During 1965, the Brazilian naval construction faced a tremendous crisis, foreseeing the vessel importation as a solution to the unbalance in the payments to several countries. Looking for change this situation, the president of the Brazilian Society of Marine Engineering – SOBENA , Admiral José Carlos de Macedo Soares Guimarães, had the idea to convoke an international congress in Rio de Janeiro city, to avoid the partial paralyze of almost all the Brazilian shipyards.

With the support of Brazilian Navy, the presidents of “Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers”, “Argentinean Naval League”, “American Bureau of Shipping” and “Institute of Studies of the Ibero-American Merchant Marine”, had place the 1º Pan-American Congress of Naval Engineering, Maritime Transport and Port Engineering from May 30 th to June 6 th in 1966, meeting around of 400 participants from several countries from this and other continents.

At June 2 nd , the delegations created the Pan-American Institute of Naval Engineering, and the first elected directory member were:

- President: Admiral José Celso Macedo Soares (Brazil);
- First vice-president: Eng. Edmundo Manera (Argentina);
- Second vice-president: Commander Jorge Dellepiane (Peru);
- Technical Director: Eng. Matthew Forrest (U.S.A.);
- Treasurer: Captain Enrique Díaz (Argentina);

The names that composed the first directory are the expression of the degree of importance, in those days, had the Naval Industry in Argentina , Brazil , USA and Peru , in a big proportion, and the reflex of this countries preoccupation about their naval industry.

Right after the creation of this Institute, the first directors started to work, doing in their respective countries a divulgation about the ideas that originated the IPEN. The principal preoccupation was to turn IPEN a kind of syndicate, an organization more representative of the naval industry, with intention to solve the immediate problem of the remaining shipyards.

Without delay, the first individual members of IPEN insisted in the necessity of orient IPEN through the technical interchange, mainly. This stream won in its point of view, but assimilated the basic preoccupation about the defense of the industry in each country-member, proposing an international cooperation like standard. In summary, they kept the idea of fighting for the importations of vessels from Europe , looking for improve the cooperation with other countries, to train our continent for a big naval industry.

While appear those ideas, feeding the naval engineer's and techniques' dream around the continent, the directors of IPEN faced the first problems of the organization. The second congress should be made in Buenos Aires , but this was not possible, and the alternative to made it in Lima wasn't possible either, because of the short time remaining. For this reason, the directory body made it in Brazil again, in 1969, where were elected the new directors, as follows:

- President: Cap. Enrique Carranza ( Argentina )
- Vice-president 1º: Admiral Joaquín Carlos do Rego Monteiro ( Brazil )
- Vice-president 2º: Ing. Raúl Montalvo ( Peru )
- Technical Director: Ing. Amélio D´Arcangelo ( U.S.A. )
- Treasurer: Commander Paulo Justino Strauss ( Brazil ).

It was agreed that the Third Congress will be made at United States of America . But in the next year, the U.S.A. director informed that it won't be possible to make the meeting in that country. At the same time, died the Admiral Joaquim Carlos and, immediately, resigned the Executive Secretariat, Admiral Aldo Rebelo, for health reasons and everything got complicated. IPEN seemed an organization without future.

The remaining director of IPEN in Brazil , Commander Paulo Strauss, concluded that the principal problem of the organization was their statutes, asking for a revision. Finished this task, the new statutes were approved in a meeting of the directory members at Rio de Janeiro , in November of 1971. With the nomination of the new Executive Secretariat, Dr. Romir Ribeiro, all the actions became easier and started the first permanent programs of IPEN, where was waited a third congress, scheduled in June 1973, in Buenos Aires.

In this event the Commander César Villarán Tapia was elected IPEN's president, who had the support of the Peruvian Navy to organize the Fourth congress in 1975. At the middle of 1974, without delay, Commander Villarán was designated to assume the direction of SIMA-Chimbote, because of this, he formed a commission organizer in Lima , whose president was Captain Victor Posso Carrillo, who did it with success, and also assumed the task of edit the first informative journal of the Institute, Bulletin IPEN. Elected several times as Peruvian national director, Admiral Carrillo printed a mark that later was imitated for others institute representations between the countries members; to him we credit all the preparation work of the Technical terms, which result in the “Glossary of Naval Technical Terms”, for this publication IPEN is really proud and of the first teaching material destined to Universities with Naval Engineering courses, the pamphlet of BP Bayovar's structure, made in SIMA.

Also we credit the first internship program in Naval Industry, made at the SIMA-Chimbote installations by Ecuadorian students. This one deserve one edition of “Navitécnica” magazine, that pointed it like “an example of practical pan-Americanism” and extended by several countries of the continent, besides from Spain, Poland and Germany. Finally, it was made the first Pan-American Symposium about Warships Projects and Construction, event that accompanied to five IPEN congresses.

LOS CONGRESOS

CONGRESS

After Lima, the IPEN Congress pass by Caracas – Venezuela, in 1977 and from here to Vera Cruz – México, Viña del mar – Chile, Washington – U.S.A., Guayaquil – Equator, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, Viña del mar – Chile, Buenos Aires – Argentina, Caracas – Venezuela, Lima – Peru, Montevideo – Uruguay, Cartagena – Colombia, Vera Cruz – México, in 2001, Havana – Cuba, in 2003, Guayaquil – Equator, in 2005, all with a two year interval, without interruption. The last edition was at Sao Paulo – Brazil , in 2007. The next congress will be made at Viña del Mar, Chile, in 2009.

Another important IPEN's permanent program is the interchange between professors and students from universities with Naval Engineering Courses. This preoccupation with the engineer of tomorrow is visible for several initiatives that include the universities of friend countries and that materialize the tremendous effort to produce the first book about Naval Engineering wrote by a lot of hands. It is about the Librobus Project, which pretend meets all the basic information about the specialization to be edited in CDs, which will be distributed between universities for free, to be delivered to their students. Because of several difficulties, the Project is slow but it is in the final phase the part about Welding, Project and Structures, and Transport.

Besides, it is a permanent activity of the Executive Secretariat of the IPEN to keep in touch with Universities' professors looking for an interchange, to know the experience and researches about some subjects of mutual interest. About this job could be said that universities with naval courses from the continent are currently closer in their jobs, interchanging experiences and participating in research projects too.

SYMPOSIUMS

As a measure to reinforce the IPEN in every country member and at the same time fulfill the objectives of disclose the naval technology , the directory are accustomed to give between the countries member some subjects of national interest whose discussion is done through symposiums.

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