The European Federation of CorrosionThe European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) is an association of European corrosion societies in which The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining features strongly. Founded in 1955, it aims to advance the science of corrosion and the protection of materials by promoting co-operation in Europe and collaboration internationally. There are currently 29 member societies in 24 different countries throughout Europe. In the UK, member societies include the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and the Institute of Corrosion. SecretariatsThe EFC has three secretariats, located in Frankfurt, Paris and London, each with particular responsibilities. The London office, based at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, is in charge of finance via the EFC Honorary Treasurer, Charles Booker. The Paris office, based at the Société de Chimie Industrielle, organises all the Federation's meetings, while the Frankfurt office, situated at Dechema eV, is responsible for the maintenance of membership records. In 1992, the EFC appointed its first President, Mr C Bijl (Netherlands). The current President, Don Harrop (UK) took office during 2001 and will be succeeded during 2003 by Björn Linder (Sweden). Working partiesThe EFC achieves many of its objectives through its seventeen Working Parties whose subjects are many and varied:
The working parties undertake many important activities within their own fields, such as: collaborative research and testing programmes; the organisation of EFC workshops, courses and conferences; the preparation of state-of-the-art reports, guidance documents and proceedings for publication as books in the EFC Series; and the organisation of sessions at the annual EUROCORR conference. For example, during the next few months EFC workshops will been held on 'Corrosion by Carbon and Nitrogen - Metal Dusting, Carburisation and Nitriding' and 'Fractography' Many of the working parties are engaged in collaborative projects, some with funding from the EU. For example, WP3 (Corrosion by Hot Gases and Combustion Products) is leading a collaborative programme on Cyclic Oxidation Testing (COTEST) involving 23 laboratories in 11 countries; WP9 (Marine Corrosion) is working on a project (CREVCORR) to develop guidelines for crevice corrosion testing of stainless steel in sea water. Both of these projects will eventually lead to new International Standards in their respective fields. WP7 (Corrosion Education) is also leading an EU sponsored project (MENTOR-C) to develop distance learning materials on CD-ROM and the Internet for vocational training in corrosion. Anyone wishing to join one or more working parties should contact the EFC Scientific Secretary by e-mail: paul.mcintyre@iom3.org Annual conferenceAll of the working parties contribute sessions to Eurocorr, the annual conference of the EFC. This takes place in a different country each year. Eurocorr 2003 is being organised by the Hungarian Corrosion Society, HUNKOR, and will be held in Budapest on 28 September - 2 October 2003. The general theme of the event will be 'Bridge between Academia and Industry'. Special topics will include Nanostructured coatings, Role of the Internet in the dissemination of corrosion data, and Environmental aspects of corrosion protection. For further details contact Prof. Dr. Erika K Kálmán, Chemical Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525 Budapest, P.O. Box 17, Hungary, Tel: +36 1 325 7548, Fax: +36 1 325 7509, E-mail: eurocorr@chemres.hu. EFC publicationsPublications form a major part of EFC output. Its highly regarded series of books on corrosion, published by IoM Communications Ltd, now features 35 titles with several more in preparation. These are available at a 20% discount to Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining members. There is also an EFC Newsletter, distributed free of charge to working party members and member societies. The EFC Newsletter is also freely available on the EFC website (www.efcweb.org). AwardsThe EFC has four awards, each of which are presented on a two or three year cycle. During EUROCORR 2000 in London, the Martí í Franqués Medal was presented to Profesor J. Galland on behalf of the winner, Dr. Claude Cabrillac of France, and the new Kurt Schwabe Prize (for young workers) was presented to Dr Ilona Felhosi of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. During Eurocorr 2001 in Riva del Garda, the European Corrosion Medal was presented to Prof Einar Bardal of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). At the EFC colloquium on Corrosion Certification in Aix-en-Provence in 2002, the Cavallaro Medal was presented to Dr Alan Turnbull FIMMM of NPL, Teddington. The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining is home to the EFC Scientific Secretary, Paul McIntyre, who helps to co-ordinate the Federation's scientific and technical activity as well as editing the EFC Newsletter. |