The International Academy for Production Engineering

NEWSLETTER
N° 61 – Spring 2021

CIRP Office: 9, rue Mayran, 75009 Paris France, tel. +33 1 45262180 - Fax +33 970 600 595
e-mail cirp@cirp.net - web site: http://www.cirp.net

Contents
FROM THE PRESIDENT ...................................................................................................................................... 3
FROM THE EDITOR ........................................................................................................................................... 4
NEWS FROM MEMBERS ................................................................................................................................... 5
CIRP VIRTUAL ................................................................................................................................................... 7
CIRP 2020 VIDEO PAPER SESSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 7
CIRP 2021 WINTER MEETING .................................................................................................................................... 7
ELECTIONS BY ELECTRONIC VOTES FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING 2020 ........................................... 8
FROM THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE ................................................................................................................ 10
CIRP KEYNOTE PAPERS ................................................................................................................................... 15
NEWS FROM THE RESEARCH AFFILIATES ........................................................................................................ 19
OUR CIRP CONFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 23
52ND CIRP CONFERENCE ON MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS (12 – 14 JUNE 2019, LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA) ............................... 23
2ND CIRP CONFERENCE ON COMPOSITE MATERIAL PARTS MANUFACTURING (10 – 11 OCTOBER 2019, ROTHERHAM, UK) ..... 25
16TH CIRP CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER AIDED TOLERANCING (15 – 17 JUNE 2020, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, USA) .... 27
53RD CIRP CONFERENCE ON MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS (1-3 JULY 2020, CHICAGO, USA - HOSTED VIRTUALLY) .................. 29
11TH CIRP CONFERENCE ON PHOTONIC TECHNOLOGIES [LANE 2020], (07-10 SEPTEMBER 2020, VIRTUAL CONFERENCE)..... 32
8TH CIRP CONFERENCE ON ASSEMBLY TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS – CATS 2020 (29 SEPTEMBER – 01 OCTOBER 2020,
ATHENS, GREECE).................................................................................................................................................. 34
8TH CIRP GLOBAL WEB CONFERENCE – CIRPE 2020 OCTOBER 14-16, 2020 .................................................................. 37
20TH CIRP CONFERENCE ON ELECTRO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL MACHINING (19 - 21 JANUARY 2021, ON-LINE) .................... 39
FUTURE CIRP CONFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 45
NEW BOOKS FROM OUR MEMBERS ............................................................................................................... 46
FROM THE CIRP OFFICE .................................................................................................................................. 48
NEWS.................................................................................................................................................................. 48
FUTURE CIRP MEETINGS ........................................................................................................................................ 48

2

From the President
Dear CIRP Colleagues,
Many people in the world have been suffering from the novel
coronavirus for the past year. It is far from being over although thedevelopment of the vaccine and the carrying out of the vaccination
are believed to be improving the situation. The paradigm is shiftingat an increasing tempo where the importance of technology is
rapidly growing for sensing in the physical space, digitalization suchas IoT, AI and DX, and the usage of cyberspace, including the
hardware development for semiconductor and communicationequipment.
The importance to protect the global environment has not beenchanged even under the coronavirus situation. I thought that the
movement of decarbonization would decelerate under this situation. However, contrary to my
expectations its progress has been accelerating. It is said that we have now entered the
Anthropocene, which is the geologic age where human activity affects the entire earth system.
There is a possibility that unrecoverable environmental changes will occur if the tolerance limits
are exceeded for nitrogen cycle, climate change and biodiversity loss. The realization of carbon
neutral in 2050 was declared at the Paris Agreement. It is also said, however, that theirreversible environmental destruction will occur if we do not reduce by half the greenhousegas emissions by 2030. We actually have only 10 years left.
I think CIRP should take the initiative to provide a solution for this issue and play the initiatorcollaborating with other institutions as a leading international academy in productionengineering, which consists of more than 600 members from 50 countries. I believe that we
could unite and discharge our responsibility with the cooperation of all members.
I guess that many people have re-recognized the value of face-to-face communication undercoronavirus situation which CIRP has cherished so far. Mutual trust and empathy are important
for the community. It is the same for CIRP. I hope that CIRP would contribute to Sustainability
and SDGs by recovering the physicality, which was lost with the communication in cyberspace,effectively using advanced information interface and media, which are research topics inthemselves and even though still under development.
With best regards,

Mamoru MITSUISHI
President of CIRP 2019-2021

3

From the editor
Dear CIRP colleagues,
It is a pleasure to present the next CIRP newsletter.
Besides the well used CIRP website (www.cirp.net), the newsletterbrings any kind of news from CIRP members and for CIRP members.
All kind of news (news from members, awards, books written bymembers,…) relevant for our CIRP academy, is always welcome. Organizers of CIRP
conferences are invited to send a small report (high lights, pictures,..) that can be publishedin the newsletter.
Input can be sent to the CIRP office (cirp@cirp.net) or directly to Technical Secretary
Special thanks to the many CIRP conference organizers to respond to the request to submit abrief report of the highlights of the conferences to be included in the newsletter. A brief reportof eight organized conferences in included in this issue.

Bert Lauwers
CIRP Technical Secretary4News from Members
Order of Canada awarded to Professor Hoda ElMaraghy
Professor Dr. Hoda ElMaraghy has received Canada's highest
civilian honor, the Order of Canada. “This honor, one of thehighest in the country, has been conferred upon you by Her
Excellency the Right Honorable Julie Payette, Governor Generalof Canada. It is a testament to your outstanding achievement andservice to the nation”.
The official announcement from Rideau Hall in Ottawa, was madeon 27 November 2020. The investiture ceremony in Ottawa will
be held at a later date.
Professor ElMaraghy is a renowned scholar and researchinnovator, an inspiring educator, leader and role model, whoseseminal contributions in manufacturing systems research havebeen recognized nationally and internationally with numerous
prestigious awards and accolades. Her vast contributions to modern manufacturing systems’
paradigms, flexibility and changeability have changed the way factories are currently designed
and operated.
https://www.gg.ca/en/activities/2020/governor-general-announces-114-new-appointmentsorder-canada

5

Professor Sung-Hoon Ahn elected as President of the
Academic Society for Appropriate Technology and
Associate Member of National Academy of Engineers of
Korea
Professor Sung-Hoon Ahn at Seoul National University, Korea waselected as the President of the Academic Society for Appropriate
Technology (ASAT). The society covers wide areas of engineering andtechnology such as manufacturing, energy, environment, architecture,
ICT, water, agriculture, medical-health as well as less-technical areas
including, climate change, education, regional development,international cooperation, and official development assistance (ODA).
Although the appropriate technology has been historically applied todeveloping countries, he proposed a new application of appropriatetechnology to smart manufacturing for small and medium enterprise(SME). Using this Appropriate Smart Manufacturing approach,multifunctional sensor, edge computing with low cost IoT, small datawith data reduction, and appropriate AI have been applied to SMEs of Korea.
In January, he was also elected as the associate member of The National Academy ofEngineering of Korea (NAEK), a leading group of engineering technology whose members
have made remarkable contributions to the technological development in universities,
companies, and research institutes. NAEK mediates between government and society,proposes effective policies on social issues related to industrial and engineering, and createsound public opinion.
Professor Ahn's research interests include smart factory, sensor, soft robotics, additive
manufacturing, green manufacturing, and renewable energy. His major awards include
Sinyang Engineering Award, Gaheon Award, Seoul National University Education Award, LG
Yonam International Visiting Fellowship, Minister’s Commendation from Ministry of Science,
ICT and Future Planning of Korea, and Presidential Commendation of Korea. He is the editorin-chief of the International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing - GreenTechnology and Outside Director of Hyundai WIA Corporation.
Within CIRP, his major STCs are S and E.

6

CIRP virtual
CIRP 2020 video paper sessions
Due to the worldwide pandemic, the General Assembly 2020 has been postponed to theupcoming General Assembly 2021, to be organised by the Munich team, but still in an on-line
mode. The decision was made to have all 2020 papers presented through video paper
sessions, embedded within the CIRP website and complemented with a forum for discussions
between authors/presenters and CIRP members and guests.
The 2020 video paper sessions were viewed by about 440 viewers. Together they viewed
around 3180 presentations, over a time frame of about 35 days. Interesting to indicate that the
maximum views for one of the presentations was 72.

CIRP 2021 winter meeting
The CIRP 2021 winter meetings were organised using the ZOOM platform. Most of themeetings (STC, WG,..) where organised from Monday till Friday, and scheduled each day from13:00 till 16:00 (CET) in order to accommodate most of the participants to have their meetings
at a reasonable time during the day.

For the 2021 winter meeting, 363 CIRP members, 65 RA’s and 36 guests were registered,giving a total of 464 participants.

7

ELECTIONS by electronic votes for the
General Assembly Meeting 20202019-2021 Board and Council members (no movement in 2020)
President
Vice President
Vice President Elect
Past President
Secretary General Treasurer
Technical Secretary
Council Members

Prof. M. Mitsuishi
Prof. H. Hansen
Prof. B. Lauwers
Prof. D. Dumur
Prof. D. Dumur
Prof. B. Lauwers
Prof. J. AurichProf. A. Balsamo
Prof. S. Kara
Prof. M. Kunieda
Prof. E. Lutters
Prof. S. Smith

Fellows
Mr. D. Barrenetxea (Spain)
Dr. B. Kadar (Hungary)Prof. T. Kaihara (Japan)
Prof. G. Lanza (Germany)
Prof. R. Leach (UK)Prof. P. Martins (Portugal)
Prof. G. Stepan (Hungary)Prof. S. Takahashi (Japan)
Associate Members
in February 2020

in August 2020

Dr. A. Caggiano (Italy)
Dr. D. Djurdjanovic (Serbia)
Dr. R. Hood (UK)
Dr. R. Koike (Japan)
Dr. D. Kono (Japan)
Dr. G. Michalos (Greece)
Dr. C. Okwudire (USA)Prof. P. Wiederkehr (Germany)
Dr. F. Zanger (Germany)
Dr. X.Q. Zhang (China)
Prof. W. Zhao (China)

Dr. T. Furushima (Japan)
Dr. P. Priarone (Italy)
Dr. F. Pusavec (Slovenia)
Dr. Y. Zhang (France)8Fellows Emeritus
Prof. T. Aoyama (Japan)
Prof. L. De Chiffre (Denmark)Prof. K.I. Mori (Japan)
Prof. H. Shinno (Japan)
Corporate Members
Framatome (France)
M.K. Morse (USA)MTU Aero Engine (Germany)
Siemens Digital Industries (Germany)
Third Wave Systems (USA)Research Affiliates
Dr. V. Alfieri (Italy)
Dr. S. Bapat (USA)Dr. C. Courbon (France)
Dr. N. Geier (Hungary)
Dr. D. Kozjek (Slovenia)
Dr. J. Lohmar (Germany)
Dr. M. Magnanini (Italy)
Dr. K. Mori (Japan)
Dr. Y. Quan (Korea)
Dr. D. Xu (UK)Dr. J. Yang (China)
New STC Officers
No movements in 20209

From the Editorial Committee(by Professor A. Erman Tekkaya (EC Chairman))
The Covid-19 pandemic precluded not only the physical General
Assembly 2020 in Munich, but also the physical Winter Meeting in
February 2021 and hence a face-to-face Editorial Committee Meeting.
Still, it was possible to perform timely the reviewing process at theusual high quality. This was possible through the change of thereviewing system from the manual procedure to the digital one
embedded completely in the Editorial Manager of Elsevier. The
decision of making this move has been given during the WinterMeeting in 2020 with the intention to lift reviewing of papers within our
Academy to an advanced contemporary level. Amid the pandemic, itturned out that the new system enabled an efficient digital reviewing,allowing us to publish our CIRP Annals this year again and even earlier
than in the past years.
The Editorial Committee had in the last year only few changes. Our colleague Masayuki Nakaoleft the Editorial Committee. We are thankful for his contributions. Jian Cao is the new ECmember. A warm welcome to her. With Jian we have now besides Jane Jiang the second
female member in Editorial Committee. Though we have now the highest female proportion
with 14% in the history of the EC, still there is some space for improvement in this regard.

The 2020 EC review process
329 abstracts were submitted and about 10% have been withdrawn not leading to a paper
submission. Hence, 296 regular paper submissions (5 less than 2019) have been received
2020. During the paper submission, 2 submitted papers change their STC. 33 papers werecooperative work papers and 59 submissions have been sponsored. Including the 12 Keynotes
and the 6 Industrial Technical papers more than 628 (volume-I-equivalent) reviews have been
performed by the Editorial Committee in the old manual system. In addition, each STC-Chair
and Vice-Chair reviewed and ranked all the paper submissions independently in their own
STC. Hence, every paper submission received at least 4 independent peer reviews. Eachpaper was individually screened for original content using IThenticate software. The
IThenticate scores ranged from 2% to 57% with an average of 10% (a decrease of 3%
compared to 2019). Again, most of the papers with an IThenticate score above 30% have been
rejected due to unacceptable similarity with existing publications.
In all, 45% of the submitted papers have been accepted (5% less than 2019); the acceptance
rates over the STC varied between 37% to 60%. As in the past, the papers have been judged
purely on quality, not on available presentation slots. Only 144 of 182 available regular slots
have been filled in 2020.

10

Submitted and accepted regular papers in 2020 over the STC(one has been transferred to another STC and two to CMAG)
Submitted Papers
STC A

27

STC C

39

STC Dn

25

STC E

52

STC F

21

STC G

17

STC M

27

STC O

38

STC P

25

STC S

25

Overall

Accepted Papers

Acceptance Rate

10

37%

18

46%

10

40%

23

44%

10

48%

8 (7)

47%

12

44%

17

45%

15

60%

10 (11)40%

13344.93%

296

The impact factor dropped slightly to 3.64 in the year 2019. Based on an estimation of Elsevier
we expect a slight increase of the impact factor for 2020.

11

The 2021 EC review process
No abstracts have been submitted in the new reviewing system this year. 232 regular paper
submissions (64 less than 2020) for Volume-I have been received in 2021. The drop of 22%
in submitted papers is attributed to the pandemic. 17 papers (7% of all submitted papers) werecooperative work papers and 44 submissions (19%) have been sponsored. For the first time,no Industrial Technical Paper for the CMAG session has been reviewed by the EC as this is
now done by the STC’s. The IThenticate scores dropped this year compared to previous years
significantly.
In all, 50% of the submitted papers have been accepted (5% more than 2020); the acceptance
rates over the STC varied also this year between 37% to 60%. 136 of 186 available regularslots have been filled in 2021.
Submitted and accepted regular papers in 2021 over the STC(one has been transferred to another STC and one to CMAG)
Submitted Papers
STC A

19

STC C

30

STC Dn

21

STC E

39

STC F

24

STC G

14

STC M

21

STC O

31

STC P

16

STC S

17

Overall

Accepted Papers

Acceptance Rate

7

37%

18

60%

11 (10)52%

16 (17)

41%

14

58%

8

57%

12

57%

15

48%

8

50%

7

41%

116

50.0%

232

The new Reviewing System
The move from the manual reviewing to the new reviewing system embedded entirely in the
Editorial Manager of Elsevier aims to increase efficiency, reliability, flexibility, quality andtransparency of the reviewing. The most significant changes in the new system are:•

Increase of efficiency: The abstract submission has been cancelled allowing the reductionof workload of the EC and the Paris Office. Only a single paper has been withdrawn
reducing further the workload. Also, the “ranking” of the papers by the STC-Chair and ViceChair has been cancelled this year reducing the workload of the STC-Officers. Anotherimportant advantage of the EM is that default or tailored reports can be easily and quickly
generated automatically by the system. The legendary “magic sheet” could be replaced

12completely by these always-accessible automated reports of EM. Finally, the “Joint
Program Meeting” has been removed.
•

Increase of reliability: All reviews have been entered via the Editorial Manager (EM) of
Elsevier. All communication is done through the EM: All the letters to the authors orreviewers are sent by the system mostly automatically. This reduced significantly theinevitable human mistakes.

•

Increase of quality: The decision option “doubtful” has been removed in the new system.
All reviewers had to make a clear recommendation for accepting the paper (with minor
revisions) or rejecting it. This led to a slight reduction of conflicting decisions and increased
the quality of the assessment. The quality of the reviews could be also increased byallowing every reviewer to place the comments in a “to the author” and/or “to the editor”
box. Adding attachments from the reviewers and passing them to the authors is
straightforward in EM allowing much more information transfer to the authors.

•

Increase of transparency: The algorithmic EM prevents the handling or insight to the review
process of own papers of the EC-members or the STC-officers. Further, every reviewer
could read upon submission of her/his review the reviews of the other reviewers. Everyreviewer received a copy of the draft and the final decision letters. Finally, all the reviews
and decisions are saved in the EM and can be accessed in cases of doubt.

•

Increase flexibility: The option to invite CIRP fellows outside the EC and the STC-officers
allows to ask for reviews if for instance one STC Chair or Vice-Chair cannot review her/his
own submission or if expertise is missing in the EC on a very particular subject. This year
we invited 4 external CIRP Fellows to review various papers. Their reviews were of highquality, timely and helpful in making the final decisions. It is expected that this option of
external reviewers will be used more extensively in the coming years. An important effectof these invitations is that more colleagues in the Academy are involved in the assessmentof papers increasing the acceptance of the evaluation process among colleagues.

For this special year of the pandemic, no physical EC meeting has been held. Instead, theEditorial Committee could meet in several Zoom-meetings. Though, not essential, the generalperception is that a physical editorial committee meeting would be still helpful. We expect thatin the next years the physical meeting of the Editorial Committee in Paris can be reduced to asingle day or at most to two days.

The old good time

The era of Zoom

As the Chair of the Editorial Committee, I would like to thank sincerely all colleagues who havesupported this smooth and successful transition of the reviewing system. Especially, I would
like to thank Chantal Timar-Schubert (CIRP Head Office), Suzan Hurren (Elsevier), Timo
Bazuin (Elsevier), all STC Chairs/Vice-Chairs, the external reviewers and finally all themembers of the Editorial Committee for their great support and trust but also the significantly
increased workload they have provided this year. I would like to thank also all the authors fortheir patient and great discipline using the EM.

13

With this new reviewing system, the CIRP Annals are ready for further evolutions increasing
the scientific impact of our Academy. One possible improvement could be the possibility tohave major revisions (and hence increasing the acceptance rates) but also to have a moregenerous time frame for paper submissions.
Finally, we would like to thank all our Academy members for their diligent effort in preparing
their papers and sharing their knowledge with the production community. It is an honor andpleasure for all of us of the EC to serve you.

14

CIRP Keynote Papers
Our keynote papers are the result of an intensive collaboration between specialists working
together during several years within an STC. They are important state of the art papers on
important (new) technological areas. CIRP members who are willing to contribute are invited
to contact the coordinator of each keynote paper.

2021 Keynote Papers under press
STC A
Electronic Module Assembly - J. Franke (2) - Contact: Joerg.Franke@faps.fau.de
STC C
Structured and Textured Cutting Tool Surfaces for Machining Applications P. Mativenga (2), D. Biermann (1) - Contact: P.Mativenga@manchester.ac.uk
STC DnCo-evolution of digitalization, organizations and Product Development Cycle L. Roucoules (2) - Contact: lionel.roucoules@ensam.eu
STC E
Ultrafast Laser Manufacturing: from physics to industrial applications - L. Orazi (2) Contact: leonardo.orazi@unimore.it
STC F
Forming of Metal-Based Composite Parts - S. Bruschi (1) Contact: stefania.bruschi@unipd.it
STC G
Grinding and fine finishing of future automotive powertrain components - P. Krajnik (2)- Contact: krajnik@chalmers.se
STC M
Noise and Vibration in Machine Tools - K. Wegener (1)Contact: wegener@iwf.mavt.ethz.ch
STC O
Evolution and future of Manufacturing Systems - H. ElMaraghy (1) Contact: hae@uwindsor.ca
STC P
Scalability of Precision Design Principles for Machines and Instruments J.A. Yagüe-Fabra (2) et al. - Contact: jyague@unizar.es
STC S
Feature-based characterization of surface topography and its application X. (Jane) Jiang (1) - Contact: x.jiang@hud.ac.uk

15

2022 Keynote Papers proposals

STC A
Closed Loop Systems to Circular Economy: Staying within the Planetary Boundaries
S. Kara (1) - Contact: S.Kara@unsw.edu.au
STC C
Process Monitoring of Machining - R. Teti (1) - Contact: roberto.teti@unina.it
STC DnDesigning Value-Driven solutions: The Past and Future of Industrial Product-Service
Systems - D. Brissaud (1) - Contact: daniel.brissaud@grenoble-inp.fr
STC E
Bioprinting: Materials, Processes and Applications - P. Bartolo (1)Contact: paulojorge.dasilvabartolo@manchester.ac.uk
STC F
Simulation of metal forming - Visualization of Forming Phenomena in a Digitized Era
J. Yanagimoto (1) - Contact: jun.52074.yanagimoto@cem.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
STC G
Advances in Grinding tools and Abrasives - A. Beaucamp (2)Contact: beaucamp@me.kyoto-u.ac.jp
STC M
Mechanical Interfaces in Machine Tools - E. Budak (1) Contact: ebudak@sabanciuniv.edu
STC O
Daydreaming factories - A. Nassehi (2) - Contact: aydin.nassehi@bristol.ac.uk
STC P
Advances in metrological X-ray computed tomography - W. Dewulf (1)Contact: wim.dewulf@kuleuven.be
STC S
The implication and evaluation of geometrical imperfections on manufactured
surface - B. Mullany (1) - Contact: bamullan@uncc.edu
Cross-Keynote
Vision on Metal Additive Manufacturing: Challenges and Future Trends - A. Bernard (1)Contact: Alain.Bernard@ec-nantes.fr

16

2023 Keynote Papers proposals
STC A
Automated Assembly of Non-Rigid Objects - S. Makris (2)Contact: makris@lms.mech.upatras.gr
STC C
Digital Twin for Cutting Processes - T. Bergs (2)Contact: t.bergs@wzl.rwth-aachen.de
STC DnBiologicalisation of Designs for Advanced Products - A. Malshe (1)Contact: amalshe@purdue.edu
STC E
Digital Twin for Electro-Physical and Chemical Processes - Y. Guo (1)Contact: yuebin.guo@rutgers.edu
STC F
Plasticity und future of stress superposition in metal forming - E. Tekkaya (1)Contact: Erman.Tekkaya@iul.tu-dortmund.de
STC G
Abrasive machining of composites - B. Zhang (1)Contact: zhangb@sustech.edu.cn
STC M
Sensor and Actuator integrated tooling systems - F. Bleicher (2) Contact: bleicher@ift.at
STC O
Platform based manufacturing - T. Tolio (1)Contact: tullio.tolio@polimi.it
STC P
Gear metrology - An update - G. Goch (1) - Contact: fgoch@uncc.edu

STC S
Modelling and simulation of surface generation in manufacturing - G. Tosello (2)Contact: guto@mek.dtu.dk

17

2024 Keynote Papers proposals
STC E
Dynamic Beam shaping in Laser Processes - M. Schmidt (2)Contact: michael.schmidt@lpt.uni-erlangen.de
STC F
Artificial Intelligence in metal forming (data integration and sensors in metal forming)
J. Cao (1), M. Merklein (1) - Contacts: jcao@northwestern.edu; marion.merklein@fau.de
STC G
Advances in modelling of abrasive processes - A. Shih (1) - Contact: shiha@umich.edu
STC M
Hybrid Additive/Substractive Machines - S. Smith (1) - Contact: smithss@ornl.gov

STC P
Integrated metrology for advanced manufacturing systems - A. Archenti (2)Contact: archenti@kth.se

STC S
Surface conditioning in machining processes - V. Schulze (2)Contact: volker.schulze@kit.edu

2025 Keynote Papers proposal
STC P
Dimensional metrology based on ultrashort pulse laser and optical frequency comb
W. Gao (1) - Contact: gaowei@cc.mech.tohoku.ac.jp

2026 Keynote Papers proposal
STC P
Machine learning in production metrology - G. Lanza (1)Contact: gisela.lanza@kit.edu

18

News from the Research Affiliates
Words from the RA Steering Committee,
Dear Research Affiliates and CIRP Colleagues,
We are now already a year in a nearly complete online working environment. It is good to seethat even in these circumstances many of the CIRP initiatives can still continue, even though
the form is different. Collaboration is one of the main goals of the Research Affiliates, and thatis something we still manage to do with all the online facilities we have.

The experience many of the RA’s already have in online meetings, e.g. due to the CIRPe
conferences, is highly appreciated by CIRP. Many RA’s supported in the organisation of the2020 General Assembly and the 2021 Winter Meeting.
During the online winter meeting, we had a pleasant meeting with some good discussions on
the activities of the RA’s, and we would like to mention again that every RA is invited to provide
a new topic for one of the working groups. We also had a nice presentation and starting point
for the teaching activities of RA’s by Alessandro Simeone, and this topic will be further
elaborated the upcoming time. Furthermore, we also kindly ask for candidates for the secretaryrole in our Steering Committee.
Further upcoming events this year are the next RA workshop that will be organized by Alborz
Shokrani Chaharsooghi (University of Bath, (UK)), and the CIRPe2021 Global Web
Conference organized by Khaled Medini (École des Mines de Saint-Étienne (FR)).
We hope to meet you all at our next online meetings and upcoming CIRP events. We hope
you will enjoy your RA experience and the collaboration within the CIRP community.
The RA-board - Roy Damgrave, Vincent Wang and Pinar Bilge

19

8th CIRPe Global Web Conference 2020
The 8th CIRP Global Web Conference “CIRPe 2020” (www.cirpe2020.com) was held virtually
on October 14-16, 2020 and hosted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
KU Leuven, Belgium. The conference chairs were Karel Kellens, Eleonora Ferraris and Eric
Demeester.
The central theme of the conference was “Flexible Mass Customisation”. This broadly defined
theme allowed the organizing committee to accept 61 papers for presentation, after double
review process, out of 102 submitted abstracts. Contributions came from 18 countries over 4
continents. 18 sessions were organized on 11 themes. 212 unique participants took place tothe conference with 15 to 25 attendees per sessions and 2 to 4 questions per presentation(more interaction occurred through the chat box). Copies of the proceedings are available open
access at Procedia CIRP and the recorded paper presentations are available via YouTube.
The conference co-chairs would like to thank both scientific CIRP sponsors Prof. Jean-Pierre
Kruth (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Prof. Roberto Teti (University of Naples, Italy) as well as all
members of the International Scientific Committee and Local Organising Committee.

9th CIRPe Global Web Conference 2021
The 2021 edition of the CIRP Global Web Conference is organized by Mines Saint-Etienne
and West Virginia University. The conference will be held virtually from October 26 to 28, 2021.
The conference organizing committee chairs are Assoc. Prof. Khaled Medini, from MinesSaint-Etienne, LIMOS, France and Prof. Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University, USA.
Scientific sponsors of CIRPe 2021 are Prof. Alain Bernard from Centrale Nantes, France, Prof.
Stephen Lu from University of Southern California, USA.
CIRPe aims to involve scientists, researchers, and engineers from all over the world to promote
dissemination and discussion on the latest achievements in production engineering. The
general theme of the conference this year, is “Sustainable, resilient, and agile manufacturing
and service operations: Lessons from COVID-19”. The conference is open for contributions in
the broad area of production engineering, papers from all CIRP STCs are welcome andencouraged!
The official call for paper will be launched soon. However, potential contributors may start
preparing abstracts for submission by the end of this month (March 2021)!

12th CIRP RA Workshop 2020
Due to the worldwide pandemic, the 12th CIRP RA Workshop was organised for the first time
online as an e-Workshop on July 6-7, 2020 (http://cosmer.univ-tln.fr/en/12th-cirp-raworkshop/). The organiser was Ass. Prof. Sébastien Campocasso. Several presentations doneby the host team from the University of Toulon, and five external guests, allowed variedscientific, technical and industrial discussions.
Twelve Research Affiliates from five countries (France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and UK)
participated to this event. This number is in the same range as previous ‘physical’ workshops
and allowed also friendly exchanges during this difficult period.

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13th CIRP RA Workshop 2021
The 2021 CIRP Research Affiliate Workshop will be held online on Friday 25th June 2021
organised by the University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom. The workshop will be organised by
Dr. Alborz Shokrani and Dr. Evripides Loukaides and will focus on Intelligent Sustainable
Manufacturing.
The workshop will be an opportunity to network for CIRP Research Affiliates and will include
keynote presentations by industry leaders, an update on funding opportunities and a panel
discussion for research collaboration and publication.
Bath is located in the South West of England which is an aerospace manufacturing hub of theUK with major aerospace companies such as Airbus, Rolls Royce, GKN Aerospace, Leonardo,
etc. nearby. University of Bath is a leading UK University in manufacturing technology.

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New book from RA’s
Metal Forming: Formability, Simulation, and Tool Design
Authors: Chris Nielsen and Paulo Martins
The recently published book ‘Metal Forming: Formability, Simulation,
and Tool Design’ (17th February 2021, Academic Press) provides
readers with an integrated overview of the theory, experimentationand practice of metal forming.
Metal formability includes plastic instability, necking, and the role ofstress triaxiality and shear. In addition, uncoupled ductile damage
criteria are introduced. Finite element topics cover the method itself,
the flow formulation, an introduction to a solid formulation, and also
the accuracy, the reliability and the validity of finite element models
from a user perspective. Tools examples and design guidelines forcold, warm and hot forming processes are provided, as well as
considerations on their materials, lubrication and failure.
By including applications, worked examples and detailed techniques,
this book is intended for academic researchers and engineers in mechanics, material,
manufacturing and metal forming, but also students with an advanced level in metal forming.

Awards, prizes
Dr. Marc-André Dittrich accepted the Otto-Kienzle Commemorative Medal – the prestigious
award of the WGP, the German Scientific Society for Production Engineering. Every year, theWGP awards the Otto-Kienzle Commemorative Medal to an excellent junior scientist of
manufacturing technology. At this, not only special performance in the scientific area ishonoured but also the award winner’s personality. Because of the COVID19-pandemic, theaward ceremony took place in February 2021 under special circumstances.

Award ceremony: from left: P. Nyhuis, B. Denkena, B.-A. Behrens, M.-A. Dittrich

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Our CIRP Conferences
52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems(12 – 14 June 2019, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Conference organizer: P. Butala
The 52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems was held from 12-14 June 2019 in
Ljubljana, Slovenia. The scope of the conference was to review and discuss the advances,
research results, and industrial improvements in the field of manufacturing systems, which arefacing significant and radical societal and technical changes. The conference’s objective wasto provide an international forum of researchers a place to share and discuss visions, state of
the art, and innovations in the field, to disseminate the recent advances, views, andperspectives, and thus, to generate a significant impact on the future of manufacturingsystems.
The conference featured four keynote presentations from:•Prof. Mitchell M. Tseng on The emerging value transformation in the next generation
manufacturing systems;•

Prof. Gideon N. Levy on Additive manufacturing – multi process, multi materials, multiapplications – a demanding manufacturing ECOsystem;•

Prof. Goran D. Putnik on Networked production and organizations: A driver and enabler
for future societies in the 21st century, and•Dr. Damir Husejnagić with an industrial keynote on Collaboration between industry anduniversity: Building an advanced Industry 4.0 case.

Opening Ceremony and keynote presentations
Eight parallel scientific sessions were held over three days, with 80 sessions in total,
addressing issues from topics related to the design, modelling, simulation, planning, managing,
control, operation, reconfiguration, adaptation, networking, and other relevant matters of
manufacturing systems and their building blocks, while expanding future perspectives. Inalignment with the conference title, ‘Manufacturing Systems for the Future Societies’, special
attention was given to the social dimension of modern manufacturing systems. This included,
but was not limited to, the role of humans in cyber-physical systems, the potentials of social
technologies and networking, the opportunities of ‘crowd-based’ business models, the issues

23

of openness and collaboration, and, last but not least, the questions of social sustainability of
manufacturing systems for developing societies and for the ‘base of the pyramid’ communities.
246 presentation were given by the participants, most of them addressing the technologicaldevelopments propelled by the 4th industrial revolution, digitalization and cybernation of theprocesses, and the implementation of advanced technologies in cyber-physical production
systems, as well as corresponding social dimensions and challenges.
The highlight of the social part of the conference was the gala dinner, held at the beautiful
Postojna cave. After a tour of the cave with a unique in-cave a capella concert, the gala dinner
was hosted at the nearby historic mansion.

The tour of the Postojna cave and the a capella concert performance

Gala dinner and feature members of the CIRP community
The 52nd CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems was hugely successful, providing the
CIRP community with a venue to reflect on current and future issues in the area of
manufacturing systems, as well as introducing numerous young scientists to the community.

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2nd CIRP Conference on Composite Material Parts
Manufacturing(10 – 11 October 2019, Rotherham, UK)
Conference organizer: K. Kerrigan
The 2nd CIRP Conference on Composite Material Parts Manufacturing took place at theAdvanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), from 10th to 11th October 2019. The
AMRC is a network of world-leading research and innovation centres working with
manufacturing companies from micro-SMEs to multi-national giants around the globe. Within
this network, the AMRC’s Composite Centre aims to utilise innovative manufacturing methods
to produce ultra-lightweight components from composite materials.
This conference offered a tremendous opportunity for experts spanning from academia to
industry in the field of composite material parts manufacturing to present and discuss theirfindings on a very high level, stimulating, supporting and expanding the knowledge in this field.
The aim of the conference was to bring together and share novel production research,technologies and solutions to the global composite manufacturing community.
There was some rich technical discussion, particularly in the area of cutting of CFRP, which
was a particular highlight of this event. The conference also celebrated the Sheffield region’s
rich industrial heritage with guided after-dinner tours of the famous Cutler’s Hall – the home of
the Master Cutler.
Through the delivery of 59 presentations of various composite manufacturing-related researchworks, in topics of Design and Life cycle, Part generation, Cutting, Hybrid part manufacturing
and NDT, along with technical demonstrations of technologies spanning dry fibre, automation,
advanced curing and machining, to 99 attendees from 4 different continents, it was agreed at
the end of the conference that this aim was successfully achieved on an international scale.

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26

16th CIRP Conference on Computer Aided Tolerancing(15 – 17 June 2020, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA)
Conference organizer: E. Morse
The 16th CIRP Conference on Computer-Aided Tolerancing was scheduled for June 15-17,
2020 to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. The worldwide pandemic associated with
the novel coronavirus changed the planning initially to accommodate a partially-online
conference, and then to a fully online conference. The dates of the conference remained
unchanged, and the scheduling of the paper presentations was adapted in the following ways:•

The hours of the conference were changed to 1000-1600 UTC each day, to accommodate
the attendees from around the world;•

There was a single track of presentations so that all attendees could hear all presentations;•

The presentations were limited to approximately 5 minute pre-recorded videos, so that
adequate time for questions and answers was permitted;•

During the breaks between sessions for the second and third days of the conference, allattendees were given 'panelist' privileges which allowed them to communicate directly withother individuals in the conference. This adaption was popular with the attendees.

The theme of the conference was "Opportunities and Constraints in the Standardization ofGeometrical Product Specifications" and this theme was supported by having two keynote
presentations on the first day. The speakers, Paul Drake and Iain Macleod, are the chairmenof the ASME Y14.5 committee and the ISO/TC 213 committee respectively. Their
presentations intentionally had similar structure: giving the history of the committee, describing
some of the current challenges at present, and describing a desired course forward as thedemands for product specifications continues to evolve. The titles of the keynote presentations
were:•

Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing – the work of ASME Y14.5,
by Paul Drake•

Geometrical Product Specification – the work of ISO/TC213,
by Iain Macleod

In the discussions that followed the keynotes, there was much interest in the harmonization
efforts between the two organizations, and the prospects for more common meanings for theshared symbols used by the ASME and ISO communities. In addition, Iain Macleod explicitly
noted the role that the CIRP CAT community has had in the past – and still has – in influencing
the development of ISO standards. This role includes the introduction of concepts (invarianceclasses, the duality principle) that eventually appear in standards, and the careful analysis of
the influence of algorithmic suggestions (constrained L2-norm) that are candidates forstandardization.
After the "live" keynote presentations, the paper sessions began. Each session consisted of 45 recorded presentations of approximately 5 minutes in length. The authors were asked tothink of this as an "advertisement" for the paper that covered the high points of the research.
This would remind the audience of the paper's content, and encourage those who had not yet
read the paper to do so. The authors all did a very nice job with these instructions, and followed
the timing guidance very well: the average presentation length was 5 minutes, 6 seconds andover 60% of the presentations were within 30 seconds of the 5 minute target. In the first paper
session, the questions were a bit slow to arrive as the attendees became familiar with the
WebEx interface. In the paper sessions that followed, there were numerous questions before
the videos finished playing.

27

One important aspect of conferences is the social interaction and networking that can occur
between sessions. Unfortunately this was not easily accomplished in the online setting. Afterthe first day, the process of breaks between sessions was adjusted so that all attendees could
communicate one-on-one with other attendees. This was a positive change, and the organizers
received good feedback regarding this aspect of the meeting. An improvement for future online
conferences would be to have the ability for attendees to self-select small groups in which they
could share audio and video, similar to the small groups that form at conferences.
While there are no photographs from the conference, the screen captures below show theinterface as seen from the organizer's side, and part of the "group photo" taken at the close of
the conference.

View from the host screen managing the conference.

Part of the conference "group photo"28

53rd CIRP conference on Manufacturing Systems(1-3 July 2020, Chicago, USA - Hosted Virtually)
Conference organizers: J. Cao, R. Gao
Responding to restrictions posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the 53rd CIRP Conference on
Manufacturing Systems (CMS 2020) Organizing Committee embraced the considerable
challenges and organized an event that offered the 270+ registered participants an opportunity
to virtually connect with each other to disseminate their research work, seek collaborations,and engage in discussions to further advance manufacturing. With enthusiastic support byauthors from 31 countries, CMS 2020 provided a technological as well as social platform for
an information exchange with diverse international perspectives.
The event began on July 1st with an Opening Ceremony that preceded the first Plenary
Session. Professor Mamoru Mitsuishi, President of CIRP, gave a live opening speech throughvideo link. His welcoming remarks on the importance of manufacturing engineering fused withIT and AI during the “post-corona” era and strong support to researchers being connected,
excited the conference attendees of this first-ever virtual CMS conference.
A highlight of CMS 2020 were the two Plenary Speeches given by distinguished colleagues,
Professor Hoda ElMaraghy of the University of Windsor, Canada, on Day 1, and Professor Wei
Chen of Northwestern University, USA, on Day 2. Their respective presentations on the Next
Generation of Manufacturing Systems, particularly at the intersection of distributed/localized
and global manufacturing, and Data-Driven Computational Design of Engineered Material
Systems for two distinguished cases, i.e., big data and small data scenarios, attracted a large
number of attendees during the two days.

CIRP CMS 2020: Top-row: Prof. Kornel Ehmann (Co-chair, Northwestern University), Prof.
Jian Cao (Co-Chair, Northwestern University), and Prof. Robert Gao (Co-chair, Case
Western Reserve University);
Bottom-row: Prof. Hoda ElMaraghy (Plenary Speaker, University of Windsor), Prof. Mamoru
Mitsuishi, President CIRP, and Prof. Wei Chen (Plenary Speaker, Northwestern University)
Another feature that was welcomed by the conference attendees was the virtual Happy Hourat the end of Day 1, which provided an opportunity for networking and feedback solicitation.
Feedback received helped the organizers make several adjustments for Days 2 and 3, e.g.,
engaging the authors more actively by providing live feedback during the Q&A session after
each Author Presentation.

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CIRP CMS 2020: Happy Hour Day 1
The final Conference Event was the Closing Ceremony, which included the Awards
Presentation and Closing Remarks, Attended by 144 attendees. Two types of Awards wereconferred for CMS 2020. The first was the Best Paper Award, which was shared by two papers
based on the rating from the Award Selection Committee. The two papers are titled: (1)Efficient Dynamic Machine Tool Simulation with Included Damping and Linearized Friction
Effect and (2) Attention Mechanism-Incorporated Deep Learning for AM Part Quality
Prediction, with authors from Germany, Switzerland, and the USA, respectively. The second
type of award was the Best Associate Editor Award. Created for the first time in CIRP CMS
history, this award recognizes outstanding effort by an Associate Editor who has handled thepaper review process rigorously and expeditiously. Based on the evaluation from the co-chairsof the editorial committee, tow recipients were chosen to shar this award: Prof. Tony Schmitz
from the University of Tennessee, and Prof. Ray Zhong from the University of Hong Kong.
The technical portion of CMS 2020 included recorded pre-event author presentations, each 20
minutes long and viewable online, that supported the live event programming, which took placefor 4 hours, each day during July 1-3. Participants were encouraged to view the 20-minuteauthor presentations before the event, which allowed the live event to include more concise
summaries of the work with Q&A. This arrangement proved to allow a more streamlined andefficient flow of materials for the benefit of all attendees.
This live event programming (i.e. Technical Program) included 260 Presentations over the 3day event. Each presenting author was invited to give a 5-minute presentation on the work, tosupplement the previously recorded 20-minute video and prepare the audience for a 5-minuteinteractive Q&A, moderated by the respective Session Chair. Feedback from the session
attendees indicate that this format of the live event gave authors enough time to summarize
their technical work without over-extending and leaving the Sessions heavy, while providing
the audience with the right amount of content to keep them engaged. According to the postconference survey, 77% of the attendees reported that they viewed author presentation videos
before the event, and 36% of which viewed more than 5 videos before the event. Furthermore,
77% of the attendees reported that they planned to continually view the videos during the 14day post-conference period, when the videos remained available on the conference website.

30

For the conference organizers, this feedback confirmed the success of the platform provided
to engage the attendees before and after the event; Disseminating the materials before theevent also helped the organizers to properly adjust the amount of materials that is usually
delivered in-person within the parameters of a virtual setting.
Naturally, a virtual conference is not expected to enable a point-for-point match with an inperson event, where face-to-face networking and discussions with feedback in real time canoccur. However, for 37% of those surveyed, this was their first ever CIRP event. Furthermore,
63% of those surveyed reported that CMS 2020 was their first virtual conference, while 90%
stated that they are likely to attend future CIRP events. This survey result indicates that CMS
2020 was successful not just as a virtual event, but also in terms of expanding the CIRP
audience. Some attendees also reported being more able to participate virtually without
incurring the cost of travel or committing as much time, which is an interesting perspective
indeed. Overall, participants reported that the event was well-organized, efficient andprofessional.
The organizing team worked tirelessly within a short time-frame to provide the best experience
possible. Based on the feedback received, the organizing committee is confident that CMS
2020 has successfully accomplished the mission of the conference and served the
manufacturing community deservedly.

CIRP CMS 2020, Thank you messages for organizing staff at the closing ceremony

31

11th CIRP Conference on Photonic Technologies[LANE 2020],(07-10 September 2020, virtual conference)
Conference organizer: M. Schmidt
This year things are totally different. Due to Covid-19, there are several problems andquestions to be asked in all industries. We also have been challenged by this situation andhad to decide if and how LANE could take place this year. Despite all difficulties we accepted
the challenge and did our best to convert the conference to a virtual format - with great success:420 participants from 28 countries joined our first virtual LANE from September 07 to 10, 2020.
Furthermore, the positive feedback we got from the conference attendees made us happy.
More than just a video call
For the realization of virtual LANE, we created a conference platform with which presentations
could be streamed live, but also the exchange among each other was possible. Virtual LANE
was more than just attending a video call or viewing a live stream. Participants had the chance
to listen to 213 live talks, to stream pre-recorded video presentations, to inform about newest
system technology at the sponsor booths, to have an intense exchange by live discussions,chat function and different matchmaking tools, and not at least to have some fun at ourconference warming.
The comprehensive and diversified conference program covered the following topics: Additive
Manufacturing; E-Mobility/Batteries; Fast beam manipulation & beam shaping; Laser assisted
processes; Laser beam welding metals/polymers, brazing & soldering; Laser beam cutting &drilling; Laser safety; Precision processing with ultrashort laser pulses; Simulation & modelling;
Sensing & control; Surface treatment & forming.
As in previous LANE conferences, our “Country Special” got a lot of attention. This year six
experts from science and industry introduced the laser technology community of Lithuania.
Top-class keynote speakers
Even this year the exciting keynote talks could not be missed. Three top-class scientists gave
an insight into their research work:•

M.Sc. Antoni Artinov, Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM),
Division 9.3 Welding Technology, Germany: On the relationship between the bulge
effect and the hot cracking formation during deep penetration laser beam welding.

•Prof. Alexander Jesacher, Medical University of Innsbruck, Assoc. Prof. Division of
Biomedical Physics, Austria: Dynamic Beam Shaping: Basics and possibilities.

•

Prof. Leonid Zhigilei, University of Virginia, Professor of Materials Science andEngineering, USA: Atomistic and multiscale modeling of laser-induced surface
modification and generation of nanoparticles.

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Awards and winners
Not only the presentations highlighted the conference, also the different awards caused
excitement.
The ceremony for the Award of the German Scientific Laser Society (WLT) took place during
the plenary session. Prof. Frank Vollertsen announced Christian Hagenlocher from the
University of Stuttgart as the winner of the “WLT Award” for his work on “The Influence ofResidual Stress on Laser Beam Welding Processes of Aluminum Alloys”.
Once again, a prize for the best presentation was awarded. All participants were allowed tovote for their favorite live or video presentation. The winner of this year’s “Best Presentation
Award” is Troy Allen from Queen`s University, Kingston, Canada, for his talk on "Simultaneousin operando monitoring of keyhole depth and absorptance in laser processing of AISI 316
stainless steel at 200 kHz".
Virtual Conference Warming
As no classical evening event was possible this year, we organized a virtual "Conference
Warming" on the first evening of the conference, which was sponsored by Sill Optics. Alreadyin the run-up, all participants had received a ceramic mug, tonic water and other presents. So,
all attendees could join the virtual lounges, mix their own drinks and raise their mugs during
the Conference Warming. Fun and also a little piece of adventure was provided by virtual Exit
Games, where the players had to solve missions in teams, a photonic quiz, a picture puzzle
and in the final game stage a Rock-Paper-Scissors battle. The winner of the games course
received a self-assembly drone kit.

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8th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies andSystems – CATS 2020
(29 September – 01 October 2020, Athens, Greece)
Conference organizer: S. Makris
The 8th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems - CATS 2020 with thespecial theme on “Digitalising smart factories” offered the opportunity to discuss the latest
advances in Digital technologies for smart manufacturing. The conference initially planned totake place in Athens-Greece, took place online due to the recent COVD-19 pandemic.

S. Makris opens the CIRP CATS 2020, Plenary session
Four keynote papers and ninety regular papers have been accommodated in the 3,5 hour dailyschedule for all 3 days of the conference. The keynote papers, 2 coming from academia and2 from the industry were presented at the beginning of each day to spark the interest ofparticipants by providing insight to both technological developments and industrial challenges:•"AI and Brain Robotics for Human-Robot Collaboration", Lihui Wang, Kungliga
Tekniska Högskola.

•"Seamless human-robot interaction", Sotiris Makris, Lab. for Manufacturing Systems
and Automation (LMS), University of Patras.

•"Advanced soft robotics technologies and smart mechatronics", Alfio Minissale,
COMAU S.p.A.

•"Safety and security in collaborative workspaces", Toni Guasch, Pilz Industrieelektronik
S.L.

34

Keynote presentation – S. Makris

Keynote presentation – L. Wang

To facilitate access of the participants to all presented papers, a hybrid offline/online approach
was selected by the Organizing Committee:
1. Extended recordings of the paper presentations were made available on theconference website allowing the offline viewing by participants. The attendees had thechance to watch the presentation offline either before or after the live presentation,
allowing them to come up with questions or re -visit the presentation later for in depth
reflection on the presented concepts.

Recorded presentations were made available on the conference website

2. Throughout the three days of the conference the attendees initially attended theOpening session and Keynote presentations which were followed by 4 parallelsessions. In each session every paper was presented through the online conferencing
platform and time for Q&As or interaction with the presenter was allowed at the end ofeach presentation.

35

CATS 2020 Closing session

G. Michalos moderating the Opening
SessionNinety (90) papers were presented in the actual scientific program organised in 20 sessions,covering the following scientific research topics: Advances in Handling Systems, Mechanicaland Digital aspects, Machine learning and AI, Robots modelling, accuracy, impedance control,
AR/VR, Augmented intelligence, Human robot interaction, Models for predicting the behaviourof bolted composites, Assembly for Miniaturised Components, CPS systems, measurement
systems, vision systems, Smart assembly systems, Computer assisted ergonomics, Assembly
systems for electromobility, Cognitive technologies in assembly, Operator support in HumanRobot collaborative and AI, Simulating and Handling of wiring harnesses, Defects predictionin assembly. The website (http://cirp-cats2020.com/) hosts the actual papers and video
presentations.
During the closing session of the conference an invitation to CIRP CATS 2022 to be organized
by KU Leuven was extended to all participants by Prof. Karel Kellens.
Deep appreciation is due to the people and organisations that contributed to the realisationand success of CIRP CATS 2020. Special thanks is extended to the Honorary Chair, Prof. G.
Chryssolouris and Co Chairs, Prof. D. Mourtzis, Prof. P. Stavropoulos and Dr. Kosmas
Alexopoulos. Prof Lihui Wang and Prof. József Váncza have also contributed as reporting
CIRP Fellows
Especially to the following people taking care of the conference sessions planning, technicalsupport, editorial support, registrations process, web site setup: Dr. Michalos G., Mr.
Karagiannis P., Ms. Arkouli Z. Mr. Mparis K., Mr Aivaliotis P., Dr. Papacharalampopoulos A.,
Ms. Kousi N., Mr. Nikolakis N., Ms. Zoga M., Mr. Andronas D., Mr. Togias T., Mr. GkournelosC., Mr. Papavasileiou A.

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8th CIRP Global Web Conference – CIRPe 2020
October 14-16, 2020
Conference organizers: K. Kellens, E. Ferraris
The 8th CIRP Global Web Conference “CIRPe 2020” was held virtually from October 14-16,
2020 and hosted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium.
The annual CIRPe web conference series is an initiative of the CIRP Research Affiliates (RA)and aims to involve scientists, researchers, and engineers from all over the world to promote
discussion on the latest achievements in production engineering The CIRPe has grown andmatured from a workshop-style networking event to a full-size online conference withgrowing reputation. It disseminates scientific contributions to a wide range network ofacademic and industrial partners. This conference offers a forum for scientific discussions
and knowledge sharing by being individual accessible and broadcasted around the world
through an internet-based platform.
The central theme of the 8th CIRPe Global Web Conference 2020 was “Flexible Mass
Customisation”. A broadly defined theme in order to cover domain-spanning and diverse
topics in the field of Production Engineering. As a result, the CIRPe 2020 organisingcommittee has, after the peer-review process, accepted 61 papers for presentation out of
102 submitted abstracts. The authors represent research institutes and companies from 18
countries and 4 continents. Thank you to all authors, presenters and conference attendees fortheir valuable and interesting contributions.

The papers are presented in 11 technical tracks and organised in 18 parallel sessions:
Production Planning and Organisation, Process Optimisation, Manufacturing, Additive
Manufacturing, Design, Life Cycle Engineering, Industry 4.0, Robotics, (Reverse) Logistics,
Operator Assistance, and Process Monitoring and CT. All presentations have been recorded
and will be made available online.
The conference co-chairs would like to thank both scientific CIRP sponsors Prof. Jean-Pierre
Kruth (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Prof. Roberto Teti (University of Napels, Italy) as well as all
members of the International Scientific Committee and Local Organising Committee. Their
support was a key to the success of the CIRPe 2020 conference.

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38

20th CIRP conference on Electro Physical and Chemical
Machining(19 - 21 January 2021, on-line)
Conference organizer: K. Wegener
The 20th CIRP conference on Electro Physical and Chemical Machining, ISEM XX wasorganized as a full online conference in January 19 to 21 2021 after having been planned forJune 2020, then as a presence conference later as a hybrid conference in January 2021. All
attempts to keep the presence form of this conference for the exchange of ideas between
academia and industry were in vain.

The chosen format of the conference was based on uploaded presentations of all
authors, which could be visited at any time by participants. But to promote discussions
the conference had 25 Q&A-sessions in one sequence, so that for each paper theauthor could summarize in a minute the essential results followed by a 5 to 8 minutes
long discussion. This format allowed for the first time to really follow all presentationsof the conference. The chairmen for the sessions were extremely well prepared andknowledgable about the max. 8 presentations per session, to start asking questions
and thus encouraging also the listeners to take part in the discussion. By this a lively
exchange of ideas was achieved. Since there was only one continuous session, theattendance was consistently high.
From the 258 papers received 179 were accepted and grouped into following sessions:•

3 sessions on Additive manufacturing•

1 session on electron beam machining and special technologies•

4 sessions on electrochemical machining including micro machining•

8 sessions on EDM including EDM drilling and milling, simulations and fundamental
research•

3 sessions dedicated to wire EDM•

3 sessions on laser ablation technology•

2 sessions on plasma machining and specialized technologies

The following picture shows the distribution of papers per country. While China
contributes the largest amount of presentations, Germany and Switzerland had some
homefield advantages over the next strong contributor Japan.

39

Number of papers per country

An introductory speech from the session chair Konrad Wegener and the CEO of the
Swiss industrial association of machine building electrical and metal working
industries, Stefan Brupbacher made the opening after a folkloristic performance of the
Alpen Horn Blower Consortium «City of Zurich».

Opening: Konrad Wegener

Opening: Stefan Brupbacher

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Alpen Horn Blower Consortium

Six keynote presentations gave an overview on different topics mainly covering thescope of the conference:

Hybrid Manufacturing based on
the combination of Mechanicaland Electro Physical-Chemical
Processes, B. Lauwers (KU
Leuven)41

Advanced Manufacturing for
Advanced Ceramics, A.
Michaelis (IKTS Fraunhofer)

Digital Twin Concept for EDM
and ECM Processes, A. Klink(RWTH Aachen)

Laser Cladding – the latest
developments in technology.
Overview from the industry, A.
Zikin (Oerlikon Metco AG)

The emerging role of imaging inlaser materials processing, M.
Schmidt (FAU Erlangen)42

Reconstructing CNC platform
for EDM machines towards
smart manufacturing, W. Zhao
(Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

The sponsors and companies / organizations who were willing to receive participantsof the ISEM XX as visitors prepared virtual visits or online presentations of theircompanies.

Sponsors and virtual industry visits

ISEM is the only international conference dedicated to the electrical and chemicalmachining technologies, while large conferences exist for laser technology andadditive manufacturing. But all these non-mechanical technologies have something incommon, which makes this conference series in this composition indispensable:
Characteristic is that tools are defined not by their geometry, but by differential field
equations, where the boundary conditions are the geometry of the work piece.
Concentrating energy to the process zone requires extreme gradients of statevariables. Therefore Process understanding, process modelling and process
observability becomes much more difficult and even simplifying meta models for the
daily use in industry are lacking. Thus process modelling, process observation are
major targets of actual ongoing research and have been presented in ISEM XX. These
topics are not self-sufficient but aimed for a better control of the processes. Here also
the re-discovered capabilities of artificial intelligence will complement and cooperatewith physical modelling in future. Non-mechanical manufacturing technologies typicallyare considered to overcome weaknesses of conventional technologies mostly in terms

43

of materials, geometries, quality and surface integrity and even productivity. Researchin this field as ISEM XX has demonstrated it therefore aims to further develop thestrengths and overcome weaknesses of the individual technologies, which unites thesetechnologies in trends beyond the everlasting tasks in manufacturing of increase of
productivity, quality, reliability, scope of eligible materials and reduction of ecologic
footprint.
In this respect a rich field of research work is still open and is capable to fuel ISEM XXI
taking place in June 2022.
Greatly appreciated is the support of CIRP, the CIRP conformance committee, theinternational advisory board, the scientific advisory board, the sponsors, the session
chair persons, the presenters for their contributions, all participants and the colleaguesof the organizing committee of IWF, ETH Zürich.

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Future CIRP Conferences
For the most recent overview of our coming CIRP conferences
go to “EVENTS” CIRP Conferences
For the most recent overview of our coming CIRP sponsored conferences
go to “EVENTS” CIRP Sponsored Conferences
The other CIRP Conferences and Sponsored Conferences have been postponed later in theyear. Please look through the above links to see the new dates.

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New books from our members
Advances in Optical Form and Coordinate Metrology
Richard Leach
Advances in Optical Form and Coordinate Metrology covers the latest
advances in the development of optical form and coordinate measuring
instruments plus the manipulation of point cloud data. The book presents
some basic principles of the optical measurement methods and takes a
deeper look at the operation of the instruments and the new application
areas where they can be applied, with an emphasis on advanced
manufacturing. Latest advances discussed include the drive towards
faster instruments for in-process applications, the ability to measurehighly complex objects (in e.g. additive manufacturing), performanceverification and advances in the use of machine learning to enhance data
analysis.
https://iopscience.iop.org/book/978-0-7503-2524-0

Advances in Optical Surface Texture Metrology
Richard Leach
Advances in Optical Surface Texture Metrology covers the latest
advances in the development of optical surface texture measuring
instruments. Rather than concentrate on the basic principles of the
optical measurement methods, this book takes a deeper dive into theoperation of the instruments and the new application areas where they
can be applied, with an emphasis on advanced manufacturing. Latest
advances discussed will include the drive towards faster instruments forin-process applications, the ability to measure highly complex surfaces(in e.g. additive manufacturing) and advances in the use of machinelearning to enhance data analysis.
https://iopscience.iop.org/book/978-0-7503-2528-8

46Life and Sciences
Elso Kuljanić

From PREFACE of the book written by Janez Peklenik
Elso Kuljanic , PhD in Mechanical Engineering
as well as Professor Emeritus of the Universityof Rijeka, a fellow of the Croatian Academy of
Science and Arts and fellow of CIRP International
Academyfor
Production
Engineering, describes his life and his life-longresearch in Production Engineering. While
reading the book the main idea a reader could
get is the author’s wish to connect research inproduction engineering with industry and theobtained results to be applied in practice. The
author wanted to point out the role of his
parents, teachers, and numerous research
associates who have had an impact on his life
and on his scientific and practical work inindustry.
The most significant results of his research arepresented in the book and they were publishedin the leading journals of the time in the field of
production engineering. Also, it is presented
that Elso Kuljanic worked with Neil Armstrong as both happened to be teaching at the
University of Cincinnati in USA. A well-known
professor Bertil Colding from the Royal Institute ofTechnology – KTH in Stockholm, a good friend ofmine wrote to Elso Kuljanić „I believe that you are
the most prominent researcher on multi-tooth
cutting in the world“.
Alongside all results that are put forth in this book,
it is necessary to point out his outstandingachievements in the education of college students,
his insistence on cooperation between science andindustry and among scientists. He also organizedInternational Conferences and post-graduate
studies hence transferring enthusiasm and the“beauty” of research to both his students andassociates which gave him satisfaction andhappiness.
By hard and dedicated work throughout his life,
Elso Kuljanic has given an immense contribution to
Croatian and international science in the field of
Production Engineering.
This book could be instructive and interesting tomany people regardless of age and education, it might give young scientists an impulse to bepersistent in their pursuit of knowledge as well as the pursuit of finding pleasure in research.

47

From the CIRP Office

Chantal Timar-Schubert

Agnès Chelet

Annals papers/keynote papers submissions
follow up, CIRP meetings, CIRP Website,
candidatures for Membership, Internal
Regulations and any internal information.

Financial aspects: accountancy, membershipfees, page charges, conferences sponsorships,
Winter meetings registrations + Agendas &Minutes of the scientific meetings.

News•

We kindly remind CIRP Fellows, Honorary and Emeritus, that they can propose
candidates for the 2021 Taylor Medal up to May 1st 2021. You will find all informationin Art.19 of our Internal Regulations.

•This year for the first time the votes for the new Boards of STCs G and M will be madeelectronically through the CIRP Website. You will receive all information in due time.

•

The electronic votes for the 2025 General Assembly's location will be held in May, andthose for new Fellows will be held in June.

•

We also remind you that next 70th CIRP General Assembly will be organized virtuallyby the German Organizing Committee.

Future CIRP Meetings•

Dates of the future CIRP Winter Meetings 2022 - 2025•

Dates of the future CIRP General Assemblies 2021 - 2024

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