The Western New York Section of ACerS held its most recent meeting at Monofrax in Falconer, NY, on Monday, December 17, 2018.
At the Monofrax plant in Falconer, New York, section members in attendance were treated to a very exciting plant tour and social event. The highlights from the plant tour include interesting presentations, scholarship award recognition, and an impressively up-close demonstration of a large-scale high temperature molten refractory pour. This was an exceptional opportunity to witness a full-scale high temperature refractory pour into a huge industrial refractory mold.
Prior to the demonstration, guests of the event were treated to a presentation, “Fused Cast Refractories” by Kevin Selkregg, the manager of the Analytical Laboratory and Technical Manager for Monofrax. “The Monofrax plant was established in 1948 by The Carborundum Company to manufacture fused-cast refractories. Today it remains one of the only fused-cast refractory suppliers that is truly independent of its customer base.”
Western New York Section Chair Matt Creedon opened the evening with a report on our continued Section efforts to bring people together from the ceramics industry in Western New York. By doing so, it is our goal to support the health and growth of the field through various educational and networking opportunities.
During Section announcements, we were delighted to have Mike Alexander of Allied Minerals on hand to recognize and congratulate the 2019 The Refractories Institute (TRI) scholarship recipients Sarah Whipkey and Alex George.
Following the Monofrax tour and demonstration, William Andrews of Monofrax extended his generous hospitality by hosting a lively networking event at the beautiful Southern Tier Brewing Co. Those in attendance were invited to network while enjoying a delicious BBQ dinner and specialty craft beers and drinks.
The Western New York Section of ACerS would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to Monofrax for being such wonderful hosts of this important event. We additionally would like to thank David Gottfried of the CACT (Center for Advanced Ceramic Technologies at Alfred University) for his support of the our Section and being a big part of making these events successful.
