Two decades of STLE Annual Meetings
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report May 2017
Nostalgia is nice, but don’t miss the point—this meeting has a future.
The STLE Annual Meeting is built on the dedicated efforts of hundreds of volunteers and staff professionals who contribute to its success.
STLE’S 72ND ANNUAL MEETING HAPPENS in Atlanta, Ga. (USA), May 21-25. This will be my 21st consecutive time attending the meeting since joining STLE in late 1996. Readers who have shared my journey for 20 years, or perhaps longer, may find this a bit nostalgic. Hopefully those not familiar with the meeting will be motivated to attend in 2017 or in the near future.
To begin the nostalgia, let’s compare attendance at my first meeting—1997 in Kansas City—with the current average. The registration count has grown by about 30% over two decades, climbing to a current average of 1,600 people from the roughly 1,200 delegates who attended in Kansas City.
While the raw numbers have increased, two other important meeting attributes remain constant. There is a substantial representation of people from around the globe—42 countries in 2016. There’s also good balance between the commercial and academic sides of the business. This affords a valuable opportunity for people with different jobs but complementary interests to interact for mutual benefit.
The technical program also has grown. The Program Guide for the 1997 meeting boasted that the conference would include 250 presentations and panel discussions. For 2017 in Atlanta, there will be close to 500 presentations and panels. It’s the same story for education courses—up from eight in 1997 to 12 this year. For the exhibition, there were 66 companies in the exhibit hall 20 years ago compared to 150 exhibitors in 2017.
While students and young professionals were part of the 1997 meeting, the 2017 STLE Annual Meeting puts more emphasis on this segment of our audience. The program includes a student poster competition and an Early Career Networking Event on May 21 that offers the next generation of STLE members an evening of friendship and relationship building.
Some aspects of the 2017 meeting have no parallels from the STLE meeting of 20 years ago (e.g., intriguing new topics and formats that only those with exceptional foresight might have imagined 20 years ago). For example:
A session on tribology at the atomistic level (Sunday, May 21), organized by the Nanotribology Technical Committee, will provide an opportunity to review fundamentals and discover what is on the cutting edge of this emerging technology.
Keynote speaker Dr. Robert W. Thresher (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.) will speak on renewable wave and tidal ocean energy. Discover how this nascent technology sector could provide a substantial amount of electricity for people around the world. This session takes place on Monday, May 22.
On Tuesday, May 23, the Engine and Drivetrain Technical Committee is presenting a session on the growing complexity and globalization of automotive engine oil industry standards and specifications in North America, Europe and Asia.
Also on May 23, the Rolling Element Bearings Technical Committee is conducting an Innovation Forum. A non-traditional format will spark small group discussion around technical challenges in bearing technology and establish a roadmap for future exploration and innovation.
Even after two decades, some things about the STLE Annual Meeting don’t change. Each of the meetings is built on the dedicated efforts of hundreds of volunteers and staff professionals who contribute to its success. The same is true for the 2017 meeting in Atlanta.
Thanks to their efforts, STLE is expecting another great meeting. I hope you can attend. However, if 2017 doesn’t fit your schedule, plan to join your peers in Minneapolis, Minn. (USA) for STLE’s 73rd Annual Meeting on May 20-24, 2018.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.