[Image above] Attendees listen to instructions before the tour of Acme Brick’s ENP and ELP plants. Credit: ACerS
More than 100 attendees converged in downtown Austin, Texas, on June 5–7 to take part in the combined meeting of the ACerS Structural Clay Products Division (SCPD), ACerS Southwest (SW) Section, and Clemson University’s National Brick Research Center (NBRC).
Holly Rohrer, ACerS SCPD chair and president of Halbert Mill Co., says “The 2023 joint meeting was a success! We enjoyed hearing some excellent talks about our industry, as well as touring three great facilities. The social hours and banquet were also a great time to connect with others in our industry.”
National Brick Research Center meeting
The meeting kicked off Tuesday morning with the NBRC Spring Executive Committee Meeting. NBRC director John Sanders and research associates Nate Huygen and Kathy Hill provided the members with updates at the center. Sanders reminded the committee of the upcoming Clemson Brick Forum, which takes place Oct. 2–3, 2023.
Technical session
On Tuesday afternoon, attendees heard from industry experts on a wide range of topics, including the use of drones for stockpile surveying, kiln car refractories, mental health issues in the workplace, and more. (See sidebar for the full program).
Mat Tramel, ACerS SW Section chair and corporate laboratory manager at Acme Brick, says, “I thought that the speakers did a fantastic job, and it was a great mix of first time and established speakers that presented a wide variety of topics that I believe we all learned something new from.”
Plant tours
On Wednesday, attendees toured three plants: Acme Brick’s ENP and ELP plants (Elgin) and Red River Brick (Elgin). Attendees enjoyed a Texas BBQ lunch at Myers’ Elgin Smokehouse before returning to the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown.
Networking and awards
Meeting attendees reconnected with old friends and built new relationships each evening at the SW Section hospitality reception on Monday, the Suppliers Mixer reception on Tuesday, and the awards banquet on Wednesday.
During the banquet, Tramel thanked everyone for attending and recognized the presenters, plant hosts, ACerS staff, and sponsors for helping make the meeting a success.
Several awards were given at the banquet. Mike Rixner of Brampton Brick received the 2022 SCPD Best Paper award for his presentation titled “The COVID Conundrum: Where do we go from here?” Tramel received the ACerS SW Section Past Chair award from SW Section secretary Fred McMann.
Next year’s meeting is scheduled for June 17–19, 2024, in Oklahoma City, Okla. View more pictures from the SCPD–SW Section Annual Meeting on ACerS Flickr page.