AFS 2005 Annual Conference & Exposition

April 10-13, 2005
Atlanta, GA

The AFS 2005 Annual Conference was a great success. Co-hosting with AIChE for the first time, the conference and exposition opened on Sunday April 10.

The first day of the conference featured four AFS short courses. Two full day courses, one on Liquid basic filtration and one one Gas basic filtration. In addition there were advanced courses on Membrane Filtration and Gas/Solid Separation.

The short course attendees gave all of the short courses high marks.

On Sunday evening the Exposition opened with a reception in the Exhibit Hall. Over the four days of exhibits, more than 1500 registrants toured the exhibit hall.

Monday morning began the Technical Program with 35 technical sessions and over 100 papers presented during the week. There was a very international flavor with presenters from Germany, France, Great Britain, Turkey, Brazil, Australia, Cyprus, India, Taiwan and China.

Several of the sessions were filled to overflowing as attendees packed the presentation rooms to hear the latest on nano filtration technology. A large number of attendees commented that this was one of the best technical conferences they had attended.

The Awards Lunch was highlighted by an informative and entertaining presentation by Dr. Evan E. Koslow on "Evolving Markets in Consumer Water Filters". Dr. Koslow is the founder and CEO of KX Industries. His presentation highlighted the much ignored market of filters for refrigerator water dispensors. The potential for water purification in the international market is in the billions of dollars.

The 2005 Award winners were:

Lifetime Achievement Award - Dr. Ernest Mayer, Dupont Company

Wells Shoemaker Award - Dr. Wu Chen, Dow Chemical Company

Frank Tiller Award - Karsten Keller, Dupont Company

Senior Scientist Award - Neville Bugli, Visteon Company

Senior Scientist Award - Dr. Daniel Tao, University of Kentucky

New Product Award - Donaldson Co., Inc. for their XLR Self-Cleaning Air Filtration System with PowerCore Media Technology for Gas Turbine Air Inlet

Engineering Merit Award - BBA Fiberweb for their Reemay FreedomT Composite Pool & Spa Filter Media

Also honored were term ending board members:

Ray Collins, Dow Chemical
Tadeusz Jaroszczyk, Fleetguard
Tim Johnson, TSI, Inc.
Kenneth Rubow, Mott Corporation
Ernest Mayer, Dupont Company

The technical session and exposition continued on through Wednesday. In addition to the educational benefits of the conference, there were significant opportunities for networking and learning about what was happening in the filtration and separation industry.

Proceedings from the AFS 2005 annual conference can be obtained by contacting the AFS Office or calling 612-861-1277.