Executive Council
Mission
The Executive Council is elected to manage the strategic and financial affairs of the Federation between the sessions of the General Assembly. Its mission is to boost international cooperation in the areas of mechanism and machine science within IFToMM, embracing the world in the tackling of common technical challenges for a better society.
On the strategic side, the Executive Council is endeavored to fostering and coordinating scientific proceeds, such as communications within the IFToMM Website, Cross-Disciplinary Activity Groups, the exchange of scientific and technical works published by or for IFToMM, and liaising with Member Organizations, Technical Committees, and Permanent Commissions comprising this Federation.
On the financial side, the Executive Council is responsible for administering the finances of the Federation, including assistance to Organizing Committees of World Congresses, Symposia, and other conferences which it sponsors.
Four central strategic points envisioned by the current Executive Council are:
- revitalizing and rejuvenating IFToMM
- serve as a central point to support international cooperation to multiply and thrill the community
- organize IFToMM publications by transparent quality and impact criteria
- boost visibility and attractivity of the Federation
Organization
The Executive Council is composed of the President, the Vice‐President, the Secretary‐General and the Treasurer (the “officers”) as well as six ordinary members with the following formal responsibilities:
- The President represents the Federation officially
- In the absence of the President, by virtue of resignation or inability to preside, the Vice‐President takes over the functions of the President
- The Secretary‐General acts as permanent center for the Federation, to direct the business and conduct all correspondence of the Federation, to convene the General Assembly, to keep and publish the minutes and transactions of the Executive Council and of the General Assembly
- The Treasurer manages the financial affairs of the Federation, and is accountable to the Executive Council
- The six ordinary members shape together with the “officers” the affairs of the Federation
In addition, the immediate Past‐President is entitled to remain on the board of the Executive Council as a non‐voting participant for a period immediately after the completion of his or her term as President and until the new term ends. In this role, the Past-President acts as an information channel for past experiences in the EC board, without executive agenda.
In confidential matters, and when acting as a co-opted committee (Honors and Awards, Communications, Publications and Archiving), the EC debates in non-public sessions constituted only by the executive (voting) EC members.
The Executive Council has given to itself distributed agendas concerning regional (Member Organizations), organizational (Technical Committees and Permanent Commissions) and functional (specific topics of the overall affairs) scopes in order to foster rapid and thorough personal communication between Member Organizations/Technical Committes/Permanent Commission and the Executive Council as well as to boost-forward central agendas of the Federation for reaching the strategic aims within the operation period. The structure is similar to subject areas within an editorial board of a journal with the Editor in Chief as central coordinator and the subject editors responsible for individual scopes of operation:
EC Function | Name | Regional Scope | Organizational Scope | Functional Scope |
---|---|---|---|---|
President | Andres Kecskemethy University of Duisburg-Essen Germany president@iftomm-world.org | Denmark Finland Germany Netherlands Switzerland | TC Multibody Dynamics | Overall strategy Critical issues Initial new webpage layout |
Vice-President | Fernando Viadero University of Cantabria Spain vice-president@iftomm-world.org | Italy France Portugal Spain Lithuania | TC Vibrations PC Terminology | Awards YDPs |
Secretary General | Erwin Lovasz University Politehnica of Timișoara Romania secretary-general@iftomm-world.org | Belarus Bulgaria Georgia Poland Romania | TC Transportation Machinery | Student Olympiads |
Treasurer | Andreas Müller Johannes Kepler University Linz Austria treasurer@iftomm-world.org | Austria Czech Republic Hungary Slovakia Slovenia | TC Computational Kinematics | Summer Schools |
EC Member | Mehmet Ismet Can Dede Izmir Institute of Technology Turkey c.dede-EC@iftomm-world.org | Croatia Greece Lebanon Tunisia Turkey | TC Biomechanical Engineering TC Engines & Powertrains | Webpage Social media |
EC Member | Ashitava Ghosal Indian Institute of Science India a.ghosal-EC@iftomm-world.org | Australia Armenia Azerbajian India Israel | TC Sustainable Energy Systems PC History | Emerging fields Ideal conference patronages |
EC Member | Juan Carlos Jáuregui Correa Autonomous University of Queretaro México jc.jauregui-EC@iftomm-world.org | Brazil Mexico Peru Serbia & Montenegro | TC Rotordynamics TC Tribology | Cross-Disciplinary Groups |
EC Member | John Michael McCarthy University of California, Irvine U.S. jm.mccarthy-EC@iftomm-world.org | Canada USA | TC Linkages & Mechanical Controls PC Education | Education |
EC Member | Yukio Takeda Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan y.takeda-EC@iftomm-world.org | China Taipei Japan Korea Singapore | TC Robotics & Mechatronics TC Gearing & Transmissions | Journals & Publications |
EC Member | Xianmin Zhang South China University of Technology People Republic of China x.zhang-EC@iftomm-world.org | China Beijing Kazakhstan Russia Vietnam | TC Micromachines TC Reliability | Archives |
Moreover, the Executive Council is co-opted ex officio on to two constitutional bodies: The Honors and Awards Committee, and the Permanent Commission for Communications, Publications and Archiving.
Honors and Awards Committee
In its role as Honors and Awards Committee – embodied by the acting Executive Council and chaired by the President, with the Vice-President acting as secretary of the committee and the Secretary General acting as its communication channel – the Executive Council reviews and evaluates in non-public sessions nominations received from within IFToMM or external societies and sends its recommendation to the General Assembly, which finally decides as the supreme body of the Federation for the bestowing of awards. Recommendation decisions are issued by the Executive Council and forwarded to the General Assembly regularly at its end-of-year session from all received nominations once every four years prior to the forthcoming World Congress, in urgent cases before. For the recommendation of the Executive Council, an international Honors and Awards Advisory Panel is appointed by the Executive Council. The Executive Council may decide not to recommend specific awards in a running period. Due to her or his direct involvement in the Honors and Awards Committee, no member of the Executive Council or the Honors and Awards Advisory Panel may be nominated for awards. The awards will be ceremonially handed over by the President during the World Congress or in-between in urgent cases.
For more information, see Honors and Awards
Permanent Commission for Communications
In its role for the Permanent Commission for Communications, Publications and Archiving, the Executive Council follows the objectives of informing the IFToMM community through News Letters, nurturing a well-selected and quality-reinforced spectrum of affiliated journals and book series for different fields and groups involved in the Federation, developing and maintaining the official website of the Federation together with sub-websites for its members and commissions and committees, and providing the IFToMM archive with the necessary documents of archival nature.
For more information, see Journals and Publications
Ethical issues
The Executive Council also guards that ethical issues are respected at the highest level within the Federation, and that any concerns respecting ethical issues can be freely reported to the Executive Council and processed by an independent sub-commission.
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