Despite current global economic concerns, almost 250 delegates from 23 countries attended the 9th International Symposium on Friction Stir Welding in the excellent facilities of the Von Braun Center in the heart of Huntsville, Alabama, USA. During the course of the three-day event, speakers with expertise in all aspects of
friction stir welding (FSW) technology delivered over 80 technical papers in varied technical sessions.
The success of the 2012 Symposium points to increasing industry interest in the friction stir welding process as a joining solution, together with the strong technical programme put together by the event organisers, which included a visit to the NASA-Marshall Flight Space Center.
Technical sessions across the three days covered advances in tooling technology, different FSW techniques, joining different materials and an examination of ever-increasing opportunities for industrial applications. A number of companies exhibited products during the symposium.
Social highlights of the event were the visit and tour of America’s oldest distillery, Jack Daniels, followed by an evening of Southern hospitality, a barbecue and a timely spectacular sunset over the town of Lynchburg. Over 130 delegates took the opportunity to visit NASA-Marshall Flight Space Center – taking a tour of its facilities – an informative and engaging end to the event.
The FSW Licensees Association would like to thank all the local supporters, with a special mention to Kevin Colligan. The community of Huntsville put on a great event that will be talked about for years to come.
This event was run on behalf of the Friction Stir Welding Licensees Association by TWI, with a great deal of local assistance from Concurrent Technologies Corporation, NASA and Huntsville University.
Further information including the Proceedings of the Symposium can be
found here.
Alternatively please contact Jonathan Martin at TWI on +44 (0) 114 2699046.
