Please describe one valuable idea, technique, strategy, conversation, solution or piece of information you learned at STLE’s 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
TLT Sounding Board July 2013
More than any other of its products or services, STLE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition combines the two benefits for which the society is best known—technical information and networking. The 1,300-plus industry professionals who attended this year’s event in Detroit took advantage of both. Ninety-three percent of attendees rated the information value of the conference as excellent or good. Ninety-two percent gave the same marks to the meeting’s networking value. The face-to-face interactions means that while the technical sessions, education courses and trade show remain the conference’s key elements, even something as simple as a cup of coffee or a casual conversation between technical sessions can lead to a new friend, an important piece of technical information, a money-saving strategy or a profitable business opportunity. Following are some of the key ideas attendees say they picked up during their five days in Detroit.
I am retired and renewing old friendships was an enjoyable expenditure of my time.
An overview of high-performance industrial lubricants technologies from the Synthetics 203 course.
Latest technology update on additives by well-respected STLE additive companies.
Recovery and utilization of waste oils and conversion of the same into useful industrial products by The Ohio State University scientists.
The Engine & Drive train IV technical session. We discussed lubricant development for gas engines in alternate fuel application, as well as the need for fuel pretreating.
There were many! One was a technical session talk. The speaker discussed the idea of controlling the chain length of vegetable lubricants with respect to the tribological properties. My suggestion to the speaker was to investigate the chain length and tribological properties in relation to topography and roughness of the surface.
How to deal with microbial biofilms in metalworking systems taken from the Metalworking Fluids technical session.
The keynote speech was very interesting.
Molecular modeling techniques.
Learned about new test machines and equipment (three-roll mills) at the trade show. Also attended some excellent technical talks and the ABMA course.
Cartilage is like a sponge: “Biotribology I Cartilage Tribology and its Potential Role in Osteoarthritis.”
It is a good forum to have a technical meeting combined with an exhibition.
Took two education courses on basic lubrication and found them to be very insightful and helpful in my daily job.
The general information from the wind turbine sessions was fascinating.
In the technical sessions I heard new ideas and technologies using alternate chemistries for lubricants.
I learned what a tremendous value STLE membership is—this is something I heard almost universally from attendees.
Biodegradability of mineral oils.
The range of tribometers commercially available is quite large.
The advent of algae as a potential lube basestock.
How would you rate the information value of STLE’s 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition?
Excellent
44%
Good
49%
Fair
7%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Based on responses sent to 1,310 Annual Meeting attendees.
I came up with an idea to test hypotheses for crack formation in wind turbine bearings.
Sharing of ideas and methods.
Met some potential new suppliers at the exhibition.
Quantifying contribution of antiwear additives to deposits in turbocharged engines.
The use of the USV viscometer to pre-shear polymer-containing oils prior to measuring temporary viscosity loss at high shear rates.
Heard about a new chlorinated paraffin producer in the U.S. at the trade show.
How hydraulic fluids can cause several problems to the equipment. Taken from an education course.
The educational courses were innovative and worth the price. The Hydraulics 101 course was informative.
Overall quality of the speakers was excellent.
Preventing deposits with Group II steam turbine oils requires at least two antioxidants, and that they have to be the right ones.
Picked up some important details about the GHS transition period.
Came across a new marketing idea.
The realization that our main competitor in the industry is still behind us on technology and capability.
New oil-soluble PAGs are novel and appear to have many applications.
At the STEM program, a question was asked regarding the viscosity of water and if applied pressure would increase its viscosity. I did not have an answer. After posing this question to more than a dozen different individuals and spending a considerable amount of time surfing the Web, the answer turns out to be yes and no. Depends upon which phase the water is in! (For more on this topic, see From the Editor here.) Add link
I have worked in automotive for the past 12 years, but lubrication and tribology is a new area for me. I attended different sections of the presentations at STLE (lubrication fundamentals, engine and wear, wind turbine, nanotribology, etc.) and it really helped me get up to speed in learning about different applications.
I attended several technical sessions regarding the analysis of turbine fluids.
I made a lot of industry contacts in the additives market. I also learned the pros and cons of certain additives in specific applications.
Ionic liquids have some solubility issues.
How antioxidants work.
I was amazed at the technical advances in our industry. The work on wind turbine bearing lubrication and failure analysis was particularly interesting.
The education courses were very helpful.
I was quite impressed with the introduction of tribology and lubrication engineering to the high school students during their STEM Camp interaction with STLE leadership and office staff.
Information on a possible new oxidation inhibitor additive from a contact made during the meeting.
A Lotus is a great attractant for a booth!
I found the presentation on wear and wear mechanisms (part of the Advanced Lubrication 301 course) very enlightening and useful in my everyday understanding of wear and its relationship to lubricants and equipment.
Information on the new safety data sheets (MWFs Hot Topics session). Also was introduced to a great new company during its Commercial Marketing Forum presentation.
The education course I attended featured many well-presented topics.
Nanotribology development was a key focal point at several technical sessions.
I learned about chlorinated paraffin status at the MWFs Hot Topics session.
I learned much about the metal-forming application of lubricants that will aid in my primary focus of forming structural bonds through oily metals.
How would you rate the networking value of STLE’s 2013 Annual Meeting & Exhibition?
Excellent
48%
Good
44%
Fair 8
%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Based on responses sent to 1,310 Annual Meeting attendees.
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an e-mail survey of 13,000 TLT readers. Views expressed are those of the respondents and do not reflect the opinions of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of opinions expressed in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an endorsement of the technology by STLE.