Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues and friends, I�ve had the pleasure and privilege of being part of the euspen experience for some sixteen years and I thought I'd like to share some thoughts with you. So how are we doing?

Let me remind you of the beginning. In 1994 at the CIRP meeting in Singapore Dr Horst Kunzmann , Professor Manfred Weck ,Professor John Corbett and I agreed the we should try to set up a Precision Engineering Society in Europe similar to JSPE in Japan and ASPE in the USA. At that time the EU had 15 member states (now 27) with many different cultures and languages. We agreed to merge the two main annual conferences going on in Europe,The International Precision Engineering Seminars [IPES], Cranfield and the Ultra-Precision in Manufacturing Engineering [UME], Aachen, both of which started by running every two (alternate) years.

Our dream was....

So in 1997, John Corbett, Manfred Weck and I visited the EC in Brussels to gain advice on how to apply for EC launch funding and were delighted to be met by two officials who we knew. They were very helpful. We wrote the 'Concerted Action' proposal, as advised, with great help from Marc Bonis, UTC Compiegne and ultimately received funding of �1.7m.over 5 years. My thanks to Hendrik van Brussel for the basis of these slides.

Ekkard Brinksmeier was about to officially open his new LFM laboratories at Bremen and kindly offered to host our first International Conference in May 1999; it was a great success. Many shown in the upper right photo became firmly embedded in the progress of euspen.

We have now successfully run 10 international annual meetings with three more planned, in Como, Stockholm and Berlin

These summarize our ethos and achievements culminating in the EC award of the Co-Nanomet Project, resulting from great work by our CEO, Theresa Burke well supported by our past�president Kim Carneiro

These summarize our ethos and achievements culminating in the EC award of the Co-Nanomet Project, resulting from great work by our CEO, Theresa Burke well supported by our past�president Kim Carneiro

Here we highlight a very important aspect of euspen philosophy, our Industrial Focus

So, who has inspired and driven all of this?

Yes, our euspen presidents, two from Germany, two from the UK, one from Denmark, one from Belgium and now our President Henny Spaan, our 'Flying Dutchman' who works so hard for euspen. Our VP Paul Shore does likewise but we owe a particular debt to our great CEO, Theresa Burke who is so ably supported by Val Laird and Debbie Nyman.

So have we succeeded?

So, is there more to do? Yes, of course.... I exhort you all to go out and recruit at least one new member to add to our fellowship of minds.

But so far I haven�t mentioned the technologies and the underlying science that we have helped to develop and promote...

Several in this room have worked closely with me over the years to bring the satisfaction and fun that goes with the design, build and commissioning of state-of-the-art high precision machines including large CMMs

and Ultra-precision CNC Diamond Turning and Optics Grinding machines,

probably the most accurate at their sizes in the world

and followed by outstanding facilities for optimized grinding of large optics by my successors, colleagues and friends at Cranfield

many other critically important high precision technologies have blossomed forth during my lifetime in Precision Engineering

Yes, the technologies have come a long way �.and we in euspen have come a long way in 12 years, too!

However, I can�t resist showing this, not that I believe it is a necessary warning to our members!

So as I start to withdraw from continuing full participation in euspen affairs, I say, 'Keep up the good work!' and 'au revoir.' 'Thank you and enjoy tonight�s conference dinner together!'