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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
paper on the ‘best contribution made over the two preceding years on the advancement of
knowledge or practice in respect of mathematical modelling of weld phenomena’ is made
at each conference in memory of Easterling who was the first Chair of the original Working
Group within C- IX.
In the early 1990s a plethora of unique research documents was published by IIW
on a diverse range of topics such as laser cutting, guidance on specifications of ferrite in
stainless steel welds, and plastic welding directives. This was a time when friction stir
welding (FSW) came to prominence after previously being invented by Dr Wayne Thomas
at TWI in the UK. Of interest from an IIW perspective was an earlier document on FSW
by Thomas that was recommended for publication at the IIWAnnual Assembly at Helsinki
in 1989.
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This was a perfect illustration of the research capabilities of a member of the
Institute combined with a willingness to share this information through the membership of
one of IIW’s Commissions.
This was true not only of TWI, but also of many welding institutes
which were active members of IIW Commissions, most of which had strong,
fundamental, research facilities at the heart of their activities. Indeed, the
1990s was unquestionably an era where welding research had a prominent
place in the minds of many of the Member Countries within IIW. In some
instances the governments of those countries provided funding to sponsor
this research. The Federal Government of Australia, for instance, provided
such funding that resulted in a significant impetus for research into the
fundamental aspects of welding and the benefits that this would bring to the
health of the nation across a broad spectrum of industry.
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As a result of this
injection of funding, Australia became the largest supplier of high-speed car
ferries in the world and it also became a leading exponent of microjoining
in the production of cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf. This was
not done in isolation since other centres of welding excellence throughout
the world, allied to IIW, were leading the advances that would improve the
quality of life for all.
It was from this profound interest in research that the Henry Granjon
Prize was created by IIW, on the initiative of the French delegation, to
acknowledge the great service that Granjon had given to the Institute for
almost 40 years. In recognition of Granjon’s interest in education, the
French delegation, in its proposal, insisted that the competition be based on theses written
by students specialising in welding.
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Due to the difficulties in comparing the wide range
of topics in this field it was decided to create three different categories for the Granjon
Prize, since changed to four, the first of which were awarded in 1992 to Mr Alfredsson of