The Metrology and Properties of Engineering Surfaces Conference has gained critical importance in recent years and is now the subject of considerable interest over a wide range of engineering fields. The subject, formally the domain of the researchers, is now firmly rooted in the domain of the engineer, designer, scientist, physicist and even the medical researcher who has begun to recognise its importance.
In the last few years, a number of new commercial instruments have evolved, new characterisation methods have and still are developing, and new areas of application have been found where the assessment of surfaces is highly significant to the functional reliability of the resulting product. At the same time the interest in the subject has so rapidly expanded that it has been recognised that International Standards for the subject, particularly in the area of three-dimensional surface assessment, are essential.
The aims of the conference were to bring together practicing engineers and research workers in a forum where the latest progress can be reported and discussed in a stimulating environment so that the benefits of recent progress may be transferred to industry, scientists and engineers in related disciplines.