During the European Association of Material Forming (ESAFORM) Conference, a symposium was organized in honor of Professors Dorel Banabic, Frederic Barlat, and Toshihiko Kuwabara. The event took place in Toulouse, France, from April 24th to April 27th, 2024.

The ESAFORM Association (https://esaform.org/) is the largest scientific association worldwide in the field of material forming, with over 1000 members, not only from Europe but also from other continents.

Professor Dorel Banabic, a full member of the Romanian Academy, has been active on the board of directors of the European Association of Material Forming since 2000, serving for 20 years as a member of the ESAFORM Steering Committee, holding successive executive positions: Secretary (2000-2008), Vice President (2008-2012), President (2012-2016), and Past-President (2016-2020). He has had the longest tenure on the board of directors. At the same time, he is an Associate Editor of the association's journal (International Journal of Material Forming) and a member of the Editorial Board of the "ESAFORM Bookseries on Material Forming," both published by Springer. In 2005, he organized the ESAFORM conference at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, with over 400 researchers participating from around the world (95% from outside Romania).

The symposium in honor of the three professors was organized on the occasion of their retirement from the association's board of directors and aims to acknowledge their contribution to the association.