Please describe one valuable idea or piece of information you gained at STLE’s 2016 Annual Meeting & Exhibition.
TLT Sounding Board July 2016
The lubricants community focused on industry education, training and networking for five days in May as nearly 2,000 registrants, friends and guests gathered in Las Vegas for STLE’s 71st Annual Meeting & Exhibition. The meeting set records for attendance, number of technical sessions, booths, exhibitors and student posters. Not to be overlooked was the meeting’s networking value—every survey respondent said they made a new friend or industry contact at the event. Overall, 92% of attendees said the meeting met or exceeded their expectations. Following are some of the best ideas, as determined by conference attendees.
I had a general lack of understanding about emergent heavy-duty engine oil specifications. I received an education from listening to people at the trade show.
Vendor product development.
I met with many people we do business with at the exhibition and saw new instrumentation they are providing.
Fuel economy lubricants at a technical session.
I learned valuable information about the construction and makeup of grease in a combination of technical sessions and education course.
At the Condition Monitoring and Power Generation technical sessions, I learned about gas turbine varnish and contamination control fundamentals and the validity of current commercial solutions.
I learned about modeling techniques at a technical session.
At a condition monitoring technical session, I learned about chlorine contamination of air compressor oil. As I listened to the problem the presenters were describing, I realized I had the exact same symptoms in one of our compressors! I am currently following up on the issue to see if we have this previously unknown problem.
We met several potential clients at the STLE exhibition.
I selected specific technical sessions that pertained to my current business, and in a few cases I was able to connect with the presenter to ask more specific questions. This is what makes the STLE meeting so important.
The importance of supporting higher power densities in commercial/industrial equipment. The conference app is extremely useful and easy to use.
I got a better insight as to replacements for chlorinated paraffins in MW fluids.
I had at least 10 good meetings with suppliers in the exhibition/ trade show with suggestions for raw material choices. The amount of information (literature and discussions) I got from the suppliers in two days would have taken me at least six months to compile outside of the conference.
The session on nanoparticles by various presenters from China, Canada, France and Mexico were very good!
I got some good tips on better testing routines for evaluating bearing greases for wind turbines.
I enjoyed a great conversation in the exhibit hall with an attendee from the U.S. Mint. He described his application and lubrication issues with pressing Pt coins with a mirror finish.
Proactively speaking with folks at booths as a way to generate interest in a product.
Attended a technical session in which a researcher had solved a vexing residual stress measurement problem. The new technique can be applied to my research.
Networking generates new ideas.
I heard new ideas and made great contacts during the technical sessions.
Business networking conversations gave me the confidence in continuing future oil test programs.
I learned about graphene as tribological material.
Trends in the marketplace, particularly biodegradable lubricants.
How much time did you spend in the exhibit hall?
None
3%
Less than 1 hour
18%
1-2 hours
40%
2 or more hours
39%
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers.
The test bench for wind turbine bearings.
Future trends in the lubricant market.
The behavior of hydrogels in mucus membranes, related to cancer cells. This was from a technical session in a research area completely unrelated to my work.
Additive chemistry at the Advanced Lubrication 301 education course.
Synthetic growth expectations and plans to participate in space by many companies.
Recognizing bio/environmentally friendly component as a business strategy for many years to come.
Became aware of additional suppliers of additives I was looking for at the trade show.
The approach to lubrication selection at the NLGI 101 and Basic Lubrication 102 education courses. I learned a lot about turbine oil and its condition in the power and condition assessment technical sessions. I am new on turbine maintenance, so this was really important for me to get details.
CMF presentation on corrosion inhibitors.
Discussion on non-biocidal, biostable MWF additives.
Dow’s talk about oil-soluble PAGs was very good.
I gathered many valuable ideas related to my work, several of which came from the student poster session. I think the students did a really good job.
The Advanced Lube education course was very information rich.
The education courses were great.
I made contact with a fellow who will be the opponent for one of my PhD student’s defense.
I had a couple of interesting conversations with audience members after a talk I gave at a technical session.
Fatigue life is not significantly affected by bearing refurbishment.
Great technical session on Tilted Ring on Liner Testing.
Lubricants filtration—take care about the antifoam additives.
The exhibition time was well spent, and I was able to engage with multiple suppliers to answer tech questions and establish contacts.
Getting to see what properties customers were looking for in products.
The technical session on engine oils was excellent.
Had a great conversation with one of our customers. That’s the real value of STLE.
Networking with customers in the area next to the exhibits.
Technical sessions on the effects of additives on water and WEC.
The education courses were outstanding.
I learned about synthetic compressor fluids and nanoapplications at the trade show.
Learned about a microtapping test at the trade show.
Enjoyed visiting the Analytical Instruments booth and seeing their D130 Copper Corrosion Detection Imaging instrument.
Got first-hand feedback from our first trade show.
There was a company displaying a new type of disperser that I am very interested in.
A student poster I found really interesting was on the topic of skin friction contact and trying to see the relation with perception.
Lubricant absorption into paper clutch materials.
In between talks of the technical sessions, I was able to discuss with colleagues about different solutions to problems that I was facing.
I attended the Gear 101 education course, which was very helpful.
The mobile app was very helpful.
Discussions on grease and bearings technology were very high level.
I learned about a potential new chemistry to prevent the exchange of divalent cations with malevolent salts in metalworking fluids.
From Dr. Webster’s remarks at the general session I was glad to hear about the new focus from ARPA-E on tribology.
Received an overall excellent introduction to MWFs in the MWF 105 education course.
Learned a lot about how lubricants are lost in use.
At a Commercial Marketing Forum presentation I learned about an interesting new approach to lubricant basestock.
Environmental impacts of properly disposed used chemicals.
Did STLE’s 2016 Annual Meeting meet/exceed your expectations?
Yes
92%
No
8%
Based on responses sent to 13,000 TLT readers.
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an email 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.