Delegates from around the world attended last week’s ATIV conference in Milan.

Papers at the Association of Italian Glass Technicians (ATIV)-organised event covered topics in the hollow and flat glass industries and were presented by representatives from companies, research centres and universities.

Companies that presented papers included Zippe, Glass Service of the Czech Republic and Iris Inspection Machines of Lyon, France.

The day-long conference was formally opened by Alessandro Bandini, President of ATIV and Dino Zandonella Necca, President of the Vitrum exhibition.

The conference was organised to coincide with the Vitrum exhibition and was held at the same venue – the Fiera Milano exhibition centre in Rho, Milan, Italy.

Mr Bandini said: “It is the first time we have accepted Vitrum’s invitation to organise our annual conference at Vitrum, with a view to increasing cooperation and synergistic efforts that are indespensible in this area.

“This conference offers Italian glass technicians the opportunity to network and learn from international experts, technicians and scientists.”

Mr Necca said: “In my capacity as Vitrum’s President I’m honoured to host the 30th ATIV Conference in Milan. It is the start of a new form of cooperation that involves several players in the industry.

"The financial crisis has taught us that synergies among the different activities are a must. I am very pleased that ATIV’s President, Mr. Alessandro Bandini accepted our invitation.

"I trust that the topics addressed at the conference may stimulate new developments and more in-depth knowledge within the glass industry.”

About 60 people registered to attend the conference and were mainly from Italy, although there were also visitors from UK, Germany and Iran.

Some of the papers presented included ‘Installation of a new batch preheater in South Africa’ by Zippe’s Hansjuergen Barklage, ‘Hollow Glass Moulding Precision’ by Pneumofore’s Francesco Amati and 'Glass Strengthening with a Femtosecond Fiber Laser’ by Sisecam’s Dadal Ariburnu.

A review of the ATIV conference and Vitrum exhibition will be published in a forthcoming edition of Glass International.

Pictured Dino Zandonella Necca (centre left) and Alessandro Bandini (centre right) officially open the conference.