Fluid Power Net International (FPNI) is a world wide community for networking in the area of fluid power and fluid techniques.

Fluid Power Net International's general objectives are to:

1. Bring people “together” to better know about fluid power activities and trends in research, education and industrial applications
2. Contribute to the needs of its members for information about fluid power developments and publications by various activities
3. Strengthen the standing of fluid power and fluid techniques in industry, due to its superior advantages when appropriate control is used making it an optimal technology for many applications
4. Promote fluid power and fluid techniques as an autonomous scientific/technical discipline in academia to attract talented young people and to help young scientists in solving fluid power problems
5. Promote the multi-disciplinary nature of modern fluid power systems by establishing close contacts to the relevant scientific communities

It will reach these objectives by the following activities

1. Publishing the International Journal of Fluid Power
2. Organising workshops, seminars, and the PhD symposium
3. Providing literature information about fluid power, in particular establishing a database
4. Promoting the scientific development of students, and Post Docs by measures, such as exchange programs or specific workshops
5. Acting as a forum for the discussion and setting of the dates of fluid power events, such as conferences and workshops.

1. FPNI is organised as a scientific society with its headquarters located in Austria.

FPNI consists of:

1.1 The General Assembly

1.2 The Board

1.3 The Chairman of the Board and

1.4 The Secretary of the Board

2. FPNI will fund its activities by

2.1 The membership fees. The membership fee for the different types of members is decided by the General Assembly based on recommendations of the Board

2.2 Donations by members and non members

3. Membership

3.1 Membership categories:

3.1.1 Standard members:
Any public or private research institution whose prime interest is fluid power and/or its application - or a person representing the institution - is eligible for “standard” membership. Each standard member carries one vote in the General Assembly. If the institution is a member as a legal body and not via a representing person the institution must nominate one person as its representative in the General Assembly. This person can change.

3.1.2 Company members:
Any company whose main business activity involves fluid power, fluid power control, or fluid power consulting is eligible for “company” membership. Company members have full access to all services offered by FPNI but have no voting rights in the General Assembly. For protection of interests, the community of Company Members may vote one representative to the Board. An appropriate voting procedure will be determined and implemented by the Board.

3.1.3 Personal members:
Individuals not meeting the above two categories definitions can become “personal” members by consent of the Board. Personal members have full access to all services offered by FPNI but no voting rights to the General Assembly. They, however, can be elected members of the Board.

3.2. Approval and termination of membership

3.2.1 Membership can be applied for and approved by the Board. The Board must inform all members yearly about the granting, termination and refusal of membership.

3.2.2 With the adoption of the new statutes of FPNI, former members of FPNI who have not declared their withdrawal from FPNI, will preserve their particular form of membership as defined in section 3.1.

3.2.3 Any member can terminate their membership annually via a written declaration to the Secretary of the Board.

3.2.4 The Board can exclude a member

• if the member does pay the membership fee, after two appropriate periods of grace, or
• if the member consciously derogates the reputation of FPNI.

3.3 Rights and duties of members

3.3.1 Each member will have voting rights to the General Assembly, will have access to services, and will be eligible to become a
member of the Board as stated in 3.1

3.3.2 Each member will have the right to use the Fluid Power Net International logo, subject to the rules of usage issued by the Board.

4 Duties and responsibilities of the operating groups within FPNI

4.1 General Assembly

The General Assembly is the standard members' "forum" with a biannual assembly meeting. The General Assembly has the following functions:

4.1.1 Fixing the membership fee based on recommendations from the Board. The membership fee can allow for specific regional situations.

4.1.2 Changing the statutes of FPNI based on recommendations from the Board or five of the standard members.

4.1.3 Confirming contracts with other organisations, companies etc. based on recommendations from the Board in cases where these contracts have a decisive influence on the main activities of FPNI as stated in the mission statement

4.1.4 Confirming business strategies and budget plans as proposed by the Board

4.1.5 Confirming the establishment of committees for specific tasks as proposed by the Board

4.1.6 Establishing rules of internal procedure based on recommendations from the Board. These rules could include the possibility of electronic ballots via e-mail or world wide web.

4.1.7 Voting for or the dismissal of Board members, the Chairman, or the Secretary. For a positive vote, a simple majority (more than 50%) is sufficient. For a dismissal, at least two third of votes are necessary.

4.2. The Board

4.2.1 The Board consists of 7 members including the Chairman and the Secretary. In order to reflect the specific international composition of the membership, the needs of young researchers and the special needs of company members, the Board members shall be comprised of:

1 At least 2 members from Europe
2 at least one member each from America and Asia
3 at least one member representing recent PhD graduates
4 at least one member representing company members.

The editor in chief of the International Journal of Fluid Power is member of the board ex officio.’

4.2.2 For a valid board decision a majority of votes relating to the number of Board members is necessary, thus in case of seven members four votes. Decision making can also be made by circulation, in partucular using electronic mail.

4.2.3 The Board has the following functions:

4.2.4.1 Proposing membership fees, modification of the statutes, a strategy plan, a budget, and the establishment of committees for specific tasks to the General Assembly

4.2.4.2 Acting as central discussion and opinion forming forum for the Chairman and the Secretary

4.2.4.3 Acting as contact points to organisations in their continent or to the group they are representing respectively

4.3 The Chairman of the Board

The Chairman has the following functions:

4.3.1 Heading the Board, i.e., organising meetings, discussions (e.g., via e-mail), votes of decisions

4.3.2 Heading the General Assembly: inviting members to the meetings,( in particular the regular biannual meeting), organising votes and elections, (in particular of the Board members)

4.3.3 Represents FPNI to the public, government and Industry, in particular signing contracts

4.3.4 Organisation and maintenance of the homepage of FPNI

4.4 The Secretary of the Board

The Secretary has the following functions:

4.4.1 Treasurer of FPNI

4.4.2 Administrator of the members list

4.4.3 Deputy to the Chairman

5. Constitution of Regional Sections of FPNI

5.1 The Board or five members the General Assembly can establish Regional Sections of FPNI. Such Sections do not constitute a separate legal body and do not need to be approved by the General Assembly.

5.2 Membership rights and duties in Regional Sections are identical to those of FPNI.

5.3 Regional Sections shall develop their own activities which are related to the specific regional (continental) opportunities and situations, such as funding, co-operation in education, research, or consulting.

5.4 Each Regional Section can define its own management structure, but must have as a minimum a chairman and a general assembly. It must follow the membership and voting rules of 3.1.

6. Arbitral court:

For the arbitrage of conflicts within FPNI an arbitral court must be established. It consists of three members. Each of the parties in the conflict nominates one member of this court. The third member, who is also the chairman of the court, is a member of FPNI and voted by the General Assembly by a simple majority. In case of equal votes, decision is made by drawing lots.
The decision of the arbitral court is final.

7. Rules for closure of FPNI

The voluntary closure of FPNI can only be decided by a 2/3 majority vote by all present members of a meeting of the General Assembly, called specifically for this purpose.
If a closure decision is made by the General Assembly, a liquidation process has to be initiated. For this purpose, the General Assembly must appoint a liquidator.
Any residuary property of FPNI is distributed among its members proportionally to their charges, but maximally to the extent of their charges. The amount of residual property exceeding the sum of these charges will be used for sponsoring educational or research activities in fluid power. The general assembly may decreed rules for this, e.g., during the closure decision. Otherwise, it shall be for the liquidator to decide on the assignment of the residual property.