History

History of the Croatian Vacuum Society
The Croatian Vacuum Society was founded on July 20, 1979, in Zagreb, by a dozen engineers and scientists involved in vacuum technique. However, the progress to such an event can be traced back to late 1950s. At that time several industrial companies in Croatia used vacuum equipment on a large scale for the production of light bulbs, rectifying tubes, different chemical and pharmaceutical products and for food processing. On the other hand, the construction of several large scientific facilities (neutron generator, cyclotron) at the Rudjer Boskovic Institute in Zagreb required the state-of-the-art knowledge of the vacuum science and technology. Representatives of both the industrial and scientific communities participated at the First International Vacuum Congress in Namur in June 1958. The Croatian vacuum experts participated at the First Yugoslav Congress on Vacuum Science (FYCVS) held in 1960, organized by the Slovenian Society which had been established by that time. Although not formally organized, the Croatian vacuum experts were a well-defined and stable group of physicists and electrical engineers, coordinated by Mme Milena Varicak. At that time their interest was concentrated upon improvement of the production and measurement of vacuum. The Yugoslav Centre for Vacuum Technique (JCVT) was founded on a day following the FYCVS, and the vacuum groups and individuals from Croatia joined in. In 1962, the JCVT was transformed into the Yugoslav National Committee for Vacuum Technique (JUVAK), as a prerequisite for membership in the newly formed IUVSTA. The JUVAK started as an organization comprising vacuum societies from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, the respective vacuum societies sharing (in unequal proportions, however) its history till its end in 1992. For their part, the Croatian representatives participated in most JUVAK activities and regularly attended Yugoslav Vacuum Congresses, 11 of which were organized during the 1960-1990 period.
The Croatian vacuumists took a long time to organize themselves. In 1966, a group of engineers from the Electrotechnical Institute “Rade Koncar” (an industrial research institute) and representatives of the vacuum equipment importers formed the Section for Vacuum Technique of Croatia – a predecessor of the Croatian Vacuum Society. Somehow or other, the scientists were absent from this event. This same year the Section organized the 3rd Vacuum Congress in Zagreb. In connection with this meeting, the Section also hosted the 8th Executive Council Meeting of IUVSTA on September 28, 1966. At the Congress, the thin films section presented lately aroused interest in that topic in Croatia. The organized activity of the Section gradually decreased after the Congress.
After a setback of the liberal movement in Croatia in 1971, the Section was almost inactive for several years. The guardians of the remnants of the Section were people from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering which in the early seventies displayed an interest in metal processing in vacuum, and members of the freeze drying community. However, a continuous activity in the thin films research (M. Persin) and vigorous growth of theoretical surface science (M. Sunjic) were presented at many international and domestic meetings during the 1970s. In the meantime, the organization of the professional unions had to be adjusted to the more “federal” model which evolved in Yugoslavia. Due to dissipation of its membership, the Croatian Vacuum Section was unable to follow Slovenian and Serbian Vacuum Societies that reorganized themeselves along the new lines. Because new rules required reorganization of the JUVAK as a union of at least three vacuum societies, the need for revitalizing the Croatian vacuum organization became pressing indeed. As a result, the Croatian Vacuum Society (CVS) was founded at a meeting of vacuum science and technology experts associated with industry and academic research, on July 20, 1979.
The prime objectives of the CVS were the promotion and stimulation of professional communication among its members and between similar societies, as well as the initiation of educational programs at various levels. The first Chairman of the CVS was Mr. R. Stojanovic. During the 8th Vacuum Congress held in Bled (Slovenia) in 1979, the new JUVAK was formed as a Union of Vacuum Societies of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. As a sign of new life, the Croatian Vacuum Society organized the 9th Vacuum Congress in 1983.
Soon after this, the CVS was in crisis again. Consolidation was attempted by grass-root activity – education and information of the potential membership. Several courses covering various levels of vacuum science were organized in the late eighties. These courses attracted considerable attendance of the newcomers to the field, as well as those who wanted to improve their knowledge. Through them, the scientists from the research institutes (Rudjer Boskovic Institute and Institute of Physics) and the universities became more and more involved in the regular activities of the Society. As far as research was concerned, thin films topics continued and experimental surface science grew vigorously, while some classical subjects gradually lost importance. The combined effort resulted in a certain shift of focus from the engineering side towards more scientific. The new president (H. Zorc) and the secretary (M. Milun), elected at the 1990 CVS Annual Convention, were both from research laboratories.
Under rather unfavorable circumstances (during the war in Croatia) a period of new activity has begun. The Croatian Vacuum Society, together with the Slovenian Vacuum Society, decided at the beginning of 1992 for dissolution of the JUVAK and applied for individual membership in IUVSTA. After being a provisional member for about a year, the CVS was admitted as a full member of IUVSTA at the 12th General Meeting in The Hague, held on October 12, 1992. Since then, the the CVS has organized bilateral annual meetings with the Slovenian Vacuum Society. It is also one of the organizers of the Joint Vacuum Conference and the 8th Joint Vacuum Conference of Croatia, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia was organized in Pula, Croatia in June 2000. In 1997 the new officers (N. Radic as the president and P. Pervan as the secretary, both from research laboratories) were elected. In 2008 new Statute has been adopted and the new officers (B. Pivac as the president and O. Milat as the secretary) were elected.
At present, the Croatian Vacuum Society has 88 individual members and 4 corporate members. About half of the membership comes from the companies which use vacuum in manufacturing their products. The other half works in research laboratories or at universities (mostly on thin films, electronic materials and surface science or just using vacuum in their research). Many of them participate regularly in the international vacuum conferences and the meetings on surface science and thin films held in Europe.