News

As a Professional Engineering Institution, The Welding Institute is dedicated to ensuring our Members’ professional needs are met.

To meet this need, The Welding Institute has had to adapt to the current situation that we are all facing and, although this change is challenging for everyone, it has also been an incredible opportunity for us to implement new ways of providing our services so that our Members can still access their membership benefits effectively.

Changes that Members may have noticed include:

Formal interviews are now taking place over video call, therefore cutting out the travel times and allowing The Institute to effectively reach more people, including globally!

Events are now being hosted online and are reaching a more global network of people than ever. The Welding Institute also understands the true value of face to face events and the networking opportunities they offer, however, these online events are an excellent way to keep our Members connected through these times.

The Institute is pleased to see the increasing interconnectedness of our Branches as they adapt to connecting through online mediums including video calls. It has been an opportunity for more people to get involved due to the reduced time and travel restraints of conducting Secretary and Board meetings online. This increased interconnectedness has also allowed Members from different Branches to attend and contribute to other Branch events and meetings.

The process of training volunteers has also changed for The Welding Institute, where we have been able to train more volunteers in one cohort than ever using online video call meetings. This has also enabled a more global reach for the Institute, with Members in Scotland, Nigeria, Switzerland and Anglesey being trained. This is an exciting opportunity for The Welding Institute, as the roles that our volunteers carry out allow more Members to be reached as well as allowing us to connect with engineers and technicians more globally.

To implement these new technologies and processes, The Welding Institute has worked closely with its Members, including those who carry out critical roles within Branches, to learn new systems and technologies and we would like thank all of those who worked with us on this to ensure that this process has been successful!

The Welding Institute would like to thank our Members and volunteers for their continued support, contributions and response to the new ways that The Welding Institute is adapting to!

The future for The Welding Institute

Throughout this time, the Institute is working closely with its volunteers to plan and organise our Technical Group Meeting events for the autumn (check out our events page). Our Branches are also currently working on a programme for online talks for Members starting in September. In addition to this, The Welding Institute is also preparing for more volunteer training workshops.

We would like to welcome Members to share any ideas on how we could make the best use of these new technologies to support and promote the work of The Welding Institute.

For World Chocolate Day 2020, The Welding Institute would like to highlight our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) outreach activity, ‘Welding with Chocolate’, and the role that it has and continues to play in engaging younger networks of students. It is an excellent way to develop their understanding of the importance of welding as a profession and furthermore the roles that engineers play within society.

The Welding with Chocolate activity was developed in 2007 by Welding Institute Fellow Dr Philippa Moore to be a fun, hands-on experience exploring the principles of welding and mechanical testing. The activity is held as a workshop and involves using chocolate bars to represent a material being welded and a heat source in the form of a bottle filled with hot water to act as a joining mechanism. The aim of the activity is to create a box girder bridge from four chocolate bars welded together. This bridge structure is then destructively tested by adding weights to the mid span of the structure. The results of these destructive tests are then compared to the strength of a single bar.

On the 25th June 2020, The Welding Institute (Southern Counties Branch) held a webinar on the topic of ‘Welding Process Investigation.’ The event focussed on the acceptance, rejection and distortion that occurs during the welding of a set on (nozzles to shell) joint, with seven different process variations. This involved an investigation of the following:

• The process in relation to the manufacturing of pressure vessels
• The effects of different welding processes on the same joint using the same material, thickness and diameter
• The process of the parts being welded using different processes and combinations of welding processes
• The accurate measurement of the parts (before and after) to assess the quality for NDT and DT (VT, RT, PT and microsection)
• The investigation’s results against different codes from EN 13445, RCC-M, ASME, etc

The speaker was Welding Institute Member Eur Ing Michael Baverstock MSc CEng MWeldI, who has experience in multiple industry sectors including working with aircraft and pressure vessels for over 30 years. Mike now runs his own welding engineering consultancy business, where he helps engineering companies improve their welding quality and processes across a range of industries. The event was very popular, with over 150 attendees joining the webinar.

Unlike previous branch events held in-person, this talk took place virtually as a webinar due to the current global situation. The webinar was very successful, with many who attended having commented positively on how the online talk was organised. Both our Members and non-Members adapted well to it being hosted online, and this unique opportunity to stream the talk online also allowed us to have a far wider reach with a global attendance of people joining from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

The speaker’s research, presentation and knowledge were all well received by those who joined the event.

The Welding Institute is dedicated to ensuring that our Members are able to continue accessing their key membership benefits including the knowledge and networking opportunities that Institute Branch events facilitate. Although the ability to network is somewhat limited in our current circumstances, it was a great and successful example of how The Welding Institute and its Members and non-Members are able to adapt in these unprecedented times to overcome the obstacle of not being there in person!

Speaker and Branch Chair Perspective

Event speaker, Mike Baverstock, described his initial experience of hosting this webinar as being challenging due to the unfamiliarity of presenting online compared to in person, adding that being unable to see anyone, whilst also being aware that they could all see him was one of the biggest differences. He added that, although it was a very different experience to talking in person, he was able to adapt quickly due to him talking about his ‘favourite subject’ of welding. Mike also emphasised that, although the format of a webinar is something that our Members are mainly unfamiliar with, it is important to be able to adapt and develop technologically with these events in order to find the best ways of presenting.

Branch Chair Adam Saxty also echoed Mike’s message, explaining that he was also keen for more webinars and online events to be held in order to continue to deliver Branch events to our Members during this time. Adam expressed his interest in creating a more interactive forum for the participants, so that attendees are able to ask the speaker questions live throughout the event, making these online events more similar to normal Branch events. He also hopes to do more for international Members, and the continuation of online meetings and webinars will be an important way of enabling this.

The Welding Institute and Southern Counties Branch would like to thank Eur Ing Michael Baverstock MSc CEng MWeldI and those who were involved with the organisation of the event along with all those who attended!

This year’s Distinguished Service Award winner is Professor Bill Lucas who is an Accreditation and Education Committee Member and has been a Member of The Welding Institute since 1971.

About the Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to an employee or Branch Member in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the operation, events and activities of The Welding Institute as a result of which the membership, status and position of the Institute has been significantly advanced.

About Bill

Bill has been a member of the Institute since 1971, gaining his Chartership (CEng) and Fellowship (FWeldI) in 1983. He holds a Doctorate in Science from Queens University of Belfast, as well as a PhD and is also an IWE member.

Professor Bill Lucas’s Involvement with The Welding Institute

Professor Bill Lucas chairs The Welding Institute’s Education Committee, where he advises on matters regarding the development and provision of education and training in welding, joining and allied technologies at higher education level. Bill also represents the Institute at the Engineering Council’s Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB), advising on accreditation policy and higher education relevant to education of engineers. Through his work, Bill actively supports and campaigns for the promotion of The Welding Institute and membership, as well as emphasising the importance of Engineering Council registration to young professionals.

Career

Bill worked at TWI Ltd from 1970 to 2007, during which, an important aspect of his role was the technical supervision of contract work for industrial companies involved with manufacturing. Bill continued his career from 2007 to 2012 as an independent consultant. Within his work, Bill also took on the role as Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool, as well as chairing their Industrial Advisory Board for the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

Since becoming a Member of The Welding Institute in 1970, Bill has carried out fundamental research into process and manufacturing technology, with the overall objective of his research being to improve knowledge of welding processes, especially regarding their operation and control. His research also continues on to focus on welding process involvements, advanced software techniques and novel sensor systems.

Bill has been awarded with the Distinguished Service Award due to his continued support of The Welding Institute throughout his career, including his role as a former Chair of the International Welding’s Commission XII ‘Arc Welding Processes and Production Systems’ between 2001 and 2010. He was also a member of the British Standards Institute WEE 36 Committee, ‘Qualification of Welding Personnel and Welding Procedures,’ and has written and been involved with the publishing of over 150 academic papers.

The Welding Institute would like to congratulate Professor Bill Lucas on winning this award and thank him for his continued support of the Institute!

If you are interested in how you can get involved with The Welding Institute please contact us! 

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of outstanding service to the Branches and committees of The Welding Institute.

The following recipients of the Loyal Service Award were all recognised for their work with the Membership, Education and Registration Committee. The committee reports on matters relating to professional membership, the education, training and qualifications of all grades of welding personnel, and the Institute’s relationship with educational authorities. It is also required to act as the Board of Examiners for various engineering qualifications and to assess applications for professional membership and registration with the Engineering Council.

Loyal Service Awards for contributions to the Membership Education and Registration Committee are granted to:

Eur Ing Mark Cozens FWeldI CEng	Joined 1986
Eur Ing Walter Doxford FWeldI CEng	Joined 1988
Mr Owen Gorton FWeldI	Joined 1972
Eur Ing David Rowe FWeldI	Joined 2004
Mr Joe Small MWeldI Eng Tech	Joined 2005
Mr Alan Rodgers*Ing FWeldI	Joined 1966

The Institute is grateful to all recipients for their support with the Membership Education and Registration Committee, and is proud to acknowledge their commitments through these Loyal Service Awards.

(*The Welding Institute is saddened to hear about the passing of Alan Rodgers in January of this year, and offer condolences to his friends and family).

Northern Ireland Branch

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of outstanding service to the Branches and committees of The Welding Institute.

Role within The Welding Institute

Ken Barr SenMWeldI CEng, a Member of the Welding Institute since 1980, has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to The Welding Institute’s Northern Ireland Branch.

He has been a loyal Member of the Northern Ireland branch for over 30 years and is receiving a Loyal Service Reward to recognise his enormous contribution to branch activities over this period.

Ken was one of the original founding members of the Northern Ireland branch, and remains an active member today. Over his time at the branch, he has held various senior positions such as chairman, secretary and treasurer, and has been a committee member for around a decade. Ken continues to offer advice and support today, such as his help hosting events within the foundry of the local college.

The Welding Institute is extremely grateful for Ken’s significant contribution to the Northern Ireland Branch over 30 years, and would like to congratulate him on receiving a Loyal Service Award 2020. 

South Western Branch

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of outstanding service to the Branches and committees of The Welding Institute.

Role within The Welding Institute

Hugh McPhillips MWeldI IEng, a Member of the Welding Institute since 1973, has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to The Welding Institute’s South Western Branch.

Hugh has served many roles for The Welding Institute, both in the South West and beyond. Between 1990 and 2009 he was liaison officer between the College of North West London and the TWI London Branch.

In 2011, Hugh was appointed treasurer with the task of regenerating the South Western Branch. His role was essential in establishing the main branch at Bristol and centres in Devon and Cornwall. Since then he has continued to support the branch, with his work including engagement with local colleges, offering students the opportunity to attend branch meetings held at the colleges. He has served for 9 years as branch treasurer and 3 years as branch president in the South West.

Hugh has also formed a reciprocal support group with multiple organisations and institutes to promote meetings and share good industry practice. These organisations include the Ministry of Defence, the Nuclear Institute and the West of England Metals and Materials Association, to name just a few. Additionally, he has held numerous positions including vice-chairman and chairman of the Association for Welding and Fabrication Training and Education, a member of Education and Registration Committee, and judge and team manager of the UK Worldskills Construction Metalwork.

The Welding Institute would like to thank Hugh for his outstanding support of the South West Branch, and is proud to acknowledge this contribution by awarding him with a Loyal Service Award 2020.

Scottish Branch

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of the outstanding service to the Branches of The Welding Institute!

Role within The Welding Institute

Alan Ramsay MWeldI IEng, a Member of the Welding Institute since 1996, has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to The Welding Institute’s Scottish Branch.

Alans’ involvement with the Scottish Branch extends over 30 years with his roles as Committee Member and Office Bearer. During his time as a Committee Member, Alan has also undertaken the role of ‘TWI Scottish Branch Annual Dinner Co-ordinator.’

As part of the Scottish Branch, Alan has undertaken various roles including as Branch Secretary for 4 years, being Branch Chairman on two occasions (for 4 years in total) and also taking on the role of Branch President on two occasions (again for a total of 4 years).

Alan has demonstrated his involvement and commitment to the Scottish Branch for 30 years, assisting across all areas of the branch’s development. This includes representing the branch on multiple TWI Committees through his representation on the Professional Board. His contributions, including helping to grow and promote membership of The Welding Institute, make him a worthy winner of a Loyal Service Award.

The Welding Institute celebrates and acknowledges Alan’s significant support of the Scottish Branch and congratulates him on being awarded the Loyal Service Award 2020!

Dr Geoff Booth – Accreditation and Education Committee and Technical Groups.

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of the outstanding service to the Branches of The Welding Institute!

Role with The Welding Institute

Geoff Booth is a Fellow Member of The Welding Institute, joining in 1991. In 2013, he took on the role of Chair to The Welding Institute’s Structural Integrity (TG 6) Technical Group.

Geoff demonstrated his worthiness to receive this award by going above and beyond the requirements of his role, including arranging several joint meetings with the Forum for Engineering Structural Integrity (FESI) and creating a collaborative and inclusive culture for the group’s work. As Chair, Geoff has used his broad network of contacts to expand the collective knowledge and understanding of his field with the specific aim of targeting and developing younger Members.

Throughout his career at TWI, Geoff worked with a wide range of people, leading and developing a Group of 50 staff in the Structural Integrity Management Group. He also worked in the Lasers and Fatigue Group, and was responsible for setting up a business unit at the Edison Welding Institute in the USA. Whilst these were roles he performed as an employee of TWI, he brought much more to them and the Institute with his collaborative and consensus-building approach.

Through his experience and knowledge, Geoff was able to connect a broad range of speakers and participants to the Technical Group Meetings that he was responsible for. In addition to the organisation and running of these Technical Group Meetings, Geoff contributed a significant amount of time into reviewing and improving them, submitting comprehensive reports to the Director and the Professional Board.

His continuous support for The Welding Institute also extends beyond his role as a Technical Group Chair through his voluntary support of our accreditation activities, whilst also sitting on out Education Committee for many years. Geoff has also chaired accreditation visits with academic institutions, and volunteers as an academic review assessor for membership applications. His work also includes co-authoring the ‘Welding Engineer’s Guide to Fracture and Fatigue’ book, which still continues to be used by practitioners and experts within a range of fields and industry situations today.

The Welding Institute congratulates Geoff Booth on being a worthy recipient of The Loyal Service Award 2020!

Introduction

The Loyal Service Award is given by The Welding Institute’s Professional Board, in recognition of the outstanding service to the Branches of The Welding Institute!

Role with The Welding Institute

Eur Ing Alan Denney FWeldI CEng is a Fellow Member of The Welding Institute Joining in 1974, he has contributed significantly to support our London Branch throughout his time with The Institute.

Alans’ contribution and involvement to the London Branch extends over 45 years with him serving 40 years of that time on the Branch Committee. He is currently in his second term of being President of the London Branch which he undertook in 2014, and was also a role that he formerly carried out from 2003 to 2008. Alan was also the London Branch Programme Secretary from 2000 to 2015, a role that he is due to take on again later this year.

His support for the Branch includes assisting with organising speakers, venues, topics and funding for events whilst supporting and encouraging younger Members through mentoring.

Other ways that Alan has demonstrated his outstanding service to The Welding Institute includes his role as Chair of the Offshore Energy Technical Group and his role as the Acting Chair of The Welding Institute’s NDT Technical Group.

The Welding Institute would like to congratulate Alan Denney on winning the Loyal Service Award 2020 and for his continued support and contribution to The Welding Institute’s London Branch.