Establishment of the Research Center for Welding and Joining technology

The Announcement Ceremony of the Decision on Establishment of the Joining and Welding Research Institute HUST-OU was solemnly held this morning, January 10, 2023, to start a meaningful series of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan - Vietnam.

On behalf of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mr. Furudate Seiki, First Secretary, Former Head of the Cultural Department of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, read the congratulatory letter and highly appreciated the University's contributions in this field as the only unit in this field. The best in ASEAN has the Department of Welding and Metal Technology. He affirmed the position of Hanoi Polytechnic as the leading technical university in Vietnam. The Joining and Welding Research Institute HUST-OU within the framework of the project "Strengthening research capacity in welding for Hanoi University of Science and Technology - Vietnam" with a total grant of 550 million yen from the Government of Japan. The Institute was established under the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology with 3 laboratories: Welding Process, Welding Metallurgy and Welding Physics.

Activities centered around scientific research, technology transfer and undergraduate and graduate training. Outputs are technology transfer activities, increasing the number of scientific works published in prestigious international journals, improving the quality of graduate training, contributing to maintaining and increasing the ranking position of the international university ranking of Hanoi University of Science and Technology in the region and in the world.

"The establishment of the Institute at this time is very timely, because the huge demand for in-depth welding research in the country has not been met," said Dr. Do Huu Hao, Chairman of the Vietnam General Association of Mechanics affirmed. With its own characteristics, welding technology can create ultra-small, ultra-light, super-long, super-weight products in many environments including ground, underwater, or space. This is the main joining method for steel structures, widely applied in many industries of oil and gas, automobile, electricity,...

Welding technologies are applied to produce mechanical structures for the new and sustainable energy sector such as: wind Tower, liquefied gas tanks... Besides, soldering is one of six stages of the semiconductor chip fabrication process, and the coupling of electronic components to circuit boards. It can be seen that the field of welding and joining has been present in at least two of the four priority directions for development of Hanoi University of Science and Technology in this period. According to Vice Rector Assoc. Huynh Dang Chinh, the establishment of the Joining and Welding Research Institute HUST-OU, that is invested by the Governments of the two countries towards supporting the development of core technologies for manufacturing industries and creating quality human resources. High quality welding and joining industry meets international standards.

Assoc. Hoang Minh Son, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, hopes that the establishment of the Institute will create a close link between the universities of the two countries and businesses to solve real-life problems in the field of welding and joining in Vietnam and the region.

Also in the ceremony, the Multilateral Scientific Research and Technology Transfer Cooperation Agreement between the School of Mechanical Engineering, the Research Institute of Welding and Jointing Technology (Osaka University), Kobelco Steel and Thai Kobelco Welding; and the Memorandum of Understanding Bilateral cooperation between School of Mechanical Engineering and PV Gas was also signed. The Joining and Welding Research Institute HUST-OU was announced to be established as the result of cooperation from 2013 until now, between the Department of Welding and Metal Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University. The two sides have cooperated to train 4 PhD students, organize many scientific conferences every year; simultaneously signed and implemented 4 research cooperation with enterprises, 2 of which have been completed and 2 are in progress.

Since 2018, the two sides have actively promoted cooperation agreements through small research projects, such as: Cooperation Agreement "Research on the effect of TIG arc welding by alternating current application in aluminum alloy welding” with Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) (December 27, 2018); cooperation project "Research on arc phenomenon in MAG welding process with drug core wire" with Kobel Steel and Thai-Kobe Welding company (April 1, 2019); cooperation project "Research on the effect of wind resistance on carbon steel MIG/MAG welding process with Daihen corporation and Asia OTC Daihen company (October 1, 2019).

In November 2018, the Vietnam Welding Research Club was established to promote cooperation between schools and businesses.

These cooperation results are an important premise to develop and promote cooperation in training and research in the field of welding and coupling technology between Hanoi University of Science and Technology and Osaka University to a new level.