The President Writes.
Collaborations and Partnerships
As this is the special ICATS issue why, you may well ask, am I going on about collaborations and partnerships? Well, in fact it is precisely because it is the ICATS issue that I this is an important subject to discuss.

Collaborations and partnerships are the key to any successful endeavour. ICATS itself would have been impossible without collaboration and partnership. Initially a partnership between the Institute and the Highways Agency (HA) was developed, from which grew the ICATS task group. This resulted in a core collaboration between the Institute, Corus, Highways Agency, Network Rail, British Coatings Federation, Fairfield Mabey (and others, forgive the inevitable omissions). During the development process a critical partnership was forged between Fitzcoatings and the Institute to develop the ICATS content and delivery mechanism. Finally, an expanded partnership between the Institute and Argyll-Ruane, ICorr's current training course provider, is helping to roll out ICATS to the industry.

So, you see, continuing collaborations and partnerships are critical for the successful future of ICATS. I would commend all the articles in this issue to you. They describe the genesis, operational experience and current status of the scheme, together with some views and hopes for the future. We are convinced that ICATS is now incontrovertibly secured and that its operation through Correx Ltd. will benefit the Institute for many years in the future. Although I have said this before, it is incumbent upon me to give due praise to those who were involved with the ICATS development and who have helped bring it to this stage.They know who they are, I will not mention them again, but we are all very grateful for their efforts!

There is enough about ICATS elsewhere in this issue but, of course, ICATS is only one of many partnerships that the Institute has been involved with over the years. Many of these have involved training and educational schemes such as ICATS. Indeed, one of the primary aims of the Institute is to promote the understanding of corrosion science and corrosion technology to a wider public. As an educationalist I perhaps identify most strongly with this aim. However, the public perception of corrosion is very negative and difficult to change. Corrosion does "bad things" and "costs money" in most peoples' lives. The view that corrosion control is environmentally beneficial is little heard. As I write this I am listening to the BBC Radio 4 "PM" programme report on the leak of the oil pipeline in Alaska. This is one of the few times that I have ever heard positive comments about corrosion and corrosion control - thus, Eddie Mayer:"why is your corrosion control system only planned for a 99% leak-free rate?". A good question, why indeed as corrosion is now implicated in potentially damaging a small but significant part of the Arctic Tundra. But also a poorly informed question, as 99% leak-free for the average pipeline is pretty damn good.

It is clear that much more effort is required to inform and educate the public at all levels: from Kindergarten to University, from Checkout to Mechanic and from Pilot to Journalist. Indeed, you might well be shocked by how little materials training most general engineering courses at University now contain - sometimes only a few lectures in 4-5 years of study. With this small amount of material about Materials, how unsurprising is the lack of knowledge about materials degradation? Clearly, not surprising at all!

The Institute has been involved in the occasional initiative that attempts to expand or "outreach" our subject area. Mostly these have had little impact. At Manchester University, we are also involved in outreach programmes taking "good" and "bad" examples of corrosion into schools. Even here, as professional educationalists and in collaboration with school teachers, we have only had moderate success. It is clear that a much wider initiative is required that takes the best resources and ideas from a much wider base and pools them together in a coordinated fashion.

Therefore I am pleased to report here, for the first time, on a new International initiative whose aim is to counter all the poor publicity and negative attitudes associated with corrosion wheresoever and in whatever context they arise. Thus, in collaboration with the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC), the Australasian Corrosion Association (ACA), NACE International and the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection (CSCP) and at the recent NACE 2006 meeting in San Diego, I have agreed, on behalf of the Institute that it shall be a founder member of the World Corrosion Forum -sometimes being the "Executive President" has its advantages!

This will shortly be legally constituted as a joint not-for-profit entity, probably registered in Geneva or New York, with a view to acting as an International lobby in corrosion education and corrosion information.This is modelled on an existing body the International Organization of Materials, Metals & Minerals Societies (IOMMMS) with similar aims and structure.The eventual aim is to establish it as an International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), ideally affiliated to the United Nations.The WCF shall have a membership structure similar to the EFC with individual membership-based societies in each country affiliating. It's aims are quite clear and distinct from other existing bodies (e.g. the International Corrosion Council) and are, in my view challenging, ambitious and very necessary. One of the first ideas is to constitute a "World.Corrosion Day" similar to the current "World'Materials Day" first run in 2003 initially in the UK and repeated in 2005 with wider participating in Europe and elsewhere. This initiative is essentially schools-based and was adjudged an outstanding success. We intend that the WCF will repeat this success in due course

It is important to understand that the proposed WCF is a genuine collaboration and that no one party will dominate. Indeed the agreement that will bring the WCF into being will emphasise that, for the first time, the major International bodies in corrosion will undertake a genuine partnership in achieving, collectively, something that, individually, none of them would have been able to manage. That is why collaborations and partnerships are important.Today ICATS, tomorrow the World!

Stuart Lyon, Manchester
stuart.lyon@manchester.ac.uk