The Brisbane-based CAST Cooperative Research Centre is organising the Fourth International Light Metals Technology conference, to be held on the Gold Coast  over four days in June-July 2009.  CAST began this conference series in 2003 in Brisbane, with an official launch by then Queensland Minister for State Development, The Honourable Tom Barton.   The conference has now become a biennial event hosted in a different country selected by the six members of the global light metals alliance, an alliance of the world's top light metal research centres.  The conference has since been held in Austria (2005) and Canada (2007) with the purpose of the conference being to provide an opportunity for researchers and industry to learn of new developments and research which has been undertaken in a cooperative manner with industry in the field of light metals.  In 2003 the conference attracted 163 delegates with 71 (44%) from overseas.  Both industry and research communities were represented with delegates coming from 29 research institutions, 36 light metals companies and 16 different countries.

Australia has again been selected to host LMT2009 in June/July next year.  The conference will be held on the Gold Coast at the Sofitel starting with a cocktail reception on Sunday 28th June and moving into a three day tachnical program from Monday 29th June to Wednesday 1st July.  This timing allows the conference to lead in to the Materials and Austceram conference (MAC2009), also to be staged on the Gold Coast from 1st to 3rd July.  

The LMT conference cuts across conventional S&T boundaries by concentrating on light metals technology rather than general aspects of metallurgy.  The conference focus is on leading edge technologies that are being developed by researchers in cooperation with industry partners.  To this end, the conference will feature invited presentations from high profile industry representatives and international researchers in the field. We expect approximately 150 delegates at the conference, which will be accompanied by the publication of all invited papers in the form of a professional, hard-cover peer-reviewed conference proceedings.

The conference provides an opportunity for researchers and industry to learn of new developments in light metals technology and to facilitate collaboration between domestic and international specialists in the field. It is a great opportunity for those involved in the light metals industry in Australia to learn about the latest developments in light metals research conducted worldwide.