regarding
the actual meaning of the term welding engineer. For instance, it could be a company title
having no institutional or other forms of recognition whereas, in some countries, it may be
a protected title which can only be used when the person has specific qualifications and
experience. This was to also apply to other forms of professional welding categories since,
literally, there were many thousands of welding professionals throughout the world who had
little or no formal welding qualifications.
Certain countries, such as the USA, Germany and Russia, already provided tertiary
courses for welding engineers but, in the main, most welding engineers graduated to this
position through an informal process of acquired knowledge and experience. Education
in welding technology was reasonably commonplace at a university level, either as part
of another engineering degree course, or as a stand-alone subject, on a semester or annual
basis. For students who had completed their engineering degree, postgraduate courses and
sometimes master’s degree courses were offered in welding technology.
The Institut de Soudure, in France, introduced a one-year postgraduate course in
welding as far back as 1931 and Ohio State University in the USA was perhaps one of the