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

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: