European PM Association holds its 29th General Assembly
The 2016 EPMA Board & Council Meeting and General Assembly took place on April 7-8 at the Eurometaux Conference Centre in Brussels, Belgium. The two-day event included the EPMA Annual Dinner as well as a number of Board, Council and Committee meetings.
Philippe Gundermann, EPMA President, welcomed members to the 29th Annual General Assembly and introduced Dr Lionel Aboussouan as EPMA’s Deputy Executive Director, following the passing of former Executive Director Jonathan Wroe who died in December 2015. Gundermann thanked Dr Volker Arnhold for taking on the temporary role of Executive Director until end of October 2016.
Gundermann explained the reasons for the amendments of the Articles of Association and Bylaws and he highlighted the key changes including an enlarged Council of twenty members to reflect the increased number of EPMA members and the format of the Council, including one main representative per PM sector. The revised Bylaws and internal regulations were taken to a formal vote and were approved and adopted unanimously.
In his annual address Gundermann started with an overview of how the global economy has been impacted by the Chinese slowdown in industry. Gundermann brought encouraging news showing the positive trends for the PM industry, particularly in automotive and aerospace industries.
Dr Aboussouan reported on a number of EPMA activities and gave status update for the preparation of the World PM2016 Congress to be held in Hamburg. Dr Olivier Coube, Technical Director, gave an update on the EPMA’s Sectoral Groups.
New Council members were elected for the next three years, as well as the Board Members, President and Treasurer.
The date for the EPMA’s next General Assembly was announced as April 7, 2017.
