Abbreviation | TWI |
---|---|
Formation | 28 March 1968 |
Type | Research Association/Institute |
Legal status | Private Company |
Purpose | Welding Research |
Headquarters | Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, UK |
Location |
|
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | Welding Engineers |
Affiliations | Engineering Council, International Institute of Welding |
Website | TWI |
Originally registered as the Institution of Welding Engineers in 1923, The Welding Institute has grown and changed over the intervening decades, yet maintains a specialisation in welding, joining and allied technologies.
The formation in 1923 of the professional institution, later to become The Welding Institute, and the establishment of the British Welding Research Association (BWRA) in 1946 provided the basis of the company group as it is today.
The Welding Institute Group now encompasses a professional membership institution (‘The Welding Institute’) and an engineering research, consultancy and technology organisation (‘TWI Ltd’), as well as an international training school (‘TWI Training’), the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (‘NSIRC’), a series of collaborative enterprises with academia (‘The TWI Innovation Network’), and more.
It has been headquartered near Cambridge, England, since 1946, and has other facilities across the UK and around the world.
TWI Ltd
Descended from the British Welding Research Association (BWRA), TWI Ltd has grown into one of the world's foremost independent research and technology organisations.
As a membership-based organisation, TWI Ltd works across all industry sectors and in all aspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-life integrity management technologies, providing services including consultancy, technical advice, research and investigation for industrial member companies and public funding bodies.
TWI Ltd provides authoritative and impartial expert advice, knowhow and safety assurance through engineering, materials and joining technologies – spanning innovation, knowledge transfer and problem resolution across all aspects of welding, joining, surface engineering, inspection and whole-life integrity management.
TWI's R&D work has delivered a number inventions and developments to industry, including advancing MIG and TIG welding, creating CTOD and methods of understanding of brittle fracture, fatigue design SN curves, linear friction and friction stir welding, local vacuum electron beam welding, and many more.
Along with research programmes, TWI Ltd works directly with industrial members companies through single client projects to provide bespoke solutions. Much of the work completed on behalf of industrial members companies is confidential, with the outcomes and associated intellectual property owned exclusively by the client.
Through TWI Training, it also offers training and examination services in NDT, welding and inspection across the globe.
Employing around 800 staff, TWI Ltd serves around 550 industrial member companies around the world.
The Welding Institute
While TWI Ltd serves the needs of its industrial member companies, The Welding Institute has a separate membership of around 4,500 individual professionals, who receive range of support in their careers and professional development.[1]
The Welding Institute is a professional engineering institution established in 1923 to support the development of engineering professionals in the fields of welding, joining and allied technologies.
The Welding Institute is a membership organisation as well as being a licensed member of the Engineering Council, which allows them to assess and nominate eligible members to become registered as a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) or Engineering Technician (EngTech).
The Institute also serves as a voice of industry, providing authoritative, respected guidance to statutory bodies such as the British Standards Institution, the Engineering Council and the UK government.