The first Sunday of July 2022 brought a piece of exciting news from our distinguished colleague and dear friend Professor Algirdas Vaclovas Valiulis of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech) based in Lithuania, about the release of his book entitled: Fabrication and Processing of Materials. An Introduction by Vilnius Tech printing house.
The overarching objective of the book is to raise awareness about the importance of materials science for everyone in the engineering discipline, including students, educators and practitioners, and especially those dealing directly with materials. Included in the book are examples of the practical application of theoretical knowledge regarding the heat treatment of materials, cold working, cutting, welding, soldering and setting the physical properties of materials. Notwithstanding its broader scope, this book is particularly intended for students who have chosen the teaching module Materials Science I at Vilnius Tech to deepen their knowledge of the module. With the book as their guide, the students can achieve this by active participation in their work and monitoring, measuring and evaluating the results obtained, and by the interpretation of observed phenomena or processes. The front cover of the book is shown in the top picture.
The sole author of the book is Professor Valiulis who graduated in mechanical engineering from Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (Kaunas, Lithuania) in 1967, was awarded a PhD (materials science) from Dnepropetrovsk Ferrous Metallurgy Institute (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) in 1974 and a Doctor Habilitus degree in 1997 from Kaunas University of Technology. Since 1998, he has been a professor, and since 2001 a full member of Lithuanian Academy of Science. His research interests are in arc resistance, lasers, diffusion welding, surfacing and coating, heat treatment of ferrous metals, curriculum development of study programmes. Between 2006 and 2016, he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Mechanics at Vilnius Tech. He has authored over 500 research, methodological, scientific and management publications, including several books and textbooks, and many study guides and manuals. He has presented over 100 papers at international conferences. Between 2004 and 2019, he was a national representative for Lithuania in the European Commission’s Coal and Steel Committee (COSCO) and the European Commission’s European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP). Also, he was a Board Member of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists between 2013 and 2018.
The UICEE/WIETE close association with Professor Valiulis goes back to September 1997, when he was instrumental in organising our joint 1st Baltic Region Seminar on Engineering Education, held at Vilnius Tech. He is presently one of the longest-serving members of the UICEE/WIETE institutions.
In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious UICEE Order for Excellence in Engineering Education for his exceptional achievements in engineering education, the award that was received only by ten individual academics in the world. On 9 September 2013, he was elected Fellow of the World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education (WIETE) in recognition of his distinguished contributions to engineering and technology education, outstanding achievements in the globalisation of engineering and technology education through the activities of the WIETE, and, in particular, for exceptional service to the WIETE. He has contributed to the life of the two institutions by attending numerous UICEE/WIETE-organised conferences, presenting research papers and publishing scientific articles in our journals.
We wish to congratulate Professor Valiulis for his accomplishment and wish him well in his professional endeavour.
The bottom picture shows Professor Valiulis proudly wearing his UICEE Order. | 
