IIW History 1990-2015

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

Mustafa Hosseinioun, Managing Director of IWREC, speaking at an Iranian IIW International Congress

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.

LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS