COBEM, International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, is the most important event in the field of Mechanical Engineering in Latin America, occurring every two years since 1971. Originally named as Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Mecânica, COBEM reached international status in the year of 2001, with an increasing number of international participants. In its twentieth edition, COBEM 2009 will be hosted by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, DEMEC, of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS, in the touristic city of Gramado.

Engineering of the future

With the advent of the 20th edition of COBEM, we will reach the end of the first decade of the millennium. This has been a period of deep transformations in the society and, as a consequence, in the activities of the engineer. The exponential increase in the human knowledge and the continuing arising of new technologies that are increasingly more sophisticated lead to the development of fascinating areas in mechanical engineering, such as robotics, nanotechnology, biomechanics, biofuels, alternative energy sources, new materials, in a challenging scenery of global warming and reduction in fossil fuels.

What is the desirable profile of the mechanical engineer in this new scenery? How to respond with quality to the growing need of professionals that are capable of tackling the challenges posed by the future? COBEM 2009 aims at bringing these topics to discussion, organizing discussion panels and round tables that will focus on some of the most important aspects involved in the technological development and formation of the future engineers.