Letter from the Chairman

Dear Colleagues:

On behalf of the Organizing Committee of COBEM2009, the 20th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, I am pleased to welcome you to Gramado.

COBEM is today the most important conference in mechanical engineering of Latin America. The history of COBEM is the history of the increasing importance in the role of mechanical sciences and engineering in Brazil. Since its first edition, back to 1971, the papers presented in this biennial conference has become a tradition and a reference of quality.

This fact is a source of pride to the ABCM Members, most of them professionals involved with research and development at graduate courses, research centers and industry.

COBEM 2009, will be held in the tourist city Gramado, located at 120 km from Porto Alegre, capital of the southernmost Brazilian state, Rio Grande do Sul. It is being organized by the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the main university in south Brazil. UFRGS is celebrating in 2009 its 75th Anniversary, with the 105 years old Engineering School being one of its foundation pillars.

The leitfaden of the COBEM2009 is "Engineering for the Future", with a look at the possibilities, needs and challenges of the mechanical engineering and of the mechanical engineers in a scenario of new materials and new technologies for totally new problems.

The city of Gramado encompasses beauty and safety and is the ideal place to translate the various aspects of the Mechanical Sciences. The days of meeting will be a unique opportunity for updating knowledge, exchanging experience and also meeting collaborators, many of them to become friends.

I hope that you will enjoy the Conference and have a nice stay in Gramado!

Sergio Möller
Chairman COBEM2009