(?) MFN: Hello Mario, how are you doing?

(!) M. G.: I’m doing well, thank you! First, thank you for giving me this opportunity. Indeed, the last two years were not easy for me and for everyone, we all know why. When the Covid pandemic started and our life style was suddenly deeply changed, I announced the rescheduling of the ICSP14. This was not an easy decision for me; I have been working on shot peening since I started my academic carrier and with my group we have published multiple important and highly cited papers. So, when the International Committee on Shot Peening gave me the chance to organize the ICSP14, it was a great honour for me and a great success for the group. You can imagine how hard it was to cancel the conference.

  

(?) MFN: And now, how are you going and what is your plan?

(!) M. G.: Well, the pandemic is not over yet, but we have learned how to live with it. At this moment, the situation in Italy and in Milan is better than most other countries and the restrictions we have are limited to wearing masks indoors in public places and showing the double-vaccinated vaccination certificate (the so called “green pass”) to be seated at restaurants and attend public events. As we hope that the situation will gradually improve everywhere, it is good to see that flight restrictions from and to overseas have gradually been removed.

(?) MFN: And then?

(!) M. G.: Then we decided to organize the 14th International Conference on Shot Peening in physical presence where it was originally planned: Politecnico Milano, Campus Bovisa, September 4-7 2022. Save the date!! 

(?) MFN: Before going on with other questions about ICPS14, could you remind me about the ICSP conference series? This is a successful series, started more than 40 years ago! Right?

(!) M. G.: That’s correct, and it is not easy to find a thematic conference series that dates back to the ’80s, last century. Indeed, shot peening is still widely used (since probably more than 40 years ago) in many industrial sectors; however, the learning process of scientific knowledge is not still fully saturated. From a physics point of view, the process is multilinear and complex (think of the contact condition, the plastic deformation, and the high strain rate): to completely understand what happens during shot peening is not trivial and still attracts the attention of  researchers. But today, with recent technological developments,  the so called “Industry 4.0 revolution” being strictly related to the digitalization of industrial production, there is the need to digitalize the treatment and to make it fit in the so called “digital factory”. This completely justifies the interest in the new edition, ICSP14, which my team and I are organizing in Milan. Let me add…

(?) MFN:  …What?

(!) M. G.: With respect to the previous editions, while we are maintaining the traditional structure of the conference, we are giving special emphasis to the application of shot peening as a post-treatment for the new manufacturing technologies. I am thinking of the additive manufacturing (AM) of metal parts, which is a new paradigm of the industrial production but is nowadays strongly limited by the surface state of the produced parts. Here, surface treatments like shot peening can play a critical role to get the desired surface state, both in terms of roughness and morphology, and in terms of residual stresses.

(?) MFN: That’s true! If I am not wrong, in a recent review paper from your group, you focused on this important aspect. But there is not only shot peening.

(!) M. G.: That’s true, sure. However, let me say that while the name of the conference is focussed on shot peening, the conference is open to the so-called “allied processes”, characterized by a peening action but using different media: water jet peening, ultrasonic shot peening, cavitation peening, laser-based peening, burnishing, deep rolling, flap peening and so on. Plenary lectures and special sessions are planned on these treatments. We aim to give a general framework and overview of the state of the art of mechanical surface treatments and their application in the industrial environment.

(?) MFN: What is the response you have got so far? 

(!) M. G.: We decided to start the organization over. We annulled the abstracts received before the Pandemic and we re-launched the Call for Papers. We believe this is the right way to go, since time has passed, the results could be already published elsewhere and new results might have been achieved. The deadline for the abstract submission is officially fixed for February 15th, 2022, but owing to the particular moment we are living, I can anticipate that late abstracts will be tolerated! If I can add a couple of words, the response is excellent so far. We have received numerous abstracts about the different areas covered by the conference. And we have already noted the interest and the agreement of many international exhibitors that will show up at ICSP14 with dedicated booths to present the most recent services and products.

(?) MFN: What is the subject you are receiving more contributions about?  

(!) M. G.: Well, the contributions we are receiving are uniformly distributed among the areas of interest of the conference; processes, experimental techniques, numerical simulations, and new applications. No need to say that fatigue is a primary topic, but the abstracts we are receiving consider this subject from different points of view: materials, process parameters, comparison of different processes, experimental techniques to assess the fatigue behavior, case studies and so on. There is also an increasing number of abstracts that deal with I4.0 aspects such as sensors for surface processes digitalization, real-time process control, process modelling and simulation, and data-driven approaches. This gives me the opportunity to underline the great effort that is on course to digitalize shot peening and the allied processes and to make them attractive in this globalized and digitalized World. But what is more interesting is the attention given to the application of shot peening to AM parts, a new field of application that is particularly attractive in high-tech sectors such as aerospace or bio-med where shot peening can play a crucial role to improve the characteristics that otherwise are strongly limited by the surface state of the as-built AM parts.

(?) MFN: I think that AM will be more and more important in the future.

(!) M. G.: I am convinced of that, especially for high-tech sectors rather than mass-production sectors, at least with the current technological limits. Indeed, with AM you can design and produce light parts, materials with tailored properties or optimized elements, but the key is to be able to conveniently post-treat the surface that in the as-built condition, is of very poor quality. And for this purpose, I underline once again, the peening treatments are very attractive, and we will discuss that at ICSP14 also with special sessions.

(?) MFN: In every conference there are a number of plenary lectures, given by leaders in the fields. Have you anyone in mind for that?

(!) M. G.: Yes, we sure have. We have already got the confirmation of the plenary lecturers, from internationally recognized leaders in the field, who are quite balanced between academia and industry, treatment of interest, and geographical area. I can anticipate that Prof. Martin Lévesque (Ecóle Polytechnique Montréal), president of the International Scientific Committee on Shot Peening (ISCSP), will give a talk on the simulation of shot peening and peen forming, discussing the recent activities of his group. Prof. Emmanuelle Rouhaud (University of Technology of Troyes, France) will talk about an attractive shot peening-based treatment to get grain refinement and superior properties, the SMAT, and how to model it. Yongxiang Hu, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, has accepted to give a lecture on laser peening. Then we have two plenary lectures from industries: one from Boeing, Dr. Dan Sanders who will describe the experience at Boeing about cavitation peening and its comparison with other treatments, while Dr. Pierangelo Duò will discuss how surface modification processes are implemented at Rolls-Royce Deutschland.  We have also different keynotes that will open single parallel sessions.    

(?) MFN: I think it is not easy to organize and manage a conference like this, especially in a historical moment like this. Could you explain how you are proceeding in the development of the conference?

(!) M. G.: You are right when you say it is not an easy task! But I am doing that with enthusiasm. And I am not alone, as I have a group of co-workers that are helping me a lot, and without them, it would not have been possible to come this far. Everyone has a specific task: the emails, the website, the abstracts and paper allocations, the social events and so on! In particular, I would like to mention and thank Dr. Sara Bagherifard, senior researcher, Asghar Heydari, post-doc and the other members of my team that are dedicating a lot of time to the success of the conference. Special thanks also to Peenservice, partner of the conference, and Dr. Michele Bandini, General Manager of Peenservice, who is strongly contributing to ICSP14 organization.

 

(?) MFN: Some words about social events?

(!) M. G.: We are working on that. I can anticipate that we will have a welcome reception in the center of the city at the end of the opening day while the gala dinner is expected to be held in the courtyard of the historical castle in Milan. We are also organizing a social program for accompanying persons as well as cultural visits and post-conference tours. Since the first days in September are generally warm and sunny, we hope to have the social events outdoors, but we are ready for any weather!

(?) MFN: And how about Milan, the city where the conference will be held?

(!) M. G.: Milan is the second-largest and the most important financial and economical city in Italy. Milan is an international capital of fashion and design, known as a city with many opportunities for shopping. Milan was deeply impacted by the initial period of the pandemic but now it is being restored and I feel the willingness to take over the present period and return its intimate vocation for exhibitions, conferences and events. In 2021, we had the International Design week and the International Fashion week physically organized in situ and the trend will continue in 2022, also with ICSP14!

Let me also underline that Milan is rich in historical monuments and buildings, with many unique museums and art exhibitions. For example, in Milan it is possible to visit “The Last Supper”, the famous wall painting masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci. I am sure that everyone will enjoy a walk in the downtown or around the historical castle but also in the new districts with innovative “green” buildings. In the evening as well, one can enjoy an aperitif or dining along the channel “Naviglio”.  

(?) MFN: Finally, a message for our readers?

(!) M. G.: Well, I hope to see them all in Milan at ICSP14. The ICSP14 Organizing Team and I are ready to welcome you and to do our best to let you have a pleasant and remarkable time at ICSP14. Please take a look at the website (www.icsp14.org) for updated info and do not hesitate to contact us for any information or request you might have about ICSP14. We will be happy to help you. Save the date!… I am looking forward to meeting you all in Milan. Ciao!

For Information: 

ICSP14

Politecnico di Milano Campus Bovisa Sud

via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy

Tel. +39.02.23998206

Fax +39.02.23998202

E-mail: info@icsp14.org

www.icsp14.org