Tribology in Bulgaria. Beginning and Advance.

Friction Coating in Conditions of Selective Transfer, by Prof. Gottlieb Polzer (Germany), honorary member of RF Academy of Quality Issues.

Excursion in the Salt mines Wielicka near Krakow, INSYCONT 2010

Celebration of the 80th anniversary of Prof. Pytko, Symposium INSYCONT, 2010, Krakow

International Conference INSYCONT 2010, Cracow, Poland

The Conference INSYCONT 2010 in Cracow, Poland held from 7th to 9th July 2010, was dedicated to the 80th jubilee of Prof. DSc Stanislaw Pytko. A HONORARY DIPLOMA and MEDAL from the International Civil Academy of Sofia with President Prof. DSc Nyagol Manolov, for his significant contribution to the organizing, development and achievments in the field of Tribology was presented to Prof. Pytko by Assoc. Prof. Dr Mara Kandeva and Assoc. Prof. Dr Emilia Assenova.

The Conference INSYCONT is organized since 1982 at AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow. The scope embraces the following topics: Increasing the energy efficiency of friction pairs; Increasing the service life of friction pairs; Energy savings in anti-wear technologies; Ecological lubricants and lubrication systems; Isolation of friction pairs against energy and mass exchange with the environment. One plenary and two session papers were presented by Mara Kandeva and Emiilia Assenova.

The website of the Conference: http://www.kkiem.agh.edu.pl/insycont/

The Section Tribology and Tribotechnologies, Sozopol 2010, presenting of medals

Session of the Section Tribology and Tribotechnologies

From 13 to 16 September 2010 in Sozopol, Bulgaria, the International Jubilee Conference of the Faculty of Industrial Technology at the Technical University of Sofia with a new section „Tribology and Tribotechnologies" was held. The Program of this Section included also a Meeting of the Managing Committee of the Balkan Tribological Association (BTA) with the following agenda:

Discussion on the proposal for establishing a "College for Experts of the Balkan Tribological Association"; Proposals of the BTA member-countries for awarding a honorary academic degrees of the Interdisciplinary Civil Academy (Bulgaria) to eminent tribologists; Founding a Scientific Expert Tribological Council of the Balkan Tribological Association to the Interdisciplinary Civil Academy.

The meeting was chaired by the President of BTA Assoc. Prof. Mara Kandeva and the following decisions were taken:

• The BTA create International Academic School BALKANTRIB as a branch of the Interdisciplinary Civil Academy INGA, with abbreviation MASH-BALKANTRIB-INGA and subject of activity: preparation of highly qualified specialists, as well as of academic specialists, teachers and researchers in tribology; informational, organizational and scientific-methodological activities related to the development of the civil society.
• The Management of the School to be of three members: Assoc. Prof. Dr Mara Kandeva, Director; Assoc. Prof. Dr Emilia Assenova, Mediator and Assoc. Prof. Dr Nikola Tonchev, Vice director.
• The head quarter of the School is 5A Slavianska Str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.

During the meeting the following Balkan tribologists got awards HONORARY DIPLOMA and MEDAL from the International Civil Academy of Sofia with President Prof. DSc Nyagol Manolov, for their significant contribution to the organizing, development and success of the Balkan Tribological Association and BALKANTRIB:

Prof. Dr Niculae N. Antonescu, Romania; Prof. Dr Miroslav Babic, Serbia; Prof. DSc Slavi Ivanov, Bulgaria; Prof. Dr Hakan Kaleli, Turkey; Prof. Dr Andrei Tudor, Romania.

"Round table"

Meeting in Dean's office

The Serbian Tribology Society and the Faculty of Engineering Science in Kragujevac (Serbia) organized the 12th International Conference on Tribology – SERBIATRIB '11 from 11 to 13 May 2011. Participants from many countries, among them the USA, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Belarus, etc. took part. Professor Bharat Bhushan from The Ohio State University, Director of the Nanoprobe Laboratory for Bio- & Nanotechnology and Biomimetics gave a lecture: Nanotribology, Nanomechanics and Materials Characterization Studies and Applications to Bio/nanotechnology and Biomimetics. The lecture was open-access type. Professor Bhushan was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Kragujevac, Serbia.

Plenary Session, 6th Conference TQM, Belgrade, June 2011

During the paper presentations, 6th Conference TQM, Belgrade, 2011

The 6th International Working Conference Total Quality Management (IWC TQM) – Advanced and Intelligent Approaches was held from 6 to 11 June 2011 in Belgrade, Serbia and was organized by the Belgrade University, Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Laboratory for Production Metrology and CIRP, Paris, France. This traditional Conference was held as a part of International Quality Convention, Belgrade - 2011. Main Patron of the Conference was Carlsberg, Serbia and sponsors were: CIRP, Paris, France; Ministry for Science and Technology, Serbia; Informatics, Belgrade; National Institute for Metrology, Belgrade; Metalic Holding, Gornji Milanovac; Company Actavis, Leskovac; Fresenius Medical Care, Belgrade; Institute for Nuclear Science 'Vinca' – Department for certification, Belgrade; Microelectronica S.A., Bucharest, Romania; Company ‘’Sloboda’’, Cacak; Gemont, Belgrade.

What is IWC TQM? The Mechanical Engineering Faculty in Belgrade, that is, its Laboratory for Production Metrology and TQM established this Conference in 2001, with the support of the best-known scientific and professional organizations in the country and the world. The first Conference was held from 24th to 27th June, 2001 at Palic, the second from 26th to 28th May, 2003 in Kragujevac, the third from 30th May to 1st June, 2005 in Belgrade, and the 4th and the 5th in May 2007 and 2009, also in Belgrade. 250 participants attended the 6th Conference from 25 countries including Australia, Asia, Europe, South and North America. Three plenary sessions, 7 paper sessions, two workshops, a round table discussions and an industrial visit were held.

Bulgaria had 2 delegates, Prof. DSc Georgi Mishev and Ass. Prof. Dr. Emilia Assenova, presenting 3 papers: Actual problems of quality and management of engineering education and knowledge by Mara Kandeva, Emilia Assenova, Margarita Daneva; Modeling and estimation of the geometric quality of machined workpieces on CNC machine tools and conventional lathe by P. Marten, D. Danov, G. Mishev; Tribodynamics and evolution of human population in Europe and worldwide by Mara Kandeva, Margarita Manolova.

The main objective of the 6th TQM Conference was to provide an international forum around the world for the exchange of knowledge, experience, research results and information about various aspects of the state-of-the-art and the future development of total quality management. The scope of the Conference covers philosophical, scientific and practical concepts concerning research, development and application of TQM-based advanced approaches. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Business excellence models (applications and development trends); TQM & manufacturing management; World class performance; Attractive quality; Robust engineering; Six sigma model; Intelligent quality tools and methods; Virtual factory and virtual quality; Intelligent metrology in manufacturing; Intelligent and virtual CMM; Business process improvement; Breakthrough management; Organizational Excellence; Intelligent design for quality; Intelligent Business; Quality in Higher Education; Quality of the Public Services / health care; Advanced Quality approaches; Digital engineering/manufacturing; Manufacture initiative and Micro-nano manufacturing / Metrology.

7th Conference BALKANTRIB'11, Thessaloniki

The International Scientific October Fest "Engineering Production and Tribology" was held in Thessaloniki in the period 3 to 5 October 2011. The Conference BALKANTRIB'11 was one of the conferences in this Fest. The Conference "A" Coatings (Surface Coatings) is the result of the common efforts of four academic institutions: Laboratory for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Engineering (EEΔΜ), Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki, the Institute for Production Engineering and Machine Tools (IFW), University of Hannover, the Laboratory for Manufacturing Technology (LFT), University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Institute of Surface Engineering (IOT), RWTH Aachen University. "A" Coatings is carried out in Greece and Germany consecutively, Greece being host of this last 9th Conference. ICMEN, The International Conference on Manufacturing Engineering (the 7th Conference in this Fest) was established during the Hellenic Chairmanship of EUREKA 2001‐2002 (www.eureka.be), attaining in strengthening synergies between people involved in scientific research and those having to meet the rapidly increasing demands of industrial applications. The second (1996) and the seventh (3-5 октомври 2011) Conferences BALKANTRIB were held in Thessaloniki, Greece. The International Conferences BalkanTrib are supported by the Balkan Tribological Association, they are organized every three years since 1993, in various Balkan countries and aim at the collaboration stimulation between Balkan and other countries for developing research and development in tribology, as well as application aspects like innovative products and services. The International Scientific October Fest gathered 250 participants of different countries, which presented the last achievements in their spheres in the three conference rooms of the Hotel Makedonia Palace.

The Cocktail Meeting

Part of the Bulgarian delegation

The Balkan Tribological Association (BTA) Board Meeting took place in Amphitryon Ballroom of the Makedonia Palace hotel, on October 5th 2011, at 17.15. Chairman was Professor K.-D. Bouzakis, following members of the BTA were present: A. Michailidis, S. Mitsi, I. Tsiafis (Greece), Mitrovic Slobodan, B. Skoric, Vencl Aleksandar (Serbia), H. Cimenoglu, M.B. Karamis, C. Sinanoglu (Turkey), N.N. Andonescu, A. Tudor (Romania), E. Assenova, S. Ivanov, M. Kandeva, N. Manolov, M. Manolova-Daneva (Bulgaria). Obituaries were held for Prof. G. Petropoulos, Greece and Prof. Emanuel Diaconescu, Romania. The mandate of the chairmanship of BTA was passed by the Bulgarian party to the Greek team for the next 3 years. For the general report of the last mandate of BTA, reports from all countries are gathered, and should be unified and then published. The actualized status of Balkan Tribological Association : Until now, six countries are members of the Balkan Tribological Association (BTA), Bulgaria, FYROM, Greece, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. An invitation to other countries such as of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Russia, Slovenia should be sent, for becoming members of BTA. Each BTA member country of should investigate for contact persons in these potential candidate countries. It was suggested, that Professor Bouzakis receive this information and send invitation letters. In case of new entries, the BTA Board to be changed.

Information about the Journal of BTA: The impact factor of the journal is 0,182 (2011), rising from 0,101 in 2008, due to high scientific level of the papers published. The publishing of larger papers’ number was proposed for increasing the impact factor. As far as some statistics are concerned, 60% of the papers come from Balkan countries and the rest 40% from other countries worldwide. Manuscripts from 47 different countries have been published, with the majority dealing with chemicals. The scientific areas should cover other categories too, such as Mechanics, Bio-engineering, Surface Engineering, etc. Turkey has stated that the papers have to be reviewed strictly, since the papers’ scientific level increases the journal quality and the impact factor as well. Promotion via Internet. A journal website, with facilities of electronic paper submission should be created. Prof. Mitrovic expresses his interest to create a first version of the website of BTA. The financial matters were also discussed.

Lunch time

International School in Tribology (IST) and Statute of BTA. Professor Manolov and Professor Kandeva highlighted the planned International School in Tribology (IST) and some changes in the Statute of BTA, as it was discussed in the previous BTA-Meeting in Sozopol, Bulgaria, September 2010. Since all countries of BTA have not received the minutes from the Board Meeting in Sozopol, including discussions for the International School in Tribology, it was proposed, this issue to be discussed in a meeting organized especially for this purpose. The Bulgarian delegation insisted on making a decision concerning the operation of IST. Since all other delegates were not prepared for making a decision, they will receive information and decide whether they participate to IST and under which conditions. Decision should be taken at the next Meeting of BTA. Bulgaria passed the mandate of chairmanship of BTA to the Greek party for the next three years. For the period 2011-2014 the President of BTA will be Prof. K.-D. Bouzakis, Vice-president will be Prof. A. Mihailidis, both of the Aristoteles University in Thessaloniki. It has been decided that all questions related to BTA should be addressed to Prof. K.-D. Bouzakis. A decision was taken that the next conference BALKANTRIB’14 should be in Romania. The next meeting of the Managing Committee of BTA should be organized in 2012 by the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Manufacturing Engineering (EEΔΜ) at the Aristoteles University, Thessaloniki.

Prof. Manolov presents awards at BULTRIB 2011

Signing Agreement between the Mechanical Faculties of Sofia and Belgrade

Session Meeting BULTRIB 2011

Delegates gathering in the eve of the Conference BULTRIB'11

The National Conference BULTRIB’11 was held on October 28-29, 2011 in the International Meetings Center of the Technical University-Sofia, resuming the tradition of the international participation. 7 delegates from Serbia, Romania and Turkey took part with paper presentations and forty tribologists from Bulgaria with 25 lectures. Greetings were addressed by the Prof. Dr. Georgi Todorov, Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Technology, Prof. DSc Niagol Manolov, Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Civic Academy of Bulgaria, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mara Kandeva, Chairman of the Society of Bulgarian Tribologists.

At the opening of BULTRIB’11 Prof Manolov presented Prof Dr. Aleksandar Rac from the Tribology Laboratory, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Prof. Dr. Minodora Ripa from the Machine Elements Dept., Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University "Dunarea de Jos" of Galati, Romania, with Honorary Diplomas and medals of the Interdisciplinary Civic Academy for their significant contribution to the development and success of tribology and of the Balkan Tribological Association.

During the days of the conference, of Sofia an International Faculty Agreement of Cooperation was signed between the Faculty of Industrial Technology, Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia.

Now, 37 years after the launch of the word TRIBOLOGY in Bulgaria, the ideas of tribology have still not found pace in the development of science and technology in a persuasive manner. Tribology seeks more and more adherents. It is necessary a well-built Contact Network to be established in our country and in the Balkans in the sphere of tribology and the interdisciplinary sciences, having disposal of teams of specialists, which know and can solve tribological problems, and have the willingness to share this knowledge and skills with others who need them and are ready to learn how to solve problems. To have advanced information in the field of tribology. To know tribology. And to need it. To know where to find it, how to find it, whom to ask about it. Then to know what to do with it. Let us encourage those who seek solutions. To shorten the distance between us, between us and the business, between us and the governmental and non-profit organizations. Not to begin every time from zero, but to use the existing and gathered knowledge, and the experience on hand. In order that our way be easier.