AWS SOCIETY EVENTS

7:00 – 8:30 AM

AWS PRAYER BREAKFAST

Room: N227b

This year’s speaker at the AWS Prayer Event will be Jim Berge. Jim Berge is a Welding Engineering graduate from LeTourneau University. He has spent 35 years in the robotic welding industry in a wide number of positions ranging from welding engineer to General Manager for a robotic welding company. For the past 20 years he has owned his own consulting and contract engineering company, helping companies who own robots. This has included everything from complete project management to troubleshooting, programming, and training. Today Jim works for LeTourneau University as a faculty member in the welding engineering department, and as Director of Engineering Outreach, reaching out on behalf of the Engineering Department to potential students and their families, to companies seeking to hire LeTourneau students, and to industries seeking to partner with LeTourneau in various ways.

He is a contributing writer for The Fabricator Magazine’s online presence, has presented many papers at technical conferences, and has served on technical committees including the AWS D16 Committee on Robotic and Automatic Welding. Jim has also written a book entitled Prayer, Quantum Physics and Hotel Mattresses, published in 2012 by Destiny Image, about dissolving the barrier between the seen and the unseen. It encourages followers of Christ to integrate their faith with their everyday lives. In this book, Jim uses examples from science and quantum physics to argue that the spiritual realm which surrounds us is part of the quantum field and cannot be separated from our secular lives. Jim is a devoted lover of Jesus, attending First Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana with his wife and two children. Among many hobbies and passions, guitar, travel, photography, and spending time with his family are at the top of the list.

8:30 – 10:00 AM

AWS OPENING SESSION / ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

Room: N228

During the AWS Opening Session and the 104th Annual Business Meeting, 2023 AWS President Mr. Dennis K. Eck will give the Presidential Report and Mr. Michael A. Krupnicki will be inducted as the AWS President for 2024. Following the induction, the 2023 Class of AWS Counselors will be introduced.

10:30 – 11:30 AM

COMFORT A. ADAMS LECTURE

Room: N228

The Comfort A. Adams lecture this year is titled “Intelligent GMAW, Process Developments, Application and Control” by John Norrish, Emeritus Professor of Welding at the University of Wollongong in Australia. He has more than 50 years involvement with welding technology in industry and academic research. He worked in R&D for BOC in the UK, and as a welding engineer for CIG in Australia. He led the welding group at Cranfield University in the UK, before taking up the Chair in Welding and Joining at Wollongong University in 1995. He has a special interest in arc welding process control, metal transfer phenomena, welding automation and additive manufacturing.

He has been a member of AWS for 33 years and was made a Fellow in 2018. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of TWI, Honorary Fellow of IIW and Founding Director and Fellow of the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) in Australia. Professor Norrish has more than two hundred publications in international journals and is also the author of a book – ‘Advanced Welding Processes’. Although formally retired from UOW in 2012, he became an Emeritus Professor and continues to be involved in research activities of the facility for intelligent fabrication (FIF).

6:30 – 8:30 PM

AWS OPENING RECEPTION – HILTON GRAND BALLROOM

9:15 – 10:00 AM

PLUMMER LECTURE - LOOKING BACK, WHILE LOOKING AHEAD AT THE FUTURE OF WELDING

Room: N227

James Mosman, Senior Customer Training Instructor at Lincoln Electric

12:00 – 2:00 PM

AWS NATIONAL AWARDS CEREMONY

Room: N228

As the Society and the Industry it serves have grown, so has the need to recognize outstanding scientists, engineers, welders, educators, and researchers. This Award Ceremony and Luncheon will serve to celebrate their incredible accomplishments. This is an invitation only event

2:30 – 3:30 PM

AWS NATIONAL NOMINATING COMMITTEE – OPEN MEETING

Room: N136

AWS members are requested to submit their recommendations for national officers to serve during 2025. Nominations must be accompanied by 20 copies of biographical material on each candidate, including a written statement by the candidate as to his/her willingness and ability to serve if nominated and elected.

12:00 – 2:00 PM

AWS RHENDA M. KENNY SECTION APPRECIATION AND MEMBER MILESTONE RECOGNITION EVENT

Room: N228

Held each year to coincide with FABTECH, the AWS Rhenda M. Kenny Section Appreciation and Member Milestone Recognition Event unites leaders from across the American Welding Society to celebrate the dedication and service of long-time members and outstanding volunteers, including AWS Section and Student Chapter Officers. Those in attendance are greeted by the current AWS President, Past AWS Presidents, Members of the Board of Directors, AWS Executive Director & CEO, and AWS Staff.

AWS members who have achieved a membership milestone – 25 years (Silver), 35 years (Life), or 50 years (Gold) – that year are welcomed to the stage to be formally recognized for their achievement. After reaching 50 years of membership, members are invited to the stage to be formally recognized every 5 years. To round out the celebration and inspire further action, the AWS Foundation recognizes Sections who have established a new Section-named scholarship during the previous year.