YPIC

Engineer Ernest D. Levert was born on March 15, 1954 in Cleveland, Ohio. Levert grew up in Cleveland where he attended Max S. Hayes High School and interned with NASA at the John H. Glenn Research Center as a sophomore. He graduated from Max S. Hayes High School in 1972. Then, after working briefly as a tool and die welder at Club Products in Cleveland, Levert served a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and attended the U.S. Navy’s C-1 Welding School. Levert went on to graduate from Ohio State University in 1982 with his B.S. degree in welding engineering, specializing in laser-beam and electron-beam welding.

In 1986, Levert joined Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Division in Dallas, Texas where he worked on projects under NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense that included International Space Station and the Army Tactical Missile System. Levert’s division created and implemented photovoltaic radiators for the International Space Station’s crew areas and the removal of excess heat. He also developed a system of elbow tubing designed to carry coolant gases in radiators that are part of the Space Station. In 1996, Levert was appointed senior staff manufacturing engineer at Lockheed Martin; and, by 2000, Levert’s team had successfully welded 284 missiles. Throughout his career, Levert has developed standard policies and processes that provide structural integrity for many Lockheed Martin products. He also contributed a chapter to the book, Sparking the Future: National Center for Welding Education and Training, published by the Welding Education Center in 2009.

In 2002, Levert became the first African American to serve as president of the American Welding Society. He was honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award from Ohio State University’s School of Engineering in 2004 and with the NOVA Award for Outstanding leadership from Lockheed Martin in 2006.

Ernest D. Levert was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 29, 2013.

Luca Costa Graduated in Mechanical engineering at university of Genoa in 1998, with a published thesis “expert system for evaluation of welding preheat temperature”. In 2000 he got the International Welding Engineer (IWE) Diploma and was employed at the Italian Institute of Welding (IIS – Istituto Italiano della Saldatura). He is currently the director of the training department at IIS Progress (a company of IIS group). His activities include: training, lecturing and technical assistance in the field of welding manufacturing; research in the area of welding, NDT, health and safety.
He Chaired the Commission VIII “health and Safety” of the IIW (international Institute of Welding) in 2006-2014, was Vice President of the IIW in 2011-2014 and currently has the position of Chairman of the Technical Management Board and member of the Board of Directors of IIW. He is also the Italian representative to CEN / ISO committees and to the European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting (EWF).
He is co-author of books published by IIS and of papers published in national and international welding related journals.

Professor Smallbone is the Executive Director of the Welding Technology Institute of Australia (WTIA). He was the very successful 2005-2008 President of the International Institute of Welding (IIW), currently with a membership of 53 countries. He built up the Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) and founded the South African Skills Foundation.

Professor Smallbone has received many awards for his work from the AWS, SAIW, and WTIA.  He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.), The Welding Institute (U.K.), SAIW, and WTIA.  His vision and enthusiasm continue to energise people from a wide range of industry, organisational and government backgrounds to work together for the benefit of the global community.

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