Jorma Vitkala Named Glass Builder of the Year

The Board of the Finnish Flat Glass Association unanimously voted Jorma Vitkala as Glass Builder of the Year 2013 for his achievements as the initiator and organizer of Glass Performance Days, the world's largest glass industry conference held every other year in Tampere, Finland. The Glass Builder of the Year 2013 Award was presented to Vitkala at the Flat Glass Association's annual meeting on April 27. With this award, the association honors Vitkala for more than two decades of dedicated effort and personal commitment as the organizer and developer of the conference, in addition to his other work in the flat glass industry, officials said, in a release.

"Jorma has turned the GPD into an essential event for everybody interested in glass and its use in construction and the vehicle industry," said Tim Macfarlane, a London-based glass consultant and frequent participant in GPD, in the release. "In the last 20 years, he has charmed and entertained participants from all over the world and offered them a forum where they can exchange ideas and learn from one another. There's no other organizer and director like him in the glass business..."

GPD 2013 will be held June 13-15 and will include 170 presentations and more than 20 workshops focused on specific glass processes, structural silicone glazing and the structural performance of laminated glass. See the workshop schedule for more information.