International Tribology Council

World Tribology Congress 2009 (WTC IV)
Kyoto, Japan.
6th – 11th September 2009

The Fourth World Tribology Congress took place in Kyoto, Japan, between the 6th and 11th September 2009. It was organised jointly by the Japanese Society of Tribologists and the Science Council of Japan, and co-sponsored by the Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, and the Storage Research Consortium.

The Congress was also supported by governmental organisations and academic societies including: the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Kyoto Prefecture, the City of Kyoto, Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kyoto Convention Bureau, and the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. The sponsors for the Congress included about fifty companies and organisations.

The scope of the Congress focused on tribology as the key discipline for technological innovation in the 21st century, highlighting the possibilities it offers for contributing to the harmonious coexistence of human beings and nature through the conservation of energy and resources by improving efficiency and through increasing the durability of machinery and equipment to reduce waste.

The Congress was an outstanding success with 1500 registered participants and delegates from 42 countries / regions, 846 papers were presented. The technical exhibition, which was also open to the public, was also a great success. It was attended by many members of the public and by elementary school students, who learned about new technological developments and the subject of tribology as well as conference delegates.

The Congress was honoured by the presence of His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino in the Opening Ceremony and in the Technical Exhibition. A competent scientist in the field of biology, the Prince understood the significance of tribology, and kindly gave an Opening Address encouraging the development and application of tribology.

The organizing committee did their best to ensure that the Kyoto event will turn out to be one of the significant steps in tribology by focusing on the application of tribology as a means to contribute to technical innovation and sustainable development of the world as well as making it a means to increase the number of people in other fields who recognize the importance of tribology.

Registration started on Sunday afternoon, 6th September and was followed by a Welcome Reception in the restaurant and gardens of the Kyoto International Conference Centre. Many participants attended and enjoyed the event which offered the chance to meet with friends from all over the world in the warm autumn Japanese sunshine and the splendid atmosphere of the venue.

On Monday, the conference opened with invited lectures and talks in Main Hall, where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997. The long day started with silent prayer as a tribute to those tribologists who had passed away since the last WTC. This was followed by the declaration of opening of the Congress by Professor Yoshitsugu Kimura, the Chair of this Congress, and the presidential address by Professor H. Peter Jost, the President of the International Tribology Council. The president addressed the situation surrounding the world and tribology, with a strong emphasis on Green Tribology, declaring: "Green Tribology is the Science and Technology of the tribological aspects of ecological balance and of environmental and biological impacts. Its main objectives are the saving of energy and materials and the enhancement of the environment and the quality of life."

Two lectures then overviewed global energy and environmental issues to set the background and scope of the Congress. The first lecture "Building a Low-Carbon Economy" was given by Mr. Christopher Flavin, the President of Worldwatch Institute, USA. The second lecture "Toyota's Initiatives for Realizing Sustainable Mobility", was presented by Mr. Masatami Takimoto, CEO of Toyota Central R&D Laboratories Inc., Japan, who also served as the Chair of the Executive Advisory Committee for the Congress.

The Opening Ceremony, which took place after the opening lectures, was honoured by the presence of His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino. Following the welcome speeches given by Professor Kimura, Professor Ichiro Kanazawa, the President of the Science Council of Japan, Dr. Hisashi Machida, the President of the Japanese Society of Tribologists, and Professor H. Peter Jost, His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino gave an address.(The Address is presented below in the appendix to this Newsletter.)

A message from Mr. Taro Aso, the Prime Minister of Japan, was then read out and the Opening Ceremony was concluded by the closing remarks by Mr. Masatami Takimoto. Mr. Jun Aso, the vice governor of Kyoto Prefecture, and Mr Daisaku Kadokawa, Mayor of Kyoto, were also present in the ceremony. Professor Masato Tanaka took the role of the master of the ceremonies.

In the afternoon, a plenary lecture and four plenary talks were given by the distinguished researchers, a simultaneous interpretation service afforded flexibility to both the speakers and listeners in this session. The plenary lecture was given by Professor Masatoshi Koshiba, Distinguished University Professor from the University of Tokyo and Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2002. The title of the lecture was "Try Hard, and Get It Done." The following four talks were: "Using Simulations to probe the atomic origins of macroscopic friction", by Professor Mark O. Robbins, Johns Hopkins University, USA, "Tribology for life" - tribological demands of the musculoskeletal system in the ageing population, by Professor John Fisher, Leeds University, UK, "Economy, technology & industrial tribology developments in China", by Professor Qunji Xue, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, China, and "Industrial tribology in the past and future", by Professor Koji Kato, Nihon University, Japan.

From Tuesday to Friday, the Congress continued with parallel sessions in eleven rooms for oral presentations and the Event Hall for poster presentations. These sessions covered the whole spectrum of tribology.

In recognition of the sustainability focus of the WTC, the fact that it was being held in the Asia-Pacific region for the first time, the impact of tribology in health and the recent interesting progress in the rapidly growing fields of tribology research, the following four symposium sessions were also held:

In addition, a collection of topical mini-symposia formed the backbone of the Congress’ technical programme:

In total there were 632 oral presentations, including those in the plenary sessions and the technical programme, with 214 poster presentations also being made.

The WTC IV Technical Exhibition took place from Monday 7th to Friday 11th at the Event Hall of the Kyoto International Conference Centre. Its concept was "Energy Conservation / Eco Technologies in the World - Messages for the Next Generation". More than 60 exhibitors from eight countries displayed tribology products and equipment as well as integrated products including plug-in hybrid automobiles, scale models of a jet engine and a rocket engine in which many tribological elements were used. Also in many of the booths, there were demonstrations for non-tribologists and children; toy cars and spinning tops to show how tribology worked, a musical instrument utilizing bearing balls, a tribology beginners course, etc.

WTC IV was a fully integrated event with a strong commercial presence. The conference programme was augmented by a programme of free "luncheon seminars", two each day, Tuesday to Thursday. In these sessions large numbers of delegates were hosted by commercial organisations who provided presenters to discuss a range of tribologically related topics.

A series of prizes were also awarded at the conference to recognise the efforts of young tribologists. The winners of the "Field Best Presentation Award (U36)" and the "Taiho Encouraging award for young tribologists" are listed at: http://www.wtc2009.jp/data/award.html

The professional activities of the conference were accompanied by the chance to experience Japanese culture and history. The historic city of Kyoto itself offered an opportunity to enjoy a huge variety of Japanese culture and architecture, while at the conference venue the conference banquet afforded an opportunity for delegates to experience Japanese food, dancing and music.

Details of the conference, including the presence of the Prince, were broadcast in the Monday evening news of NHK Kyoto (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation).

The technical papers delivered at the conference have made an outstanding contribution to the pool of knowledge in tribology and surface science and the theme of the conference itself has signalled an increasing emphasis towards the contribution that tribology can make to protecting the environment through sustainable "green" practices.

The Japanese Society of Tribologists and the International Tribology Council gratefully acknowledge the Imperial Household Agency for granting permission to use photographs including His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino.

We gratefully acknowledge to the Japanese Society of Tribologists for permission to use their copyright images in this newsletter.

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Address given by His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino in the Opening Ceremony of the World Tribology Congress 2009

Monday, 7th September, 2009,
Main Hall, Kyoto International Conference Center

Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to meet many participants from over 40 countries and region at this opening ceremony of the World Tribology Congress 2009.

This is the world's largest congress on tribology, held only once every four years. And it gives Japan great pleasure to host this congress, the first time it is being held in the Asia-Pacific region.

I understand that tribology is the study of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Although the word 'tribology' may not sound familiar to us, this field extends into almost all aspects of essential modern technology such as automotives, computers, roads, bridges, and artificial joints, all of which are commonly found in our surroundings. Tribology is also one of the key technologies crucial for the sustainable development of human society and industry in solving environmental issues through energy and resource conservation.

It is well-known that practical applications are essential to tribology along with academic research activities. The interdisciplinary studies and collaborative efforts of researchers and engineers in various fields, such as mechanics, materials, physics, chemistry, and medicine have elucidated the wide variety of complicated phenomena of tribology. Also these research results have been applied to various fields in developing new technologies. I expect the large number of participants assembled in this hall, where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997, will engage in further lively discussions on the theme of tribology contributing to the development of a sustainable society.

I hear that, in addition to academic research presentations, there will be a technical exhibition, a plenary lecture and talks, that are also open to the public and to primary, junior high and senior high school students. I hope that the meaning of tribology will gain broader social recognition, and that children, who represent our future, will develop more interest in this field by learning about the importance of science and technology through these events.

To conclude my address, I wish to express my sincere hope that this congress will produce fruitful results for all participants in further contributing to the well-being of humankind through wider international cooperation.

Thank you very much for your attention.