11 March 1999: A total of more than 160 specialist presentations and 18 short-courses will be the forum for drawing up perspectives on safety glass for the next millenium at the 6th Glass Processing D…
11 March 1999: A total of more than 160 specialist presentations and 18 short-courses will be the forum for drawing up perspectives on safety glass for the next millenium at the 6th Glass Processing Days in Tampere, which will be held in Finland between 13-16 June 1999. In a recent statement, organizers of the conference said it promises to be the largest of its kind to date. The practice of combining the views of researchers, industrialists and businessmen within one forum has solidly established itself within the world“s glass industry. The conference will provide participants with value for money, said Jorma Vitkala, Chairman of the Organizing Committee; “Our approach to the conference is one of efficiency and flexibility and this shows in all aspects of our preparations”. Three to four parallel sessions give an opportunity to plan individual attendance to fit special interests, and potential overlappings are covered by specialist corners to be visited when suitable. Running the conference with a tight and closely packed timetable, including social functions, assures the availability of leading experts throughout the event, Vitkala says. The conference offers the opportunity to join in the short-course program which starts on Friday, 11 June and continues over the weekend preceeding the actual conference. Savings on time use and travel expenses are available through Apex-ticketing arrangements, another benefit offered by the practical scheduling of the conference. The first short-course promises to be something special, Jorma Vitkala said, which will be a unique introduction to glass strength and application to automotive windshields by Dr. S.T. Gulati of Corning, Inc. It has been especially designed for the Glass Processing Days forum. Gulati has several decades of experience in practical glass processing, as well as the applicable high technology. Saturday, 12 June opens with a presentation by one of the developers of tempering theory, Dr. O.S. Naryanaswamy, Computer Simulations, on the quantitative treatment of stress generation in tempered glass. Naryanaswamy“s model on Glass Transition earned him the Ross Coffin Purdy Award of the American Ceramic Society and has become standard text book material, the organizers said. This insight into theory, dedicated to the Glass Processing Days“ audience, is followed on Sunday by a series of practical process presentations by several company representatives, including Tamglass specialists on horizontal tempering, bending and tempering, windshield processing and new dimensions on process monitoring and customer backup. Sunday“s short-course on TPM – Total Productive Maintenance – is a state-of the-art lecture on the interaction between manufacturing and service. Mr. Peter Willmott of WCS International, is one of the world“s leading authorities on the subject. After the conference, Willmott is expected to host a special occasion for a senior maintenance management, open to GPD-participants. The organizers have made provisions for re-scheduling of short-courses which fill up quickly, and depending on demand, they will therefore be repeated after the conference, says Jorma Vitkala. The total number of short-courses over the weekend preceeding the conference is seventeen and a post-conference short-course on glass in modern architecture follows on 17 June. This presentation by several leading specialists has been planned particularly for architects and building designers. Tamglass belongs to Kyro Corporation, which operates in the safety glass, telecommunications and energy industries. With headquarters in Tampere, Finland, the technology group Kyro has over 20 subsidiaries, production facilities and customer service units all over the world. Kyro has more than 800 employees, and its consolidated net sales in 1997 were FM 913 million (US$ 168 million). The Final Program for the Glass Processing is available from the organizers through: www.glassprocessingdays.com or telefax +358 3 3723180 For materials shipments and additional information phone or write: Mr. Jorma Vitkala, Chairman of the Organizing Committee phone +358 3 3723111, e-mail: jorma.vitkala@tamglass.com For additional information, contact: Ms. Anne Riekkola, Communications Manager phone +358 3 3723 102, fax +358 3 3723 109 e-mail: anne.riekkola@tamglass.com