Preface

Abstract

The ModTech Professional Association, as main organizer together with “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi and Constanta Maritime University, organized the 8th online edition of the ModTech2020 International Conference, between 23 and 27 June 2020. Other prestigious institutions, from Romania and abroad, such as the Society of Powder Technology of Japan, Silesian University of Technology of Gliwice, Poland, “Alecu Russo” University of Balti, Republic of Moldova, Technical Sciences Academy of Romania, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava and The General Association of the Engineers in Romania (AGIR) were also co-organizers. The ModTech Professional Association currently has more than 400 members from Romania and abroad and 12 branches in Greece, Spain, Malaysia, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Iraq, Poland, Turkey, Serbia, and Republic of Moldova.The ModTech2020 International Conference was virtual this year because of Covid-19: meeting restrictions (for enclosed spaces the maximum number of people who could meet was a maximum of 20 people according to the Romanian legislation adopted in emergency situations); travel restrictions (many participants from different countries had travel restrictions imposed by Romanian legislation); imposing isolation measures (after entering Romania) with all the inconveniences that arise from them, but also after returning to the country of origin, most of the time and uncertainties about the state of the pandemic have led to a reluctance by participants to leave their own country. There is a danger of blocking access to a country, of canceling the flight of some companies, etc. Continuity in the annual development of the ModTech International Conference, the wish expressed by many participants, following the consultation carried out approximately 3 months before the conference. The organizing committee respected their desire to hold the conference online, the desire justified by the following reasons:− the need to publish (disseminate) the research results within some research projects, an important stage of the annual reporting;− the annual evaluation of the teachers also follows the activity of participation in conferences, the publication in the ISI Proceedings are well rated;− career promotion also depends on the participation in international conferences (especially ISI indexed) in a given period of time; the existence of a period of interruption of participation in such conferences could diminishes the level of appreciation of the activity from this point of view;− at the start of the consultation action of the participants, were already a large number of abstracts received and accepted.List of Conference Committees are available in this PDF.