Tribology 2008

The South African Institute of Tribology held their Ninth International Conference, Tribology 2008, at the University of Pretoria from 2 – 4 April 2008

TRIBOLOGY 2008: POST MORTEM - CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Click here to download the report as a pdf

Tribology 2008 Gallery (Click on thumbnail for larger view)

The 9th International Tribology Conference of the SAIT was an important event on the calendar of the SAIT and certainly also on the calendars of those interested in tribology.

It is always important to analyse the event and to confirm whether all expectations had been met – taking into account the fact that such a wide variety of expectations had to be met.

Firstly, the event was intended to attract speakers of international standing. The two plenary speakers, Prof John Williams from the University of Cambridge and Prof Thierry Blanchet from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, certainly paved the way for the 22 other speakers from abroad. This sets an all-time record for the number of overseas presenters. Papers by presenters from Botswana, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the UK and the USA, ensured a truly international representation, which was supplemented by local presenters.

Secondly, the event was intended to provide local presenters with an opportunity to report on their work. Of the local presentations, about half originated from South African universities and the rest from our industries. Although we could listen to only 8 papers from local industry, they were representative of our mining, automotive, power generation and lubricants industries, to name a few. The remaining 10 came from three of our universities – a sure sign that Tribology is not just a name, but rests on a solid foundation, slowly but surely growing just the way it was envisaged a long time ago by those pioneers of this exciting field of engineering. The organisers wish to extend their gratitude to each presenter who contributed to make this event a memorable one.

The third important element concerned delegates, where we achieved what we intended, namely to continue attracting more participants than the previous event. We again managed to increase the attendance, confirming that the SAIT is alive and well and that our local industry needs an event like this.

There was again excellent support form sponsors, both local and overseas. Whether the papers presented satisfied the needs of the delegates is a matter that the SAIT would like to receive feedback on. Clearly, the field of tribology encompasses much more than lubrication and wear. Going through the proceedings, I am sure that even the most critical delegate would have to admit that a lot is to be learned from experts in their respective fields and that, although not necessarily spot-on, many presentations contained something for everybody to enhance our common interest towards understanding more about the intricacies of surfaces in relative motion.

Looking through the topics presented, materials-oriented tribologists as well as those with a tendency towards lubricants and lubricated surfaces had a wide choice. Tribology has now also moved into the fields of micromachines and biosystems, as several papers presented so aptly illustrated.

With a total of 42 papers presented over the three days of the conference, with parallel sessions in the afternoon, delegates had the opportunity to select those closest to their specific fields of interest.

Adding to this the opportunity to meet with delegates from all over the world, the real value of an international conference could be experienced: meeting and discussing matters of mutual interest.