The Executive Committee recently awarded Dr. Thomas Waldenmaier the IFHTSE Honorary Vice Presidency. This award honors individuals who have supported the Federation continuously as valid partners and friends over many years while they served in functions of other associations or companies.
––He is the newest of only three Honorary Vice Presidents who has been appointed in the Federation’s history. Currently he is President of IFHTSE’s German member association AWT.
The citation reads:
“For his continued support for IFHTSE, his constructive cooperation and advice in the Governing Council and work groups, most prominently his creation of the German language section of the IFHTSE glossary, and his many contributions to IFHTSE conferences.”
Dr. Waldenmaier studied process technology at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, and earned his Ph.D. there in 2000.
After employments at two universities in research, he took the position of leader and senior expert for heat-treatment technology in the corporate Research and Advance Development section of Robert Bosch GmbH, which also includes a well-equipped experimental hardening shop.
He has been the patron of the company’s membership in IFHTSE since the beginning. He has ample knowledge not only in the realm of heat-treatment processes but also in the many practical applications.
This allows him to contribute to our discussions and offer valuable and interesting questions, considerations, and advice from the viewpoint of the needs and interests of experts and conference participants from industrial companies.
Always prepared and to the point, while knowledgeable about the respective facts, he is a great asset to the plans and decisions of the Governing Council regarding the future activities of the Federation.
Apart from innumerable talks and reports in conferences and expert groups of his national association AWT, Dr. Waldenmaier has given three lectures in IFHTSE conferences, including a keynote, and has often served in scientific committees.
As an excellent promoter of young talents, he has supervised 11 PhD students and has had them and other coworkers regularly give talks in IFHTSE conferences.
His students and coworkers have won four speaker awards, one of which was the Tom Bell Young Speaker Award. Apart from being a pioneer in first applications of machine learning, he also employs experimental and model-based methods in his scientific research. In his role of AWT president, he is active in the coordination of AWT and IFHTSE for the preparation of the 31st IFHTSE World Congress in Germany.
Dr. Waldenmaier was one of the principal contributors to the work group on the IFHTSE glossary. His ideas helped define the setup, such as sources, objectives, format, and relation to other databases. Above all, he entered as many as more than 2,500 German terms to the glossary.
He was also active in the IFHTSE workgroup on company membership with definition of terms and opportunities and with the suggestion of awards.
His leading role in a standardization committee completes the picture of a person committed to cooperation and coordination in our community, a valid supporter of IFHTSE’s objectives and mission.
Conference Updates
1st IFHTSE World Congress
October 13-15, 2026
Cologne, Germany
The 31st IFHTSE World Congress is organized by AWT – Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wärmebehandlung + Werkstofftechnik e. V. and will be in Cologne, Germany, October 13-15, 2026, at the International Conference and Trade Fair.
In addition to the World Congress, the event will also feature HK 2026 and the European Conference on Heat Treatment 2026.
The preliminary conference program at www.hk-awt.de/program plans as many as 100 oral presentations and a poster show.
There will be a plenary discussion on “Models and Applications of AI Tools in Material Science and Heat Treatment” with an expert panel.
Two IFHTSE medalists will give their lecture:
- Sabine Denis of École des Mines de Nancy, France, new IFHTSE Medalist, will speak about “Coupled thermal-phase transformation-stress models for the prediction of residual stresses and distortions in heat treatment of metallic alloys.”
- Marcel Somers of the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby, recently awarded with AWT’s Martens-Medaille, will speak about “The pivotal role of nitrogen in exploring and exploiting heat treatment and surface engineering; from nitriding to cryogenic treatment.” Additional keynote speakers include Evgeniya Kabliman (Digitalization) and Thomas Christiansen (additive manufacturing).
More info www.hk-awt.de
32nd IFHTSE World Congress | ECHT 2027
Milan, Italy
April 28-30, 2027
The dates for this conference have changed. All other details remain the same.
Organized by Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia, this event combines the IFHTSE World Congress and ECHT. The event is dedicated to researchers, engineers, metallurgists, and industry leaders seeking to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and large-scale industrial application.
- Conference Chair: Prof. Massimo Pellizzari.
- Co-Chair: Lesley Frame (IFHTSE President).
Deadlines
- Abstract Submission Deadline: November 20, 2026.
- Notification of Acceptance: January 15, 2027.
- Early Bird Registration: February 5, 2027.
- Full paper or extended abstract: March 5, 2027.
