Please describe one valuable idea, technique, strategy, conversation, solution or piece of information you learned at STLE’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
TLT Sounding Board July 2012
You never know what you’re going to pick up at an STLE annual meeting. While the technical sessions, education courses and trade show remain the conference’s key elements, STLE’s diverse membership means that even something as simple as a cup of coffee can lead to a new friend, an important piece of technical information, a money-saving strategy or a profitable business opportunity. 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. As the answers to this month’s questions reveal, those who attended the 2012 meeting in St. Louis benefitted on both fronts.
Formulation information, which I learned from one of the education courses.
Gemini emulsifiers from a MWF technical session.
Got valuable information from a European superior of a U.S. company about potential business in North America.
Tribological issues in the museum environment.
Water contamination does not affect wear readings on FZG testing, which I was surprised to learn. Picked up at the wind energy technical session.
Revised information about calcium sulfonate grease manufacture during the technical sessions.
I found the method of grease life testing by the ROF+ method very informative/useful. This was from Piet Lugt’s presentation in Session 6H Grease II.
I attended two technical sessions on the structure and properties of diesel engine soot and the important factors in choosing a carbon black to represent soot in experimental models.
The Commercial Marketing Forum presentation on oil soluble PAGs was very interesting and informative.
Did you make at least one professional contact or new friend during the meeting?
Yes
97%
No
3%
Based on responses sent to some 1,200 Annual Meeting attendees.
There were so many excellent presentations and talks, it would be unfair to ask me to highlight just one single contribution.
I learned about the latest model of the Lasernet Fines particle counter while visiting the Spectro booth in the trade show.
I picked up tons of technology information for reference in the industry.
From the trade show, I discovered a tester that will probably be a great turnkey solution for our laboratory.
Obtained solid professional contacts from the Synthetic Lubricants education course.
Biodegradability is a significant trend.
More of a general understanding of lubrication. Learned quite a bit from the Basic Lubrication 105 education course.
I learned about significant lubricant problems and poor reliability with wind turbine transmissions.
I learned quite a bit about new additives.
I discovered the benefits of oil-soluble PAGs from a technical session.
I learned about the new GHS requirements for safety data sheets in the Hot Topics panel discussion from the MWF II technical session.
I enjoyed talking to the students in the poster session.
GHS and New Haz Com 2012—information I discerned from the Metalworking Fluids Hot Topics education course.
The presentation on seal testing from a technical session confirmed some data I had obtained earlier. I enjoyed a good chat with the presenter afterwards.
How would you rate the information value of STLE’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Exhibition?
Excellent
31%
Good
55%
Fair
10%
Poor
2%
Terrible
2%
Based on responses sent to some 1,200 Annual Meeting attendees.
Bringing together FEA and Extreme Tribology in modeling metal-forming.
I received quite a bit of useful knowledge from the Synthetic Lubricants education course.
I am retired so the information I picked up dealt with activities at my old employer.
A bench top grinder and MQL test device for fluids.
How can I pick? The entire meeting was very informative.
Excellent information on synthetic lubricants from an education course.
From the surface engineering session, I learned of a very new concept of tribological issues in the Tank Museum in the U.K.
How would you rate the networking value of STLE’s 2012 Annual Meeting & Exhibition?
Excellent
50%
Good
37%
Fair
10%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%
Based on responses sent to some 1,200 Annual Meeting attendees.
Update on biocide registrations.
The bearing wear presentation was top notch.
Picked up quite a bit on bearing wear and lubrication. For the future, I’d like to see more lubrication field application best practices/training courses.
I learned a lot of good information from the outstanding ABMA bearings education course.
The synthetics course helped me to gain valuable knowledge regarding how products are produced. I will be able to use the course material during my daily role.
The networking was invaluable.
At the exhibition, I learned of a new supplier of organic chemicals in Japan that offers some interesting chemistry that I can use in product development programs.
Information on base oils.
Information regarding PAOs during a technical session.
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.