[Image above] ACerS staff hand out “I Love Refractories” shirts during the exhibition at UNITECR 2022. Credit: ACerS
After pivoting to a virtual format for EMA and ICACC in January, the excitement for a live meeting was palpable during the in-person Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories (UNITECR) that took place March 15–18 in Chicago, Ill.
UNITECR is a biennial international conference that contributes to the progress and exchange of industrial knowledge and technologies concerning refractories. Originally scheduled to take place in 2021, the conference was moved to 2022 due to pandemic restrictions.
As the first hybrid meeting organized by ACerS, UNITECR turned out to be a great success—470 people registered for the meeting, with more than 420 attending in person. Thanks to countries around the world lifting COVID-19 restrictions, people from 28 countries were able to attend the conference.
“I was so happy to see my colleagues face to face for the first time in years and thought the conference went better than ever could have been expected. Everyone seemed upbeat, the exchanges in the hallways and coffee breaks were invaluable, and the technical presentations were excellent,” says James Hemrick, UNITECR 2022 technical program chair and North American UNITECR Committee member.
Below are highlights from the four-day conference.
Plenary speakers address challenges and opportunities stemming from the pandemic
Each morning of UNITECR 2022 started with talks by preeminent speakers from the refractory and raw materials industries.
On Wednesday, March 16, HarbisonWalker International chairman and CEO Carol Jackson shared her experience leading the World Refractories Association (WRA) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WRA is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, that serves as a forum for refractory industry associations and multinational companies to discuss regulatory issues, circulate statistics, and promote the interests of the worldwide refractory industry.
Jackson was elected as WRA president in January 2020 and served in this position until March 16, 2022, when she welcomed her successor at the WRA Board Meeting organized in parallel with UNITECR 2022. During her two years as president, Jackson says the pandemic helped raise global awareness of the criticality of refractories. Now, the refractory industry needs to build on this momentum to inspire the next generation of students to pursue careers in this field.
On Thursday, March 17, IMFORMED director Mike O’Driscoll gave an overview of the global refractory raw material market and outlook in coming years. He showed how a recent succession of “perfect storms” have affected the refractory mineral market in China, and how these factors are leading refractory companies to explore ways to strengthen and diversify the supply chain. Specifically, he predicted that recycling and reuse of spent refractories would eventually become the “new normal” for the industry.
On Friday, March 18, Allied Mineral Products vice president of research & development Dana Goski concluded the plenary talks with a lecture on frontiers in refractories. She touched on everything from new forming and sintering technologies that could reduce the industry’s carbon footprint to data driven discovery of new refractory materials. “On our journey [to advance the refractory industry], we want to arrive responsibly,” she emphasized.
Planje Award session speakers fire up support for FIRE
On Wednesday, March 16, The Theodore J. Planje–St. Louis Refractories Award session included talks by many previous Planje Award winners on topics ranging from refractory consumption statistics for steel plants to the need to improve the refractory industry’s sustainability. One subject that came up consistently throughout the various talks, though, was the Federation for International Refractory Research and Education (FIRE).
FIRE is a worldwide network of academic institutions and companies active in the fields of refractories, from manufacturers and suppliers to users and other service providers. Since 2006, FIRE has supported and coordinated opportunities for students to become more involved with the refractory industry.
FIRE chairman Chris Parr was this year’s Planje Award winner, and he highlighted some of the benefits that FIRE offers to students during his award talk.
Receptions, banquet offer ample opportunities for networking
Attendees of UNITECR 2022 had ample opportunities to network during several special events held throughout the week.
On Tuesday, March 15, shuttle buses took attendees to a welcome reception sponsored by RHI Magnesita at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Attendees were able to wander among the exhibits as they chatted with fellow guests.
On Wednesday, March 16, a poster session during the day and a young professional reception at night gave attendees further opportunities to network. The young professional reception, sponsored by Imerys, took place offsite at Grant Park Bistro.
On Thursday, March 17, a Women in Refractories reception sponsored by Allied Mineral Products and Imerys was followed by a conference dinner sponsored by TRI Corporation. At the dinner, Allied Mineral Products vice president of research & development Dana Goski was announced as the first woman UNITECR Distinguished Life Member.
Conference recordings of UNITECR 2022 will be available to all attendees in the Bravura platform starting March 23 and available through May 31. Peer-review proceedings from UNITECR are published in ACerS’ open-access International Journal of Ceramic Engineering & Science. All proceedings are freely available through the UNITECR 2022 Proceedings collection on the Bulletin Archive Online.
UNITECR will be held again next year in Germany to bring the conference back in alignment with pre-pandemic scheduling.
Visit the ACerS Flickr page for more photos from UNITECR 2022.