The 3rd Bi-Annual 2007 AFS Emissions Solutions in Transportation Topical Conference was held at the Kensington Inn in Ann Arbor, MI, October 16-18, 2007.  Attendance has grown 50 percent with each bi-annual event. Technical sessions, meeting rooms and lunches were filled to capacity.

Short Courses

The week began Monday, October 15th with the traditional AFS Short Course program for individuals interested in either a basic filtration course or more advanced topical courses.  The one day program was devoted to 6 Short Course sessions, each delving into the topics of Basics in both Liquid and Gas Filtration in addition to the subjects of Microfiltration Membranes, Ultrafiltration Membranes, Engine Filtration and Filter Testing.  Overall, the AFS Short Courses have been increasing in attendance with this fall’s edition recording the largest attendance, since the founding of the AFS in 1987.

Technical Sessions

The 3 day Emission Solutions in Transportation Topical Conference began early  Tuesday.  The program was organized with two concurrent tracks addressing many important issues including; Numerical Modeling & Simulation for Exhaust Systems and Engine Induction Evaporation Emissions as the initial subjects.  Other sessions followed, included a variety of topics and sessions together with Clean Fuel Technology, Crankcase Emission Reduction, Standards and Test Methods, Filter Media, Cabin Air Filtration, Specialty Filtration Media, Emission Measurement, Engine Fuel Filtration, Air Filtration and Emerging DPF Technologies for 2010, a session which drew the largest audience of the Conference. 

The Conference finished Thursday morning with two separate expert panels answering questions for an hour each on the subjects of Diesel Fuel Filtration moderated by Dr. Barry Verdegan of Cummins Filtration and the second panel addressing the Role of Nanotechnology in Emission Reduction and was moderated by Professor George Chase from Akron University. 

W.E. Lay Automotive Research Lab Tour

On Thursday afternoon, attendees had the opportunity to tour the pre-eminent W.E. Lay Automotive Research Laboratory on the University of Michigan campus.  Recognized as one of world class research laboratories, Dr. Dennis Assanis and his staff provide a 2 hour guided tour of their state-of-the-art facilities.

Plenary and Keynote Speakers

Six leading industry plenary and keynote speakers offered insight into Emission Solution development and future trends as daily plenary, luncheon and banquet keynoters.  Individual speakers included Cleophas Jackson, Team Leader, United States EPA, Craig Barnes, Executive Director of Research and Engineering for Cummins Emission Solutions, Charles E. (Charlie) Freese, Executive Director,  Diesel Engine Engineering for GM Powertrain, Erik White, Chief of the Heavy-Duty Diesel In-Use Strategies Branch at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Susan Goldsmith, Co-Founder Inter Basic Resources (IBR) and Dr. Wayne Eckerle, Vice President-Corporate Research and Technology, Cummins Inc.  Each provided insight into the market, un-met needs, trends, future expectations and otherwise provided overviews and specific valuable background and forecasts on where the market and industry is headed.

Attendees

Little was left unsaid at the Conference as attendees received a comprehensive dose of Emission Solutions information over the three full days following the Short Course day on Monday.  Most OEM’s and suppliers in attendance agreed, the information provided was very broad with in-depth coverage leading to comments from a number of attendees including Richard Nixdorf, President, Industrial Ceramic Solutions, LLC who stated “This is the 3rd AFS Emissions Solutions Conference I’ve participated in since 2003.  Each builds on the previous and has meant a lot to my company, and me personally, in terms of networking and providing insights offered at few other forums.”  Many of the speakers and attendees were highly-recognized industry and world experts from the United States and a host of other countries, including Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.

Sponsors and Tabletops

Transportation and filtration industry engineers and designers, including OEM’s, system suppliers, component parts companies filtration producers and media suppliers were all factors as the 2007 Conference gained record attendance and sponsorships.  The event drew no less than 12 Conference sponsorships, including media producers, Ahlstrom, Dexmet, Hollingsworth & Vose and Lydall, testing equipment manufacturers Palas and TSI and filter producers Cummins Filtration, Donaldson Company and MetPro.  OEM’s and suppliers included AVL, Cummings, Inc and Cummins Solutions.  Eight tabletop exhibitors displayed a variety of products and services specific to the rapidly expanding emission filtration’s growth marketplace.  Feedback on the quality of the contacts and leads from the exhibitors was positive.

Networking Event

On Tuesday evening, Charles E. Freese, Executive Director, Diesel Engine Engineering for GM Powertrain was the Conference banquet speaker.  His insight into a major OEM’s thinking and strategy regarding emission abatement on various vehicle platforms was invaluable and the subject of much discussion by most of us the following two days of the Conference.

Conference Organizers

According to Edward C. Gregor, Conference Chairman, “In 2007 we once again were fortunate to have Dr. Tad Jaroszczyk, Research Fellow and Dr. Jerry Liu, Manager Exhaust Systems both from Cummins Filtration as the Conference Technical Co-Chairmen.  Both Tad and Jerry assembled many of the leading world experts on the subject of Emission Solutions as session organizers, moderators and speakers making the Conference a huge industry success.”  Said Dr. Tad Jaroszczyk, “From my perspective and industry experience, the 2007 AFS Conference was the most comprehensive Conference held on the subject of Emission Solutions in Transportation Filtration sponsored by any organization to date.”

Conference Sponsors

Tabletop Exhibitors
Particle Instruments, LLC
TSI
IFTS, International Testing Services, Inc.
Lydall Filtration
Airflow Catalyst Systems
Dexmet Corporation
Hess Industries, Inc.
Greenpower Div., Intermet, Ltd.