News

Professor Dame Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS, has been appointed as the new President of The Welding Institute.

Appointed by The Welding Institute Council on 28 September 2022, she is the first female president appointed since the formation of The Institute nearly one hundred years ago back in 1923.

Baroness Brown has achieved many accolades in her lifetime including graduating from the University of Cambridge with an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Fracture Mechanics. She has also been awarded the Grunfeld, John Collier, Lunar Society, Constance Tipper, Bengough, Kelvin and Leonardo da Vinci medals; as well as the Erna Hamburger Prize and the 2012 President's Prize of the Engineering Professors' Council.  In addition, she has been involved in chairing the Science and Technology Select Committee, the Carbon Trust, STEM Learning Ltd and the Adaptation Committee of Climate Change Committee.

Her preceding roles include a decade spent as the Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, being the Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College, London, and a multitude of senior business and engineering posts at Rolls-Royce plc.

Baroness Brown has published over 160 papers on fatigue and fracture in structural materials and on developments in aerospace and marine propulsion technologies. Additionally, she is the holder of 10 honorary degrees and is an honorary Fellow of IoMMM, IET, the British Science Association, the Energy Institute and the Society for the Environment.

Julia King was announced as a life peer in the House of Lords on 13 October 2015 by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, with her title officially gazetted as Baroness Brown of Cambridge on 30 October 2015.

Speaking on the appointment, TWI CEO Aamir Khalid said, “We are delighted to welcome Baroness Brown as the new President of The Welding Institute, where her wealth of experience and standing in the industrial community speaks for itself.”

The Welding Institute is pleased to welcome Professor Dame Julia King, Baroness Brown’s new presidency.  

Last month The Welding Institute’s Northumbria Branch hosted its 88th Annual Dinner, Showcase and Student of the Year Awards 2022 at the Newcastle Civic Centre. With over 245 people in attendance, including 16 local companies showcasing their goods and services, the Annual Dinner was a success! Student Awards The annual dinner also included a Student Achievement Awards Ceremony with the winners being: 1st place: Courtney Newton – WD Close 2nd place: Daniel Bishop – Dyer Engineering 3rd place: Bradley Mitchell – Responsive Engineering 4th place: Mollie Leach – A&P Tyne 5th place: Ryan Anderson – Francis Brown Congratulations to all student award winners and entrants and additionally thank you to all of the award sponsors: Lincoln Electric, Gorilla Workwear and Eng EPA. Younger Members’ Vice Chair and Northumbria Branch representative and Dyer Engineering SHEQ Assurance Engineer, Adam Black AWeldI, supported in the coordination and organisation of this event and provided the following statement: “This event was a bit of a trailblazer with the numbers in 2020 down to 90 attending we knew we had to freshen it up and get as much recognition and support for the next generation of students. To do this we added networking and the company showcase and got to work promoting the event, luckily this was a huge success with numbers in attendance hitting 245, 16 companies showcasing themselves and networking, over £5000 worth of prizes to give away on the night and, the highlight, student of the year award!!! There were over 20 entrants, with 10 interviewed, the top 5 making it to the evening and top 3 separated by a single point!!! What an evening what an event and what a lot of talent we have on show!!! My role as Vice Chair on the Younger Members’ Committee (YMC) gives me the chance to inspire. I remember reading a quote “Legacy is not what I did for myself it’s what I’m doing for the next generation,” how true can that be? We need to excite, engage and inspire to keep achieving and excelling the next generation of engineers. The opportunity we have to do this by showcasing the industry means everything and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve as a Branch and a YMC over the coming years!!!” TWI Head of Marketing, Mike Emmett AWeldI was also in attendance at the annual dinner and provided the following statement: “A tremendously well organised event, with a wealth of sponsors from across industry. It was a very special moment to see the young apprentices and students, being rewarded for excellence and making them front and centre of the event.” The Welding Institute would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all those involved in organising, coordinating, volunteering and executing this successful event! Check out their amazing drone footage and video of the event on their YouTube: Look out for - Members will also be able to find out more about this event and the winners in the Younger Members’ section of the next edition of our ‘Welding and Joining Matters’ Journal!

We would like to inform our Members in the Tees Valley region of the Materials Integrity Technology Transfer (MITT) initiative, a FREE business support scheme created to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in the Tees Valley region.

The scheme has seen companies in the region gain free support with issues ranging from troubleshooting production problems, compliance with codes and standards, ensuring quality control, and integrating new processes, technologies and software.

Delivered by TWI’s welding engineers, the programme provides several days of free, globally respected, authoritative and impartial expert advice, knowhow and safety assurance through engineering, materials and joining technologies, including bespoke support to suit your organisation.

The MITT programme is open to companies in the Tees Valley area (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees) who employ less than 250 people, you can find out more at the dedicated MITT website.

The Materials Integrity Technology Transfer (MITT) project is part of the Tees Valley Centre for Materials Integrity Programme, which is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020) and Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Discover more about our current vacancies for Committee Members for Professional Board and Professional Members for Council below:

Annual Call for Committee Members for Professional Board

All Professional Members of The Welding Institute are invited to apply for one of the eight vacancies on the Professional Board of The Welding Institute. Candidates from currently under-represented groups (e.g. women, younger Members, non-Caucasian) are particularly encouraged to apply.

The Professional Board is responsible for the regulations governing individual Professional Membership and registration with the Engineering Council. It also oversees the work of the Branch Management Committee. As part of our governing arrangements, new Members are appointed to the Board each year to ensure the work of the Board remains relevant and representative of our Members’ interests.

Candidates need to complete an application form illustrating how they meet the selection criteria and outlining what they can contribute to the Board.

Appointments are initially for 3 years with a potential further 3 years if re-elected.

These posts are voluntary, but reasonable out of pocket expenses will be met by The Welding Institute.

The application form and more information can be found on The Welding Institute website, here.

Please contact the Professional Membership Office if you would like to talk to a member of the Team.

Applications should be submitted to: theweldinginstitite@twi.co.uk by 17 July 2022.

Annual Call for Professional Members for Council

All Professional Members of The Welding Institute are invited to apply for a place on Council. We welcome applications from a diverse range of social and economic groups and especially from underrepresented groups.

Applicants will preferably, but not exclusively, be current or recent Members of Professional Board.

Council and its delegated bodies are responsible for the co-ordination and strategic management and oversight of The Welding Institute group of companies. The organisation is managed on a day to day basis by a Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Board.

Applicants should have experience in one or more of the following areas:

■ Human resources, diversity, equality and inclusion

■ Health, safety and wellbeing (strategy and culture)

■ Finance (management, audit and/or risk)

■ International business and commercial development (for example legal, commercial, contractual, international trade, management of foreign subsidiaries)

■ Business governance

■ Strategic (for example information technology, cyber security, strategic development)

Candidates will need to submit their CV and a covering letter setting out how they meet the selection criteria and outlining what they can contribute to the Council.

Appointments are initially for 3 years with a potential further 3 years if re-elected.

These posts are voluntary, but reasonable out of pocket expenses will be met by The Welding Institute.

More information can be found on The Welding Institute website, here.

Applications should be submitted by 17 July 2022 via this link

https://www.twi-global.com/careers/current-vacancies#/

WELDING BASICS FOR ENGINEERS – OPTIMAL JOINT DESIGN FOR WELDING

5 JULY 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (UK Time)

Following on from the successful launch of our back-to-basics webinar series with our Welding and Joining Processes Technical Group earlier this year, we are excited to announce that our Structures and Infrastructure will also be launching their first back-to-basics webinar looking at optimal joint design for welding on the 5 July.

Event overview:

Poor welded joint design and misunderstanding can result in additional costs and lower quality.

Attendees will get an insight into some of the issues associated with poor joint design, and be given guidance on:

o how to avoid problems

o when to question requirements

o how to provide the best solutions

This webinar is aimed at design engineers, draughting personnel, welding engineers, inspection and testing personnel, fabrication supervisors and fabrication planners working in civil engineering, construction, typically steelwork for bridges and buildings.

Speaker Panel and Presentations:

Julian French, Partner at Sandberg LLP

Problems associated with poor joint design

Tom Cosgrove, Consultant at Sandberg LLP

Designing optimum joints for welding

FULL EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS

We recently interviewed The Welding Institute’s Southern Counties Branch to find out more about them and their Branch activities.

About The Welding Institute’s Southern Counties Branch

The Branch restarted, after a few years of inaction, on 28 April 2016 and currently has seven Committee Members and approximately 100 Branch Members, while its membership continues to grow (find out more about joining the Southern Counties Branch).

How does the Southern Counties Branch operate?

The Branch Committee organises and facilitates regular online meetings to keep in contact, network and deliver presentations. You can keep up-to-date with their upcoming events here.

How do you encourage Younger Members to take part in activities?

The Branch interacts with colleges and training organisations to inform them about careers in welding and engineering. Additionally, Adrian Simister EngTech TechWeldI is the Southern Counties Younger Members’ Committee Representative, working with our Younger Members’ Committee (YMC) to promote and aid the engagement of younger engineers in a supportive professional network, encouraging and assisting their professional and career development (find out more about our YMC).

What type of meetings, webinars and social events do you run?

All throughout the lockdowns, the Southern Counties Branch continued to deliver meetings and presentations online, something that they are continuing moving forward for committee meetings to enable more people to attend.

Within the past couple of years, the Southern Counties Branch has been delivering a range of technical talks online and, more recently, has been offering some in-person site visits and events with expert speakers from across industry, amassing over 950 registrations from both Members and Non-Members. Some of these include:

- The Welding Quality Standard for Industry - EUR ING Mike Baverstock MSc CEng FWeldI

- Southern Counties Branch AGM and talk - The Cutting Edge: The development of swords – Stephen Cater (Principal Project Leader TWI)

- Practical aspects of welding aluminium – Jan Lukaszewski BSc. MBA. C.Eng. FIET. CQP. FCQI (Technical Manager, ALFED)

- Rapid Welding site visit - Rapid Welding

- A presentation on the TWI Welding Qualifier Software - Andy Brightmore (TWI)

- Southern Counties Branch AGM and talks from Lincoln Electric and the AWFTE - Paul Bryant (Chair of the AWFTE) and Steve Parnell (Lincoln Electric)

- Site Visit to Ultramag Inspection (NDT) and Training facilities - Ultramag Inspection (NDT)

What are the benefits of joining the Southern Counties Branch and why do its volunteers support the running of the Branch?

The Southern Counties Branch Committee offered the following, “Welding/engineering is a fascinating subject and it’s talking to like-minded people who share the same interests that drives people to volunteer and join the Branch. We all have been helping the Branch for quite a few years with the aim of trying to get more people interested in the subject and career.”

From the Branch Chair Chris Simmonds BSc CEng MWeldI, “Having been involved with testing and inspection for over thirty years, I feel it very important that our committee Members can offer support and encouragement to all our Members and those engaged in the welding and inspection industry. We aim to encourage younger Members to join our Branch and offer those already involved, options for career progression and opportunities to gain much more knowledge and experience."

Branch Secretary EUR ING Mike Baverstock MSc CEng FWeldI, also noted, “I run my own company welding consultancy business, so I visit a lot of different companies and I see how short some of the companies are of skilled welders and, so, getting to new people in the industry is very important, this is one of my motivations.”

Where do you see your Branch in 5 years’ time?

The Branch Committee outlined that they see the Branch as, “hopefully a bit bigger, but this will depend upon getting younger people involved. We are also working towards introducing a welding competition for local schools to act as an introduction to welding and engineering as a career.”

We are excited to invite you to attend our upcoming Structural Integrity Technical Group webinar titled, ‘Weld Flaw Acceptance Criteria for New Pipelines,’ on the 21 June 2022, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM (UK Time).

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Attendees will learn about the implementation of fracture mechanics methods, (Engineering Critical Assessment = ECA), to derive flaw acceptance criteria for pipeline girth welds. In particular, overviews of the main standards applied for this purpose will be discussed, e.g. CSA Z662, API 1104 and DNV-OS-F101/RP-F108. Challenges introduced with the use of ECA will be discussed and the event will be rounded off with presentations on fatigue assessment for offshore risers and future challenges for the use of ECA on pipelines.

This webinar is aimed at materials, welding and NDT engineers, fracture mechanics specialists, pipeline engineers and all others who are interested in pipeline integrity, especially those involved in pipeline construction whether it is onshore or offshore.

SPEAKERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Practical Implementation of ECA Based Weld Flaw Acceptance Criteria in Canada - David Horsley, Consultant (Horsley Consulting Ltd)

API 1104 Appendix A – Past, Present and Future - Dr Robin Gordon, Senior VP (Microalloying International)

DNV’s Recommended Approach for Assessing Flaws in Pipeline and Riser Girth Welds – DNV-RP-F108 - Steinar Bjerke, Principal Specialist (DNV)

Challenges Implementing ECA Based Flaw Acceptance Criteria - David Reeves, Senior Engineer Materials and Welding (Nova People AG)

Quantifying Probability of Fatigue Failure in Offshore Risers; an Alternative to the Use of Design Fatigue Factors (DFF) - Dr Isabel Hadley, Technology Fellow (TWI Ltd) 

Presentation co-authored by: Alexandre Galiani Garmbis (Petrobras), Justin Crapps (ExxonMobil)

ECAs. The Future? - Dr Andrew Cosham, Consultant (Ninth Planet Engineering Limited)

FULL EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS

MATERIALS TECHNICAL GROUP EVENT

10 MAY 2022

Weld cracking is a serious issue that has the capability to lead to the catastrophic failure of welded structures, vessels, pipelines and other assets and continues to pose a very real and significant threat.

The knowledge of crack types and understanding of the mechanisms that enable cracking to arise are both essential to ensure the avoidance of cracking.

Another requirement is a knowledge of the factors that cause cracking. Materials susceptibility, joint design, welding process and procedure details, including consumable selection, pre-heat, heat input and post weld heat treatment etc., all play an important role. Capability and selection of non-destructive testing techniques is also of paramount importance, as are in-service conditions and inspection strategies.

This Materials online Technical Group event will delve into this crucial subject drawing on the knowledge and experience of TWI experts and speakers from industry.

Cracking types and mechanisms will be explored, including multiple exemplifying case studies. Mitigation methods and management strategies will also be explored.

It will be of particular interest to metallurgists, materials scientists and engineers, welding engineers, project engineers and managers in the power generation and process plant, oil and gas, structural and construction industries.

EVENT AND REGISTRATION DETAILS 

The Welding Institute’s Structures and Infrastructure Technical Group will be hosting an online event titled, ‘The Use of High Strength Steels for Structures,’ on the 27 April 2022.

With standards covering the design, execution and materials for use in structural steelwork all now including high strength steels up to S960, it is expected that these higher steel grades will be specified in the future as the drive for carbon reduction intensifies. However, the execution of these standards and general experience in the structural steelwork industry may not yet meet the challenges that these higher strength steels will present.

This event will examine some of the challenges that should be considered and how they might be addressed.

The event will be of particular interest to designers, fabricators, engineers, inspectors, managers.

Our panel of speakers include:

Simeon Tulip, Engineering Manager - Metallurgy, BAE Systems Submarines - ‘Manufacture of High Strength Steels’

Tom Cosgrove, Fabrication and Welding Consultant, Sandberg LLP – ‘High Strength Steel Design Considerations’

Jeff Garner, Welding Consultant, Manor Welding Technology Ltd. – ‘Welding of High Strength Steels’

Find out more about the event and register.

The new journal ‘Welding and Joining Matters’:

The Welding Institute is about to publish a new journal ‘Welding and Joining Matters,’ which will be a lively and easily read journal covering all aspects of welding, joining, and fabrication as well as inspection and structural performance of all classes of materials and welded products.

It will have articles of interest for all personnel working in these industries. The focus is to provide content that will provide the reader with practical and industry-based knowledge. It will represent the technical interests of all our members and will be available as an electronic and hard copy publication.

The role of correspondent:

The intent is to provide information and insight into the news, activities and interests of our members across the globe. We will have regular sections of the journal devoted to our Younger Members and to activities in the Branches and our overseas members.

We are looking for a Branch correspondent to bring together information from the branches and from overseas members and a Younger members correspondent. Their roles are to source, collect and collate information arising from these groups, their jobs and the industries represented and channel it to the journal’s editorial team for presentation in the journal.

When and where:

In its first year Welding and Cutting Matters will be published four times.

Correspondents will feed material directly to the editor of Welding and Cutting Matters. The closing date for editorial content for each issue will be approximately two months before publication date.

Requirements:

There are two roles:

The Branch Correspondent

The Branch correspondent will liaise with each branch to solicit material for the journal reflecting the branch, its membership and activities. They will also be in contact with specific overseas members to reflect activities in their parts of the world. The branch correspondent will then pass the material to the editor (who will review for publication).

The Younger Members’ Correspondent

The Younger Members’ correspondent will be a contact point for the YM committee with the role of sourcing or generating material on the activities of the younger members and feeding this to the editor (who will review for publication).

Nominations

Volunteers or nominations are requested for these two roles. If you are interested or if you wish to nominate someone who you know to be interested please send the offer or nomination to: theweldinginstitute@twi.co.uk