Editorial

Editorial nº 75

3rd Technical Symposium

When this magazine reaches your hands, the 3rd Technical Symposium – which takes places every two years – will be being held, consolidating the idea that has always been in mind since the beginnings of AAQTIC, an idea that has been difficult to materialize: the performance of local activities, similar to those carried out in International Conferences, but a bit more limited, to serve as the meeting point for technicians in the sector to catch up on all the news and exchange their experiences.

Once again, as in the 2nd Symposium, there will be oral presentations, posters, monographs and round tables. And this magazine, as usual, works as a sort of “Guide”: it includes the abstracts of the works presented, as well as the Programme of Activities.

The inter-Symposium period has been particularly tough for our industry: the drop in the international activity dragged raw leather to values close to zero for the first time ever. This year, the incipient recovery of the activity has taken place together with a significant drop in slaughtering, which caused the price of leather to rise as abruptly as it had dropped.

Tecnología del Cuero has been reflecting this topic.

Despite the situation, which has affected many colleagues, AAQTIC’s activities went on: presentations of companies and institutions, round tables, talks on the history of tanneries; courses, presentations in offices other than AAQTIC’s, participation in expositions, and issuing of our magazine. Further, a Website in English was relaunched, along with a digital newsletter to announce and reflect AAQTIC’s activities via e-mail.

The talks on the history of tanneries had great impact outside the sector, prompting consultation from students from different degree programmes, requests for articles for magazines and conferences in other spheres.

And now we add the realization of the 3rd Symposium, completing the activities.

We hope that this continuity remains in the future.

Last, I would like to address a topic that is not specific to the tanning sector, but to a broader sphere: chemistry. The UN has declared 2011 as International Year of Chemistry.

It coincides with the centenary of the Nobel Prize award to Maria Curie. The aim is to raise the public’s awareness on the contributions of chemistry to mankind.

AAQTIC will analyze if it is appropriate to make a small contribution to such line.