Situated in the heart of Southern France in the Midi region, Toulouse boasts cultural heritage, fantastic museums and shopping too. Next month, France’s fourth largest city will host The European Powder Metallurgy Association’s Euro PM2007. The show promises to combine hi-tech programmes with a taste of that sought-after French café culture.

The plenary session that starts the conference at the Pierre Baudis Centre de Congress will hear a presentation from new EPMA president Ingo Cremer giving an overview of status and trends in the European PM industry. He will be followed to the podium by Rainer Rauh of Airbus Toulouse, presenting on New opportunities for advances in aircraft structures, and Alrik Danielsson, whose words as president and CEO of Höganäs AB, arguably the biggest iron powder manufacturer in the world, will draw keen attention. He will be speaking to a theme of The challenge for the PM industry: create and capture value.

Almost inevitably, the recently introduced REACH legislation, which promises to have a major impact on the metals industry generally and some parts of the PM industry in particular, will once again be in the spotlight.

The European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) has long recognised the burden that full implementation of the rules over the coming decade will impose on the industry and is the foremost authority on it for PM companies. REACH requires manufacturers and importers of chemical substances to demonstrate product safety down the complete supply chain. Disposal is also covered, so downstream users are by no means exempt from the legislation’s provisions.

To ensure that delegates have a chance to hear the latest position on this complex piece of European law, the EPMA has arranged a special workshop on the issue on the afternoon of Tuesday, 16 October, chaired by the EPMA’s new technical director, Olivier Coube.

Thee other workshops, which run in parallel, will take place the following morning, covering: Hard materials for advanced applications; Dimensional control for high density ferrous PM; and Designing for MIM. Over the two and a half days of the conference, delegates will have the opportunity to attend more than 250 oral and poster technical presentations covering all aspects of PM.

Alongside the technical sessions there will also be series of Open Meetings of the EPMA's key working groups where the PM community will have a forum for networking, interfacing industry and academe, and for discussing its priorities and activities.
The conference runs parallel to the 60-company exhibition – the ideal meeting place for delegates and suppliers. There will also be the EMPA awards lunch, sponsored by Metal Powder Report and the congress dinner at la Mediatheque - both events offering a welcome diversion from the intense technical sessions.

According to Lonely Planet, Toulouse is “the [French] capital of the good life”, leaving no questions as to why it was picked as the venue for this year’s conference. However, Toulouse is also the centre of the European aerospace industry and is home to the second largest university in France, founded in 1229.

Relocation of significant military and aerospace industries in Toulouse in the 20th century awakened the city once more, and transformed Toulouse into the prosperous city that it is today. It is set to overtake Lyon as the third largest city in France.

Known as the Ville Rose (“pink city”) for its distinctive brick architecture, there is much to see and admire in Toulouse - from the River Garonne to the Canal du Midi, and from Saint Sermin to the Cité de l’Espace and art galleries that are home to many vital collections.

See you in Toulouse!