We are delighted to announce that AFS FiltCon, our signature spring conference and expo, will be in person this year! Scheduled in Louisville, KY, on May 1-3, 2023, the conference includes three plenary presentations, four technical tracks that include 92 technical presentations, a student poster competition and a full expo. 

A selection of signature AFS short courses will be offered Monday, May 1, for an additional fee and will include all the courses required to sit for the AFSCP exam, which will be offered for the first time at FiltCon 2023. Optional events include industry tours of JCEM and AAF Flanders and a networking event at the Louisville Slugger Museum, all of which will take place on Monday, May 1.

During the 13^th World Filtration Congress, leaders elected in June and returning leaders were installed for the coming AFS membership year.

The AFS Executive Committee for the 2022-2023 year includes the following filtration professionals:

Hearty congratulations to the winners of our student and industry posters in a very competitive field at the 13^th World Filtration Congress! The winners were recognized at the Gala Dinner on the final night of the conference on October 8:

Thursday session winners

The 13^th World Filtration Congress is offering three special opportunities on Wednesday, October 5, the day before the official event starts.

The first is a tour of Nitto Hydranautics and Pure Water Oceanside. The tour of the Hydranautics facility will showcase the automated manufacturing of membranes used for the treatment of potable water, boiler feedwater, industrial process water, wastewater, and surface waters. Hydranautics, a Nitto Company, is a global leader in the formulation and construction of the most advanced, high-performance membrane products, including RO, NF, UF and MF membranes.  Hydranautics membranes are used in solutions addressing global issues associated with environment, energy and water that contribute to sustainable development through innovation for customers. The facility is located 50 minutes north of the Bay Front Hilton Hotel in Oceanside, CA.

The next meeting of the Southwest Chapter of the American Filtration & Separations Society is Friday, Sept. 9, from 2:00 to 5:00 at Local Pour in The Woodlands, TX. The meeting will kick off with a presentation from Duane Germenis of Intelligent Water Solutions on media filtration for oil and gas, water analyzer technology and solids removal technology using hydrocyclone technology. The meeting will go until 5pm, giving attendees enough time to network, enjoy complimentary snacks and try out a handheld analyzer.

Duane has worked as a Product Design Engineer, Business Development Director and Technical Service Engineer for the produced water market in such companies as Vortoil Separation Systems, USFilter, Siemens Water Technologies, and Veolia.

As official host of the 13^th World Filtration Congress, we are delighted to announce that Parker has signed on as a Sapphire Sponsor to the event. Parker joins 12 existing sponsors in making it possible for us to hold, at long last, this global conference in person, October 5-9 in San Diego.

Parker is a Fortune 250 global leader in motion and control technologies. For more than 100 years the company has engineered the success of its customers in a wide range of diversified industrial and aerospace markets. Parker’s engineering expertise and broad range of core technologies uniquely positions the company to help solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges.

Education has been a key part of the AFS mission since our founding. One hallmark of this mission is our well-known selection of short courses at all our conferences, and as official host, we are bringing this suite of courses to World Filtration Congress 13.

Our half-day short courses, which kick off the Congress on Wednesday, October 5, include 12 options for fundamental filtration and separation instruction. Opportunities to learn about these topics are difficult to find, especially at this level of expertise. Leading scientific experts and industry veterans in filtration and separations are the course instructors, and access to these professionals is uncommon.

The entire program of the 13^th World Filtration Congress (with the exception of optional tours on Wednesday) will take place at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, which is why attendees are highly recommended to reserve their WFC 13 room here. The hotel is offering competitive room rates – even less expensive than they were in 2020 – and on top of that, an early reservation discount if you book by September 9.

Here are the top five reasons to stay at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront:

As the filtration and separations industry continues to grow and innovate in response to a quickly changing technological landscape, experts from around the world will gather at the 13th World Filtration Congress (WFC 13) in October of 2022. Hosted by the American Filtration and Separations Society, WFC 13 will include significant programming focusing on human health and how filtration is helping to solve global challenges.

The following sessions are included in the Health Symposium at WFC 13:

For professionals interested in earning the AFS Certified Professional (AFSCP) Designation, all required courses are being offered in August. These include 20 hours of AFS education in three basic filtration courses: Introduction to Air/Gas (8 hours in 4 parts), Introduction to Filter Media (4 hours in 2 parts) and Introduction to Solid/Liquid Separation (8 hours in 4 parts).

The four parts of Introduction to Air/Gas Filtration will be offered on August 2, 4, 9 and 11, and will be taught by Dr. Thad Ptak. The course provides fundamental information on air filtration principles, filter media and filters, applications and testing. More information about each course and Dr. Ptak is available here. 

The American Filtration & Separations Society is pleased to announce the AFSCP designation, which identifies qualified professionals as AFS Certified Professionals. In establishing this certification, AFS helps organizations hire the most qualified managers through certification and gives professionals a set of recognized criteria to validate their qualifications and advance their careers.

AFS is an educational, non-profit organization and global leader in providing a forum for networking and the exchange of technical knowledge in all areas of filtration and separation. Through conferences, workshops and short courses, AFS adds the AFSCP designation to the value it has brought to the filtration and separation industry for almost 40 years. AFS has undertaken a thorough and collaborative process to develop this certification program in order to respond to the growing demands of today's environment.

As official host of the 13^th World Filtration Congress, we are delighted to announce that two companies – Alkegen and Beverlin Specialty Tube – have signed on as major sponsors to the event. They join eight existing sponsors in making it possible for us to hold – after a long delay – this worldwide conference in person, October 5-9 in San Diego.

Alkegen is a new Diamond Sponsor. Formerly Unifrax and Lydall Materials, Alkegen creates high performance specialty materials used in advanced applications including electric vehicles, energy storage, filtration, fire protection and high-temperature insulation, among many others. Alkegen is vertically integrated across multiple process technology platforms designed with the ultimate goal of saving energy, reducing pollution and improving safety for people, buildings and equipment by delivering on our mission of helping the world breathe easier, live greener and go further than ever before. Alkegen has 75 manufacturing facilities operating in 12 countries and employs 9,000+ employees globally. More information is available at www.alkegen.com.

On October 5-9, the 13^th World Filtration Congress (WFC13) will present educational and technical programming that is unparalleled among international filtration conferences. The array of offerings includes seven plenary sessions, 30 keynote lectures, 285 oral presentations and panel discussions, 11 short courses and dozens of student and industry posters. Content is organized into four tracks (Solid/Liquid, Air/Gas, Membranes, Filter Media) and three symposia (Energy, Environment, Health).

“The American Filtration and Separations Society is committed to a high quality of technical knowledge at our events,” said Jeni Wong, Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS). “As host of the 13^th World Filtration Congress, we have invited the world’s preeminent scientists, business leaders and academic scholars to share their valuable perspectives, discoveries and insights in sessions that range from introductory to highly advanced.”

The AFS membership recently voted on a new cohort of leaders: six members of the Board of Directors and the 2nd Vice-Chair, a four-year elected position that progresses from 2^nd Vice-Chair to 1^st Vice-Chair, Chair and ultimately to Past-Chair. We are pleased to announce that Leonard Castellano has been elected as 2^nd Vice Chair, and the following have been elected to the Board of Directors for two-year terms running September 2022-2024: Saravanan Andan, Tinoush Dinn, Martin Lehmann, Godwin Severa, Steve Westbrook and Lin Zhao.

Leonard Castellano is the Chief Engineer at Parker Hannifin Filtration Innovation Center. He has 40 years of experience in R&D in polymeric membranes, melt blown macro and force spun nanofibers in markets including air, fuel & chemicals, food & beverage, biopharmaceuticals and transfusion medicine. Len has expertise in leading the development of novel materials for filtration, separation and purification in macro, micro, nano and ultrafiltration technologies.

As the rate of technological advance continues to increase exponentially, there are few disciplines that are expected to keep up with as great an amount and variety of needs. Filtration and separations represent one of those disciplines. Our innovations are critical to countless applications in hundreds of industries, from biopharmaceuticals to emission control, from space travel to freshwater scarcity, and from power generation to virus filtration. There is hardly a pollution, contamination or environmental problem that cannot be prevented or remediated through the use of filtration and separation technologies.

The International Delegation on Filtration (INDEFI) was founded by filtration professionals in France, UK and the United States and created the first World Filtration Congress in 1974. Its prime mission is to share information and keep up with the increasing problem-solving demands of filtration and separations technology. INDEFI now includes 13 member countries – Austria, Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, South Korea, Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), UK and the Unites States. Held every four years, this gathering is like no other filtration event due to the extraordinary array of technical and educational offerings and based on the number of countries and industries represented among the thousands of attendees.

Guest blog from Jeni Wong, Chair of AFS

I am very excited to announce that we have officially opened registration for WFC13, the most technically comprehensive event in the filtration industry. With seven plenary and 30 keynote presentations, over 300 technical sessions, student and industry posters and more than 100 exhibitors, there is truly something for everyone.

Registration for the long-awaited 13^th World Filtration Congress is now open at www.wfc13.com. Hosted by the American Filtration and Separations Society, this exceptional technical forum attracts a wide variety of filtration and separations professionals from around the world including scientists, researchers, inventors, academic professors, engineers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, end-users, and university students.

As the rate of technological advance continues to increase exponentially, there are few disciplines that are expected to keep up with as great an amount and variety of needs. Filtration and separations represent one of those disciplines. Our innovations are critical to countless applications in hundreds of industries, from biopharmaceuticals to emission control, from space travel to freshwater scarcity, and from power generation to virus filtration. There is hardly an area on the frontier of technological change that doesn’t depend on filtration and separations.

The 13^th World Filtration Congress (WFC13) has released its complete and detailed program, which includes educational and technical offerings that are unparalleled among international filtration conferences.

Hosted by the American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS), WFC13 includes seven plenary sessions, 30 keynote lectures, close to 300 oral presentations and panel discussions, eight short courses and dozens of student and industry posters. Content is organized into four tracks (Solid/Liquid, Air/Gas, Filter Media and Membranes), three symposia (Energy, Environment, Health).

The American Filtration & Separations Society wishes to extend heartfelt congratulations to Val Hollingsworth on his retirement from Hollingsworth & Vose (H&V), a long-time AFS Platinum Sponsor. Val is stepping down after serving as CEO for 24 years.

The company has announced that Josh Ayer has been named the new CEO, having joined H&V in 2009. Val Hollingsworth, who has been with the company for 42 years, will continue to serve as Chair of H&V’s Board of Directors.

In keeping with our mission to advance the exchange of technical knowledge, the American Filtration and Separations Society has announced a suite of filtration and separations virtual courses available to professionals everywhere. For practitioners, scientists, academics and researchers, AFS courses provide valuable insight into various aspects of the filtration and separations industry.

The following live, virtual courses are now open for registration: