IIW History 1990-2015

The first 40 years of IIW’s existence encompassed great change. This provided the foundation for future expansion of the Institute as IIW approached and entered a new millennium. Up to this point the formative years of IIW had been covered by Philip Boyd, former Secretary General of IIW, in his book Joining Nations – A History of the International Institute of Welding – 1947-1990 . Boyd’s book provided an authoritative account of the circumstances contributing to the foundation and evolution of IIW, its background and development, as well as the inevitable economic, political and technical changes that impacted on IIW during those years. On reflection, Boyd did express disappointment that it was not possible to review, in detail, the activities of the working units, because his book was short and had to cover a diverse range of topics in a relatively limited period of time. Much has happened since then, the detail of which is essential in understanding and analysing events of more recent years, which reflected on the great heritage that IIW had already built upon. IIW had the foresight to record the events of the last 25 years in a more comprehensive way before the detail of this was lost or became indistinct over the course of time. As author of this history, I called upon my metallurgical background and broad experience in welding, non-destructive testing, failure analysis and research into life assessment of critical power plant. Having a keen sense of history, and previously authoring The History of Non-Destructive Testing in Australia and Lighting the Flame – The History of Welding in Australia , I am indebted to IIW for the opportunity to write its history over the last 25 years. The subsequent research and writing of this history has been both rewarding and stimulating since, beyond the assembling of facts and information, it has confirmed and revealed the significant importance of welding, and the part it has played in the progress of all nations. This narrative on the history of the International Institute of Welding from 1990- 2015 is somewhat different in style to that of Boyd and reflects to a larger extent the contribution of the Working Units such as Commissions, Select Committees, Working Groups and individuals, including those of the Board of Directors, Technical Management Board, International Authorisation Board, IIW Secretariat, and many others too numerous to mention, all of whom have contributed significantly to the success of the Institute. The early chapters focus on events that formed the Institute in the years leading up to the dawn of a new millennium, including the significant changes in its structure, and the inevitable challenges that arose through combining two secretariats into a single secretariat. The remaining chapters feature a more focussed approach on the various activities of IIW with respect to publication and marketing; education, training, qualification and certification; research and innovation; standards; regional activities; health, safety and the environment, as well as IIW meeting the challenges of the future.