The LABSOLDA was created in 1973 after a cooperation agreement between the today called « Forschungszentrum » of Jüllich/Germany and the CNPq (National Council of Scientific and Technological Development). However, its activities have only been intensified early in 1974. At that time, its members had only the option to develop Basic Research in welding processes with the available equipment, which were a MIG machine, a TIG machine, a Spot Welding machine and two rotary welding converters. .
The Basic Research activities assisted in the academic formation of professors, who applied their knowledge in theoretical and practical teaching, and supported primarily the realization of the first Masters dissertation in 1976. The continuation of these activities lead to the writing and publication, in 1979, of the book “Voltaic Arc Welding Technology”. Although the LABSOLDA has always been active in all events of Welding Technology in Brazil and some abroad, like the organization of the II Latin American Congress of Welding Technology, the exchange with industries was difficult.
The increase of integration with the industry has always been an important purpose for the LABSOLDA, which started to procure institutional support to promote specialization courses for engineers. Such support came mainly from the National Commission of Nuclear Energy, which also supported the development of arc welding power sources. This latest activity counted, at the time, on the participation of the previously called Laboratory of Machines and Power Electronics - LAMEP – from the Department of Electrical Engineering of the UFSC, which is now called INEP - Institute of Power Electronics.
A more audacious phase of the laboratory began in 1983 with the beginning of the PhD of two professors in a cooperative program with Germany under the support of the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the participation of the Institute of Welding Processes Automation (APS) of the Technical University of Aachen – Germany.
As a consequence of this involvement needs and conditions were created for the formation of a laboratory infrastructure for the development of electronic instrumentation and high-tech equipments.
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