TEHRAN The Sixth Annual and Third International Mechanical Engineering Conference opened here yesterday at Iran University of Science and Technology. Welcoming the participants the Chancellor of the university, Seyed Javad Azhari said the conference aims at developing a link between technology, industry and university together with providing an appropriate ground for exchange of information between Iranian and foreign experts. Azhari said that 270 out of 530 research papers have been selected for presentation at this conference and added that 16 educational workshops will be organized on the sideline of the conference.

The head of the Organization for Expansion and Renovation of Iranian Industry, Akbar Torkan in his address said that during the last Iranian year, automobile manufacturing industry of Iran was able to manufacture and supply 160,000 cars. Referring to the total production of 50 million cars per year in the world, he said we are going to manufacture 500,000 cars annually.

The Head of the Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineering, Mehdi Bahadornejad in his address called for exchange of views among craftsmen and engineers and stressed that the formation of professional associations was necessary. The U.S, Canada, Britain, France, Greece, Sweden, Australia and India are among the countries represented at the three-day conference.