Incoming IFRF Superintendent of Research Neil Fricker gave an invited presentation to the Italian Section of the Combustion Institute at its 33rd Annual meeting, held in Ischia from June 28th to June 30th 2010. After drawing comparisons between the IFRF and the Combustion Institute, the presentation focused on two of the key differences between the two organisations, namely the IFRF’s statutory duty to generate new knowledge on clean and efficient combustion in industry, and the preponderance of industrial organisations amongst its membership. This leads to a need and an opportunity for the IFRF to remain aware of the combustion research needs of its industrial Member Organisations.

Neil Fricker’s talk went on to illustrate how the IFRF uses its TOTeM meetings to determine, record and disseminate this type of information, illustrating their use with examples drawn from the minerals processing, metals and petrochemical sectors.

The Italian Flame Research Committee was a cosponsor of this meeting, which attracted over 100 delegates, mostly from Italy. The adoption of English as the language for papers and presentations also facilitated participation by a significant number of delegates from the EU and from north America.