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9. INTERNATIONAL
VACUUM CONGRESSES
One of the most important functions of the
IUVSTA has been to organise an International
Vacuum Congress every three years. A list
of these, showing the year, location and any
accompanying conference(s), is given in Table IX.
The First International Vacuum Congress on
Vacuum Technology in 1958 at Namur, Belgium
has been described in Section 2.
At the closing session of the Namur
Congress, R. Champeix, Past President of
the French Vacuum Society, proposed that
the next Congress be held in France in 1961.
In January 1959 the French Vacuum Society,
assuming that this would be the case, set
up an Organising Committee for the Second
International Vacuum Congress. However, in
April 1960 the IOVST announced that it had
decided to hold its second triennial vacuum
congress jointly with the American Vacuum
Society’s Eighth Annual Symposium in
Washington, D.C. on 16-19 October 1961.
By this time the French Vacuum Society,
under the presidency of M. Berthaud, having
advanced so far in organising an international
vacuum congress decided to have its own
“Congrès International des Techniques et
Applications du Vide” (CITAV) without IOVST
sponsorship. A successful meeting with an
equipment exhibit was held in Paris in June
1961 with 900 participants, 600 of whom
came from 22 foreign countries.
In October 1961, the IOVST-sponsored
Second International Congress on
Vacuum Science and Technology held at
the Sheraton-Park Hotel in Washington
was also a success making 1961 a
banner year for vacuists. Approximately
1800 persons representing 15 countries
attended the meetings in Washington.
Over 200 papers were presented in
22 sessions.
They covered a wide field of vacuum
science and techniques: Ultrahigh Vacuum,
Forepumps, Adsorption and Gettering,
Space Simulation, Vacuum Metallurgy, Thin
Films, Pumps (Diffusion, Cryo- and Getter
Ion), Systems, Gauges, Leak Detection and
Gas Flow, Evaporation and Sputtering, Mass
Spectrometry and Freeze Drying. An exhibition
of vacuum equipment by over 80 firms
IVC19 - Paris, France
SUMMARY