Awards
In association with the World Corrosion Organization (WCO), the Chinese Society of Corrosion and Prevention (CSCP) and the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) have collaborated to create an international award to celebrate outstanding achievement in raising public awareness of corrosion. The inaugural annual CORROSION AWARENESS HONOUR is now open for submissions. The Corrosion Awareness Honour recognises pioneering individuals who have made a substantial contribution to increasing awareness of the importance of corrosion and corrosion protection amongst government, industry and the general public. The award consists of a certificate and the sum of 1,000 EUR. In their award submissions, nominees should meet some, but not necessarily all, of the following criteria: The closing date for applications is June 30, 2026. The award winner will be notified by July 15, 2026. Nominations must be addressed to the WCO office:Nomination 2026
Prof. Dr. Willi Meier
WCO
E-mail:
Corrosion Award 2026 - Laureate Dr Gao
Dr Gao has made a significant and sustained contribution to promoting awareness of corrosion across industry, academia, professional institutions and the wider engineering community. With more than 30 years of experience in materials, corrosion and asset integrity, he has consistently advocated for corrosion prevention and management as essential elements of engineering safety, sustainability, infrastructure resilience and industrial performance.
Since becoming President of ICorr in November 2024, Dr Gao has placed communication, education and engagement at the centre of his activities. His outreach has addressed audiences ranging from experienced corrosion professionals to students and young engineers. In 2025 alone, he delivered 12 corrosion awareness presentations in China, complemented by further engagements in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and the United States.
Building an International Corrosion Community
A particular focus of Dr Gao's work has been strengthening cooperation across national and organisational boundaries. Under his presidency, ICorr has strengthened its collaboration with international organisations including WCO, the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC), the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection (CSCP) and AMPP.
Among the most visible examples is the UK–China Corrosion Summit initiative. The summit was held in Manchester in 2025, followed by the second China–UK Corrosion Summit in Beijing in 2026, bringing together corrosion specialists, researchers, industry representatives and engineering leaders and creating a platform for international knowledge exchange and cooperation.
His international engagement is also reflected in collaborations extending from China and Europe to the Middle East and the United States. The supporting documentation for the Honour illustrates this extensive network of activities, including cooperation with EFC/WCO, AMPP and corrosion organisations in China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Education and professional development have been another important part of Dr Gao's contribution. He has actively supported initiatives including the ICorr Young Engineer Programme (YEP) and has encouraged young engineers to participate in conferences, develop international networks and become actively involved in the corrosion profession.
His outreach to universities has included presentations and engagement with students and early-career engineers at institutions including the University of Manchester, University of Leeds, Cranfield University, Loughborough University, University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University.
Advancing a Global Message
Dr Gao has consistently emphasized that corrosion is more than a technical issue: effective corrosion management contributes directly to public safety, environmental performance, infrastructure reliability and economic efficiency.
This message was also reflected in activities surrounding World Corrosion Awareness Day 2026, when ICorr, EFC and CSCP issued a joint statement highlighting the role of corrosion management in sustainable infrastructure, engineering excellence and international collaboration.
Dr Gao combines this commitment with extensive professional expertise. He holds a PhD in Materials from Loughborough University and is an AMPP Certified Corrosion Specialist, Chartered Engineer, Chartered Scientist, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and Fellow of the Institute of Corrosion.
The World Corrosion Organization warmly congratulates Dr Yunnan Gao on receiving the WCO Corrosion Awareness Honour 2026 and recognizes his outstanding commitment to increasing awareness of corrosion, strengthening international cooperation and inspiring the next generation of corrosion professionals.
Corrosion Award 2025 - Laureate Prof. Xiaogang Li
With a distinguished career spanning several decades, Professor Li has made outstanding contributions to the understanding of atmospheric, soil, and marine corrosion, the development of corrosion-resistant steels, and the advancement of corrosion modeling and machine learning. He has authored more than 750 peer-reviewed publications with over 20,000 citations and an h-index of 71, and holds more than 60 patents. His leadership roles include serving as Editor-in-Chief of npj Materials Degradation and as an advisory or editorial board member for several high-impact journals.
Professor Li’s contributions have been recognized globally through numerous prestigious awards, including the ICC Marcel Pourbaix Award (2024), NACE W.R. Whitney Award (2019), NACE Technical Achievement Award, and multiple national science and technology awards.
The WCO congratulates Professor Li on this well-deserved recognition. His achievements exemplify excellence in corrosion research and significantly advance the global mission of promoting corrosion awareness and prevention.
The official awarding ceremony will be announced shortly.
Corrosion Award 2024 - Laureate Dr. Jörg Vogelsang
Jörg A. Vogelsang obtained a Diploma in Chemistry in 1988 and he wrote his PhD thesis in the group of Prof. Dr. M. Hauser at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Stuttgart entitled "Convolution kinetics treatment of various excimer formation mechanisms with respect to nonstationary diffusion and molecular reaction parameters" (1991). Since 1992 he has worked for Sika, firstly in Stuttgart, Germany and after 2002 in Zurich, Switzerland. In Stuttgart he was responsible for basic research in corrosion of reinforcements in concrete and corrosion protection by organic coatings.
As a founding member of the EFC Working Party Coatings he became its chairman in 1998. In parallel, he was very active in the German corrosion society GfKORR, where he was appointed as member of the Scientific Committee in 1999 and he founded also a coatings working party for GfKORR in 2000. From 2001 until 2007 he served as chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) of the EFC.
In 2001, he was appointed as member of the scientific board of the "Karl-Winnacker" research institute of the DECHEMA e.V. and he was elected to the board of administrators of GfKORR e.V. After his move to Zurich in 2002, he created a surface and material science lab; in 2008 he was placed in charge of all analytical activities in Zurich and, since then, has coordinated Sika’s group activities in chemical analysis. In 2012, he was promoted as Corporate Head of Analytics & Testing. Since 2013, he has been an elected member of the EFC Board of Administrators (BoA) and in 2014 he commenced service as the vice president of GfKORR e.V.
He is also very active in standardization; he is member of several standardizing committees in Germany and in ISO, where he was Chair of TC35 SC9 for three terms. His special interest is the standardization of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and electrochemical methods applied to organic coatings in general. He has published more than 50 papers.
He served as the Vice-President of the EFC in 2019-2020 and as the EFC President in 2021-2022.
Corrosion Award 2023 - Laureate Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Günter Schmitt
Guenter Schmitt graduated from the Cologne University and Aachen University of Technology in Germany with a Diploma and Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Habilitation + venia legendi in "Chemical Engineering/Technical Chemistry" at the Aachen University of Technology. Assistant Professor in the Institute of Technical Chemistry and Petroleum Chemistry (1978). From 1883 to 1985 full Professor for Technical Chemistry at Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany. 1986 to 2007 Professor for Corrosion Protection Engineering and Head of the Laboratory for Corrosion Protection at the Iserlohn University of Applied Sciences, Iserlohn, Germany. Additionally since 2005 CEO and main shareholder of the Institute for Maintenance and Corrosion Protection Technologies (IFINKOR) n.p.Ltd., Iserlohn, Germany.
He was actively involved in teaching Corrosion Engineering Technologies at the Iserlohn University of Applied Sciences, and Technical Chemistry and Corrosion Protection at the Aachen University of Technology. He gave several 5-days courses in theory and practice of "Failure Analysis" and "Corrosion and Corrosion Protection in Oil and Gas Production, Transportation and Processing" in universities and institutes in China (Beijing, Dalian, Shenyang, Xi’an) during 1985 and 2002.
Within the European TEMPUS project he coordinated from 2000 to 2003 a cooperative project between the University of Tirana/Faculty for Natural Sciences/Albania, University La Sapiencia/ Institute for Analytical Chemistry/Rome/Italy and Iserlohn University of Applied Sciences, Laboratory for Corrosion Protection/Iserlohn/Germany. As as result, the curriculum of the MSc study “Corrosion Protection Technology” at the Iserlohn University of Applied Sciences was 1:1 introduced into the studies at the University of Tirana/ Faculty of Natural SciencesAlbania.
Research groups at the Iserlohn University of Applied Science and Aachen University of Technology are working on subjects in the field of corrosion, corrosion protection and surface modification. Special fields of R&D include corrosion and corrosion protection in production, transport and processing of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), sweet and sour gas corrosion, inhibition, organic coatings, electroless alloy plating, temporary corrosion protection, hydrogen induced corrosion, flow-influenced corrosion, interface/interphase phenomena, and electrochemistry. He was also involved in research on chemical processes for organic and metalorganic intermediate chemicals (e.g. synthesis of special chemicals and polymer precursors, homogeneous catalysis). His R&D work is documented in more than 320 publications.
Guenter Schmitt is actively involved in corrosion science and technology worldwide as shown below:
- Co-Founder, Past President (1995-2004) and Honorary Member (2006) of the German Society for Corrosion Protection (GfKORR)
- Scientific Chairman of EUROCOR'99
- In the research program "Corrosion and Corrosion Protection" of the German Federal Minister for Science and Technology: Chairman (1982-1993) of the WG F5 (Materials performance in waters and soils, Corrosion Inhibitors), Chairman of the task group "Oil field inhibitors" (WG F5), coordinator in the joint industry research project "Corrosion in process waters" (WG G6)
- German delegate in the International Corrosion Council (ICC)(since 1993); 1st Vice Chairman (2014-2017), Chairman (2018-2021), Immediate Past-Chairman (2022-2024) of ICC
- German delegate and active member in working groups of the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC): WG 1 on Corrosion and Scale Inhibitors (member since 1976, Chairman since 2001), WG 7 on Corrosion Education (member since 1978), WG13: Oil and Gas Corrosion (member since 1990), WG 19 on Polymer Corrosion (Co-Founder and past Vice chairman)
- Organiser of the 5-days international courses in theory and practice of "Corrosion Inhibitors", sponsored by the WG 1 on "Corrosion and Scale Inhibitors" of the EFC, held 1986, 1988, 1993, 1996 and 2001 at DECHEMA, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 2 days international courses on same subject in 2020 and 2021 at IFINKOR.
- Since 1997 Convenor of ISO TC67 WG7 "Materials for use in H2S environments in oil and gas production" (ISO 15156/NACE MR0175 and ISO 23936) and chairman of the Maintenance Agency of ISO 15156
- Member of major German associations in the field of Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Corrosion (AGEF, DECHEMA, DGMK, DGO, GDCh, GfKORR, VDI, fkks)
- Member of international organizations such as ISE, ECS and NACE International (NACE Fellow 2005)
- Past Member of the Board of Directors in the Association of Electrochemical Research Institutions (AGEF), Duesseldorf, Germany
- Past Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Society of German Engineers (VDI) - Subgroup Materials Technology, Duesseldorf, Germany
- Past member of the Scientific Council of the Association of Industrial Research Institutions (AiF), Germany
- Past Member of the Coordination Council for Corrosion Research (Kuratorium Korrosionsforschung der AiF) in Germany
- Member of the International Advisory Board of the corrosion journals "Materials and Corrosion“(Germany), “Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology” (UK), and “International Journal for Corrosion and Scale Inhibition” (Russia)
- Member in the Management Committees of three European COST Programs: COST 520 "Biofilms" (1997- 2002), COST F2 "Electrochemical Flow measurements" (1999-2003), COST D33 “Materials and Microorganisms” (2005-2008)
- Main author of the White Paper (May 2009) "Global Needs for Knowledge Dissemination, Research, and Development in Materials Deterioration and Corrosion Control", prepared for the World Corrosion Organization (WCO) in its efforts to become a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in the United Nations (UN) (www.corrosion.org) (WCO is NGO in the UN since July 2010).
- Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology at the Ohio University, Athens, Ohio/USA, (since 2009)
- Rahmel-Schwenk Medal of the German Corrosion Society GfKORR (Gesellschaft für Korrosionsschutz e.V) (2006)
- European Corrosion Medal of the European Federation of Corrosion, 2011
- Lee Hsun Lecture Award of the Chinese Academy of Science, 2018
- Board Member of the World Corrosion Organization (WCO) since 2018
- 2020 Willis Rodney Whitney Award, NACE International
Corrosion Award 2022 - Laureate Prof. Dr. Carlos Arroyave, Antonio Nariño University, Colombia
Carlos Arroyave is titular and emeritus professor of the University of Antioquia, in Medellin, Colombia. He is author of more than 70 papers, 52 reports on technological, industrial and university solutions, 120 communications, and more than 45 invited lectures, related with subjects as materials science and engineering; corrosion, anti-corrosion; protective coatings; materials degradation; new materials; atmospheric corrosion; paints; higher education administration; science, technology and innovation policy and management; and science and technology parks management. He was born in Yarumal (Colombia) in 1954, and educated in metallurgical engineering (university of Antioquia, 1979), M.Sc. on metallurgical engineering and materials science (federal university of Rio de Janeiro, 1988), Ph.D. on chemistry (Complutense University of Madrid, 1995), guest researcher (UMIST, Manchester, 1995), and post-doctoral stay (Swedish Corrosion Institute, Stockholm, 2001-2002). He was presidents of the Colombian Association of Corrosion and Protection (1997-2001), the Ibero-American Association of Corrosion and Protection (2006-2011). He will be taking on the Presidency of the International Corrosion Council (2014-2017).
Currently, he is a Vice-chancellor for science, technology and innovation in the Antonio Nariño University (Colombia), where he is leading research related with atmospheric corrosion and anti-corrosion methods under complex conditions.
Corrosion Award 2021 - Laureate Prof. Baorong Hou
Professor Baorong Hou from the National Marine Corrosion Protection Engineering Research Centre in China is the 2021 recipient of the inaugural international award. The international jury, composed of CSCP, EFC and WCO members, has recognised his outstanding contribution to increasing awareness of the importance of corrosion and corrosion protection amongst government, academia, industry and the public, particularly his leadership in highlighting seawater corrosion protection and control through scientific, technological and dissemination initiatives and his marked impact on educational and industrial activities.
We wish Professor Baorong Hou all the very best and hope he continues to actively promote corrosion awareness.
