The Forty-third General Assembly of the association was held in Kyoto, Japan, on Monday October 7th 2002, as part of a meeting from October 6th to 8th at Kyoto Hotel Okura.

Following the business meeting of the T.I.C. on Monday morning, an excellent programme of technical presentations was offered during the rest of the day.

In the evening of Monday, a fine Gala Dinner was sponsored by ten of the member companies of the T.I.C. in Japan, with entertainment of traditional dance and music to delight both visitors and local residents.  We should like to thank these companies for their support of the event:

Nichicon
Cabot Supermetals
Fujitsu Media Devices
Hitachi AIC
Matsushita Electronic
Mitsui Mining & Smelting
NEC Tokin
Nippon Chemi-con
Sanyo Electronic Components
H.C.Starck-V Tech

On Tuesday a large group was welcomed at the tantalum capacitor plant of Nichicon at Adogawa for a tour of the plant.  The visit had been most carefully prepared by Nichicon staff, with minute attention to detail, and coherent explanations of each process.  For those who had not seen a capacitor plant before, this was a revelation, with its quiet hum of automated machinery and the amazing output of components neatly organized for immediate use by the customer.  The T.I.C. arranged lunch at a nearby hotel on the shores of Lake Biwa.

Sightseeing tours of Kyoto and Nara, with an informative English-speaking guide, were enjoyed by all who took part.

Technical programme

The current state of the Japanese economy and industry policy of the Japanese government
by Mr Hiroki Ishigaki, Nonferrous Metals Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

Tantalum and niobium - a review of industry statistics
by Ed Mosheim, Technical Promotions Officer, T.I.C.

Issues in anti-oxidation coating technology of niobium-based superalloys
by Professor Toshio Narita, Hokkaido University

Status of niobium-based superalloys development
by Dr Akio Kasama, JUTEM - Japan Ultra-High Temperature Materials Research Center

Alternative reduced tantalum powders
by Dr Karlheinz Reichert, H.C. Starck GmbH

The effect of metallurgical properties of tantalum target on sputtering performance
by Mr Ichiroh Sawamura, Innovative Materials Development Center, Nikko Materials Co., Ltd.

The development of solid organic polymer niobium electrolytic capacitor
by Mr K. Mitsui, Director of Engineering, Nichicon Corporation

Tantalum supply chain and problems of management
by Mr David Paull, Sons of Gwalia

Tantalum capacitors - applications review
by Dr Philip Lessner and Mr John Prymak, Kemet