The Centenary in Paris and future events

A joint IIR/French Refrigeration Association (AFF) conference was held in Paris on June 12, 2008 in order to celebrate the centenaries of both organizations. It was combined with the IIR statutory meetings on June 10, 11 and 13 and with various festivities: a gala dinner, a reception at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a visit of the ice storage cellars at the Château de Versailles (17th century). Medals were also awarded, particularly the IIR Medal of Merit to Fritz Steimle, former President of the General Conference. The conference itself brought together 437 attendees at UNESCO and was really appreciated, thanks to the quality of the speakers and debates on future challenges and technologies. You can consult the papers on our Web site: www.iifiir.org. The proceedings will be available soon. We will also give you more information on some of the presentations and the debates in dedicated articles in this issue of the Newsletter. You will also be able to view and to download a video on the IIR, via our Web site, specially produced for this event and also for other events in the coming months and years. A booklet relating the history of refrigeration use and technologies has also been published and was distributed to the attendees: you can see it on our Web site. Among all this information, I would like to emphasize a few conclusions: we tried to show people the state of the art of refrigeration technologies and uses that are not sufficiently well-known (cryogenics, health…). Even people who are not involved in the refrigeration sector were interested: it is perfectly possible to clearly and briefly explain refrigeration uses and technological and economic challenges. There are a lot of innovations that are not sufficiently well-known and people were interested in setting up further contacts with speakers. The answers for the future (for instance, new refrigerants) are controversial but a debate is possible and useful. This conference was a major event. Other events will soon be organized and we hope that they will be just as successful. In The Netherlands, after a seminar on Kammerlingh Onnes held in Leyden on May 21, there will be a conference in Arnhem on September 23, 2008. There will be a conference in New Zealand on October 14, 2008. All IIR and IIR-co-sponsored conferences in 2008 will present the centenary. This was the case in Prague (Cryogenics 2008) in April and in Cavtat and Zurich in May 2008. The video was shown in Zurich and will be shown during the coming conferences. The conference in Belgrade on December 2008 will include special events marking the IIR's centenary and the centenary of the Serbian Refrigeration Association. Moreover, we will continue in 2009! Several national associations will celebrate their centenaries in 2009, along the lines of France, The Netherlands and Serbia in 2008. For instance, 2009 will officially be Refrigeration Year in Russia, and all exhibitions and conferences will benefit from this official distinction. We have a remarkable opportunity to promote refrigeration, which we must not miss!