IFToMM

IFToMM
source
Name	IFToMM
Type	International non-governmental organization
Founded	1969
Location	International
Area served	Worldwide
Focus	Mechanism and Machine Science
Headquarters	Rotating Secretariat

IFToMM is an international umbrella organization promoting research, development, and education in mechanism and machine science through coordination of national member organizations, technical committees, and international events. It connects researchers, educators, and industry representatives from academies, institutes, and universities across continents to advance theoretical foundations, experimental methods, and technological applications. IFToMM fosters collaboration among professional societies, standardization bodies, and funding agencies to influence curricula, standards, and engineering practice.

History

The origins trace to discussions among engineers from Soviet Union, United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany during events such as the World Congress on Engineering-era meetings and conferences on linkages held in the 1950s and 1960s. Founding meetings involved delegations from institutions like Moscow State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, École Polytechnique, and Technische Universität München leading to the formal establishment in 1969. Early milestones included cooperation with organizations such as International Federation of Automatic Control, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and Conseil International des Associations Scientifiques et Techniques to set agendas for mechanism research. During the Cold War era IFToMM facilitated contacts among scholars from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Canada, enabling joint projects, exchange visits, and symposia. Subsequent decades saw expansion of ties with emerging groups in China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia, and involvement with multinational programs funded by entities like the European Commission and national ministries such as Ministry of Science and Technology (China). The timeline encompasses collaborations with award-granting bodies including Royal Society, National Academy of Engineering, and Deutscher Maschinenbau-Verband to recognize achievements in kinematics, dynamics, and robotics.

Organization and Governance

IFToMM is structured around a General Assembly of National Member Organizations, an Executive Council, and an elected President supported by Vice Presidents and a Secretary General drawn from universities such as Politecnico di Milano, Tsinghua University, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, University of Cambridge, and ETH Zurich. Governance documents reference statutes similar to those of International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, International Council for Science, and International Organization for Standardization committees. The Executive Council interacts with national academies like the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Russian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, and Academia Brasileira de Ciências. Permanent officers coordinate with treasurers from institutions including École Centrale Paris and KTH Royal Institute of Technology for budgeting, while legal counsel has liaised with law faculties such as Harvard Law School and Université Panthéon-Assas for non-profit compliance. Advisory boards have included fellows affiliated with National Academy of Engineering, Royal Academy of Engineering, Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and Mexican Academy of Sciences.

Fields of Interest and Technical Committees

IFToMM covers a spectrum of specialties through Technical Committees addressing topics like kinematics, dynamics, robotics, mechanisms of manufacturing, and biomechanical systems. Committees mirror subject groups at IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee, Society of Automotive Engineers, European Society of Biomechanics, and International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders-adjacent research. Specific Technical Committees have coordinated work on planar mechanisms, spatial mechanisms, compliant mechanisms, gearing, bearings, mechatronics, tribology, and links to standards from ISO/TC 39 and ISO/TC 172. Collaboration nodes include laboratories at Fraunhofer Society, CNRS, CSIRO, Riken, and Tata Research Development and Design Centre. Interdisciplinary ties extend to departments at Stanford University, University of Tokyo, University of California, Berkeley, Delft University of Technology, and Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

Conferences, Congresses, and Awards

IFToMM organizes periodic World Congresses, symposia, and workshops that attract participants from organizations like IEEE, ASME, SAE International, European Commission Horizon 2020, and national funding councils. Notable events have been hosted in cities such as Rome, Beijing, Berlin, Toronto, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Seoul, and Barcelona with sessions featuring plenary speakers from NASA, ESA, CERN, Toyota Research Institute, ABB, and Siemens. Awards administered or endorsed by IFToMM include lifetime achievement recognitions akin to awards by the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, medals comparable to those from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Royal Society, and paper prizes linked to journals published by Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley. Regional conferences coordinate with national societies such as Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, Indian Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Society of Automotive Engineers of India.

Publications and Standards

IFToMM-affiliated publications encompass proceedings of congresses, edited volumes, and special issues in journals like Mechanism and Machine Theory, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Tribology International, and Journal of Biomechanics. Editorial boards often include scholars from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan, McGill University, National University of Singapore, and Sejong University. IFToMM Technical Committees have contributed to standardization efforts in collaboration with International Organization for Standardization, ASTM International, British Standards Institution, and regional technical committees such as CEN and DIN. Educational materials, curricula recommendations, and citation indices have been coordinated with university presses like Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press.

Membership and National Member Organizations

Membership comprises National Member Organizations from countries including United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Algeria, and Nigeria. National Member Organizations often are national academies, engineering societies, or professional associations such as National Academy of Engineering (USA), Royal Academy of Engineering, Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften, Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, Indian National Academy of Engineering, and Academia Mexicana de Ingeniería coordinating local technical committees and student chapters. Category:International professional associations