Dear all

It's my pleasure to welcome you all to the 2020 International Welding & 3D Printing Conference, Kfar Hamaccabia, Ramat Gan, Israel.

I'm happy to welcome our distinguished expert guests from abroad and in particular, the President & the Director general of the American Welding Society (AWS), my dear friend Mr. Robert Roth (Bob) and the Chief Executive Officer of the International Welding Organization (IIW), my dear friend Mr. Luca Costa.

The Israeli National Welding Committee (INWC) as the AWS section in Israel and as a member of the IIW, works consistently, with determination and sensitivity and by looking forward to promote and upgrade the welding level in Israel. This extensive objective is achieved, through monthly meeting, by involvement in the preparation of standards at the Standards Institution of Israel, through seminars, annual conferences, collaboration with the Israeli industry and academy and more.

Moreover, during the last 20 years, the INWC which acts on behalf of the Association of Engineers and architects in Israel to certify more than 130 welding inspectors, based on the mutual recognition agreement signed with the American Welding Society (AWS) years ago.

We must internalize that qualitative welding means safety. On contrary, doubtful and non-reliable welding comes at the expense of workers safety and by endangering the environment.

I must make it clear that it's not just for certifying of Welding Inspectors that we act. In order to create a broader professional platform in the field of welding, I am pleased to announce that we have formulated a course for certifying Welding Engineers through a collaboration with an European organization accredited by the International Institute of Welding. During the seminar scheduled to 29/1/2020 the course program will be presented at the Association of Engineers and Architect's offices in Tel Aviv.

In this way, Certified Welding Engineers will work in Israel alongside with Welding Engineers and together will lead to an upgrading of the welding level in Israel.

Eventually, I would like to use this opportunity to invite you all to join the Israeli National Welding Committee and to contribute to our efforts to create a safer environment for us and for our children.

I wish you all a very fruitful, successful, meaningful and professional conference.

Sincerely yours,

Eng. Adi A. Atsits, Adv.

Chairman

The Israeli National Welding Committee