In the conference organized in Hamburg in June, 2011, German Welding Society (DVS) and numerous industry leaders deliberated on the role of joining technology vis-a-vis fast changing requirements in energy sector and automotive sector.

As Germany has now discarded nuclear energy, new challenges have come up in energy generation in Germany requiring due attention to renewable energies. Role of joining technology was discussed in relation to wind power, solar energy, and bio-fuels.

At the end of the conference, following selected core statements were decided:

• Renewable energies are the driving force behind further developments in joining technology
• Only sustainable joining technology guarantees sustainable production and sustainable economic activity
• The need for sustainable products, services and solutions can only be satisfied in an economically profitable way with joining technology
• Joining technology supplies material and production solutions for the mobility and energy mix of the future
• Also, in an economy characterized by sustainability, joining technology will make a decisive contribution to economic growth
• With joining technology, the construction method and the energy yield of the wind power installations can be coordinated in an optimum way
• In the field of solar energy, joining technology is being assigned the task of supplying appropriate processes and knowledge so that the companies can exploit the existing innovation potential to the full
• Automotive technology will remain the driving force behind joining technology
• Sustainable production cannot be implemented without the correspondingly trained specialists. The research, technology and education relating to joining technology must therefore take account of the aspect of sustainability to equal extents
• Without joining technology there’s no such thing as sustainability, no such thing as the energy change of the future

These are powerful statements on how joining technology will play a key role in ensuring sustainable industrial development in the years to come. The noteworthy point is the statement relating to the need for “education, technology, research and trained specialists” in joining technology.
Keeping in mind that today Germany ranks as one of the leading nations with the highest standard and wide variety of engineering industries and also maintaining the requisite pace of progress from year to year, we can all visualize that their industry leaders have come out with such emphatic statement because of the vital importance of joining technology to industrial progress.

This aspect needs to be thought over and realized as to why welding holds out great opportunities of professional career in our country in the next several years.

This article is shared by AWPM member Mr. D S Honavar, Director of M/s Honavar Electrodes Pvt. Ltd.