Anual Report

Annual Report on activities for the period July 2009 - June 2010

Talks and Lectures

One Round Table, two Talks and three Conferences were held:

July 29, 2009
SERIES OF TALKS: “Origin and development of the Argentine tanning industry: Old tanneries in the current City of Buenos Aires.”
2nd Open Meeting: Nuñez and Bajo Belgrano neighborhoods; Sagazola, Sieburger, Gaddi, La Erica, Argentina de Steimberg, Mondo y Serres, and  Mirres tanneries, among others.
Lecturer: Claudio Salvador.

August 25, 2009
ROUND TABLE: “Requirements for footwear leather.”
Panelists: Patricia Casey (Fonseca), Martín Gelaf (La Hispano Arg.), Alejandro Paggi (Sadesa), Enrique Santelli (Basf), Daniel Vera (CITEC - INTI-Leather), Carlos Montes (Cefoteca).

September 8, 2009
CONFERENCE: “Activities of the IULTCS Environment Commission.”
Presentation: S. Rajamani, Director of the Environment Commission of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies

September 29, 2009
SERIES OF TALKS:  “Origin and development of the Argentine tanning industry: Old tanneries in the current City of Buenos Aires.”
3rd Open Meeting: Pompeya and Parque de los Patricios neighborhoods.
La Francia Argentina, C. Gómez, Luppi, Ventura, Bruñol, Burlo and Guelfi tanneries, among others.
Lecturer: Claudio Salvador

December 1, 2009
CONFERENCE: “Leather Preservation”
Lecturer: Rafael Soler, (Development and Technical Assistance Manager for Síntesis Química). After the conference, a lunch sponsored by Síntesis Química was offered.

June 10, 2010
CONFERENCE: “Physical resistance of leather. What is the basis of  the physical resistance of leather? Traction, Tearing, Grain distention. Key aspects to be considered throughout the tanning process.
Lecturer: Ricardo Tournier – President of the Uruguayan Leather Industry Chemists and Technicians Association (AUQTIC)

Courses

Two courses were given:

September 18, 2009
Basic course on “Leather Technology”, for both Technicians and non-Technicians
6 classes, 3 hours each.
Pro bono lessons given by Alfredo Halak, Enrique Santelli, Dolores d´Avis, V.D. Vera, Carlos Rey, Jorge Ghiglione, Martín Rodríguez and Ricardo Echezuri.

November 10, 2009
Course: “Color: Module I – Introduction to the Science of Color”
AAQTIC and the Argentine Color Group
Duration: 3 classes, 3 hours each
Instructor: Daniel Lozano (GAC)

November 24, 2009
Course: “Color: Module II – Advanced techniques on color technology”
AAQTIC and the Argentine Color Group
Duration: 3 classes, 3 hours each
Instructor: Daniel Lozano (GAC)

Events

October 30,  2009
Members’ Annual General Meeting
At the General Meeting, the Members approved, by unanimous vote, the appointment as honorary members of Víctor Mare, Beatriz Confalonieri, Pablo Galdi, Zigurds Zvirgzdins, Oscar Medin, Edgardo Luppi, Santiago Alonso and Luis Bassi.

October 30,  2009
Tanner’s Day celebration at AAQTIC’s premises, sponsored by Alpa and Juan Naab.

The activities related to Conferences and Social Events are carried out without professional assistance and their organization demands significant effort. Many involve expenses for catering service, sending invitations, etc.

Other activities

3rd National Technical Symposium of the Tanning Industry
The call for Works to be presented at the 3rd National Technical Symposium of the Tanning Industry to be held in November 2010, at Paseo la Plaza, was made. The Scientific Committee, coordinated by Patricia Casey, and composed by Víctor Vera, Jorge Vergara and Bettina Galarza, is in charge of approving the works and the presentation requirements.
AAQTIC’s Board of Directors will coordinate the operations of the event (secretary’s office, venue, suppliers, financing, dissemination, etc.)

30th IULTCS International Congress:
The 30th IULTCS International Congress was held in Beijing, China, on 12-14 October 2009, at the Beijing International Hotel.
AAQTIC’s Vice President, Patricia Casey attended the congress on her own expense and gave the oral presentation “Application of the hypothesis analysis method using Cohen's Kappa index to measure the agreement between leather sorters.” Authors: Patricia Casey, Gustavo Altobelli, Pablo Pignatelli.

Seminar on Leather Finishing for Footwear and Manufactured Items CIC –Footwear Industry Chamber.
This seminar was held on July 08, 15 and 22, 2009, and was sponsored by AAQTIC. Lectures: Martín Gelaf, Jorge Vergara, Patricia Casey and Claudio Salvador.

33rd Anniversary of the Neighborhood and History Studies Board of Villa Crespo
This event took place at La Rural venue on July 8, 2009. AAQTIC participated by re-making its presentation on Tanneries in the City of Buenos Aires and Villa Crespo Neighborhood. Presenter: Claudio Salvador.

UTN Technological Link Symposia – National Technology University, Avellaneda. An activity declared to be of general interest by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Seminars, courses and expositions were held on October 22-23, 2009. AAQTIC participated with an Institutional Stand.

10th History Conference of the City of Buenos Aires
The Congress was held on November 26, 27 and 28, 2009 at the Museo y Cofradía de los Corrales Viejos.
AAQTIC participated with Claudio Salvador’s work on Tanneries in the City of Buenos Aires and Nueva Pompeya and Parque de los Patricios neighborhoods.

AAQTIC participated in the Exposition of suppliers of the footwear industry, EXPOCAIPIC, with an institutional stand, in November 2009 and May 2010. The magazine was distributed on both occasions. In this event, AAQTIC always promotes its forthcoming activities (Symposia, Conferences, etc.)

ROUND TABLE “Requirements for footwear leather.” (Extension of the August 2009 Round Table).
Event carried out along with CAIPIC on 19 May, 2010, at the 45th EXPOCAIPIC, Costa Salguero venue.
Panelists: Patricia Casey (Fonseca), Martín Gelaf (La Hispano Arg.), Enrique Santelli (Basf), Daniel Vera (former CITEC - INTI-Leather), Carlos Montes (Cefoteca) and Sergio Panossian (CIC).

Leather Technology Magazine

In this period, we decided to publish 4 issues a year, instead of 3. Issues No. 70, 71, 72 and 73 of AAQTIC’s magazine, “Leather Technology” (Tecnología del Cuero), were published:

Leather Technology No. 70.-August 2009.
Leather Technology No. 71.-November 2009   
Leather Technology No. 72.-April 2010.
Leather Technology No. 73.-June 2010.

On the 50th Anniversary of our Magazine, a historical trip was reflected both in the cover and the Editorial of Issue No. 72.

This publication is managed without any intermediaries, under the coordination of the Magazine’s Committee, which conducts the publication without relying on a publishing company.
Companies’ contributions are invoiced and collected directly by AAQTIC.
The magazine is distributed to companies directly and indirectly related to the sector.
 
Publication related tasks, such as writing, content selection, proofreading, as well as coordination of suppliers, are carried out by the Magazine’s Committee composed by Patricia Casey, Jorge Vergara, Eduardo Tavani, Víctor Vera, José Barna, Patricio Bigoglio and directed by Claudio Salvador, voluntarily and on their own expense.

AAQTIC’s Magazine is a member of APTA, Argentine Technical and Specialized Press Association.

Library

Subscriptions:
The subscription to World Leather magazine was renewed.
We have susbscribed to Informe Ganadero.

Books:
We bought “Tecnología del cuero,” by Aída M. Frankel.
The following books were donated by the CACG, Argentine Chamber of Livestock Consignees:
Comercialización de Ganados y Carnes, Historia de los Remates Feria and Carne Quo Vadis.

Membership

The current number of active members is 172.
Five active members were removed from the register and 6 were enrolled.
There are 29 patron members.
One new patron member joined the Association.

Member identity/payment card: we are working on the distribution and activation of the new method of payment.

Website

The website is constantly updated to inform about all the activities of the Association.
There is a new section to provide information on the Third Symposium, which includes guidelines for the presentation of the technical works.
The English version of the website was launched.
Further, a payment button with a link to  Dineromail was included in the website to pay membership fees.

In August 2009, a new electronic newsletter was launched to inform of AAQTIC’s news, past and projected activities, etc. via e-mail. So far, 7 issues have been distributed.

From the very beginning, both the website and the newsletter have been designed by a design studio, but all materials are supplied by AAQTIC.

Miscellaneous

IULTCS (International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies): the annual membership fee for 2010 was paid.

Institutional activities

We maintain good relations with the CITEC/INTI-Leathers (Leather Research and Technology Centre/National Institute of Industrial Technology), the CICA (Chamber of the Argentine Tanner Industry), the IULTCS, Latin American peer associations, as well as with the CIC (Chamber of the Footwear Industry), ACUBA (Tanners Association of Buenos Aires Province), CAIPIC (Argentine Chamber of Industrial Suppliers for the Footwear Industry), CIMA (Industrial Chamber of Manufactures of Leather Goods and related products of Argentina), and with other institutions and universities. The exchange of magazines and information with the above mentioned chambers has continued.

RESCA, Network of Argentine Scientific Societies
Since 2008, the Argentine Scientific Society has been inviting the several Technical and Scientific associations to join a network aimed at pursuing common goals. On September 22, 2009, the Network’s rules and bylaws were passed and its authorities appointed; AAQTIC has been appointed alternate member of the Network’s board.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS