The Finnish Flat Glass Association has unanimously voted Jorma Vitkala as Glass Builder of the Year 2013 for his achievements as the organiser of the Glass Performance Days (GPD) conference.
The association said it wished to honour Mr Vitkala, who is chairman of the GPD organising committee, for more than two decades of dedicated and professional effort, as well as personal commitment.
It said Mr Vitkala’s activities had promoted cooperation and information exchange within the glass industry in Finland and internationally. He had also helped establish Finland as a conference location.
When touring the world as a service and training engineer for Tamglass in the early 1980s, Jorma noticed that the same early-phase mistakes were being made everywhere.
The idea of glass-specific process training for the company's customers was conceived and GPD was born.
"Without a doubt, Jorma is the most international and best-known Finnish glass expert and his networks are peerless", said Tahvo Sutela, founding member of the Flat Glass Association's board and the GPD organisation committee.
GPD is held every two years in Tampere, Finland. The next event takes place June 13-15. Visit www.gpd.fi for more information.
