Education is STLE’s cornerstone
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report April 2019
World-class and industry-specific, education remains No. 1 on the Annual Meeting benefits list.
Taught by the lubricant industry’s top experts, STLE education courses are a value at $365 when combined with a full annual meeting registration.
Ask someone about the value of STLE’s Annual Meeting and you’ll probably get a response similar to this: “The networking alone is worth the price of admission!”
It’s not an accident that Connect is the first pillar of our Connect, Learn, Achieve member value proposition.
Insights about current technology and research also are at the top of Annual Meeting benefits. The May 19-23 event in Nashville features more than 500 technical presentations by tribology and lubricant experts from around the globe. There’s also the three-day trade show with more than 100 exhibitors.
But when considering attendance for yourself or colleagues, don’t overlook the fact that this conference is a robust education opportunity. Learn is the second pillar of our value proposition, and STLE provides first-rate technical education for the more than 500 industry professionals who participate in the program each year.
The 2019 STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition offers 12 industry-specific education courses offered on two days: Sunday, May 19, and Wednesday, May 22. The schedule gives attendees more flexibility when planning their conference attendance. All 12 courses are taught by the world’s leading experts in their topic areas and offer color course workbooks—a significant new program enhancement.
Course options cover the gamut of interests, from foundational to advanced topics. For example, Basic Lubrication 103 is designed primarily for the person entering the lubrication field who needs a broad introduction to lubricants, lubricant building blocks and lubricating materials. Compare that to Advanced Tribology 301, which is a nanotribology course covering molecular dynamics, tribochemistry and nanomechanical characterization.
Specialized topic areas also are offered. Metalworking Fluids 115 teaches the key concepts needed to better understand how metalworking fluids are prepared, used and maintained. Bearings and Their Lubrication, presented in cooperation with the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA), provides a basic overview of bearings, their selection, precision and mounting considerations and lubrication-related influences, including a hands-on failure-analysis session.
STLE education courses are a great value. Tuition is only $365 per course when combined with a full meeting registration. One exception is the ABMA Bearings Course, which is priced at $650 per person. Go to
www.stle.org for details and registration information.
Can’t make it to Nashville? Consider as an alternative the STLE Learning Pathways, an online resource library to help lubrication professionals align and target their education and career development needs. Pathways provide STLE educational resources that have been peer-reviewed and organized by topic area and level of expertise. They include Webinars, short courses, articles and book chapters. This resource is available on the STLE website under the Professional Development tab.
STLE’s growing emphasis on industry-specific education and training is consistent with the needs identified by researchers who study the workforce.
For example, Josh Bersin, a global industry analyst on all aspects of HR and workplace technology, recently observed that, “The No. 1 issue on the minds of CEOs is attracting, retaining and continuously growing the workforce. If you aren’t investing in modern learning solutions today, you’re falling behind.” His comments were based on results of a survey of 3,300 learning and development professionals conducted by the LinkedIn organization.
Whether you’re attending live events at the national or local level, or utilizing online training resources, remember that technical education is the cornerstone of STLE’s Connect, Learn, Achieve value proposition.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.