IIW History 1990-2015

by Smallbone, in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece attended by representatives of governments, welding societies and industry from these countries, plus Macedonia, Bosnia andHerzegovina andMontenegro, over the next fewyears. The ideals of technology diffusion were then cemented into place, with high ranking members from all these countries taking on the role of ‘champions’ to resource the development of networking in, and between, their respective countries and also to promote the cause of welding technology throughout SE Europe. The results emanating from this collaboration were quite substantial with the foundation of the Romanian Technological Transfer Center in Welding (CENTA-ISIM) in March 2004 and the establishment of an Innovation Centre in Belgrade, both to focus on technology transfer and diffusion activities in that region. The very successful South Eastern European Network (SEENet) was established, linking Technology Support and Education and Training Support Centres with industries utilising welding. The idea for SEENet was taken up by representatives from throughout the region keen to help improve the quality of life. Dehelean was instrumental in this process, along with Welding Society Presidents Dr-Ing. Vencislav Grabulov (Serbia) and Dr-Ing. Marin Beloev (Bulgaria). SEENet was supported by an ever-widening group of representatives from welding societies, government and industry all eager to carry the networking message throughout the region. 17 In July 2005 a delegation from IIW, including Smallbone, Mr John Zirnhelt (Canada) and Mr James Guild (South Africa), visited UNIDO, the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), the European Union (EU) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to explore possible project collaboration between IIW and these agencies. This collaboration was, in a sense, an extension of the previous discussions with UNIDO 10 years earlier to fund projects in Africa. This time the discussions with these organisations were done under the banner of a new IIW project ‘To improve the global quality of life by the optimum use of welding technology’. The project provided the basis for a number of key activities of the Institute, particularly through the IIW training and

Representatives from UNIDO, IAEA, DFID and the EU participating in the Technology Diffusion Workshop at the first IIW South-East European Welding Congress, Timi oara, Romania, May 2006

EMERGING NATIONS