CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio—This year's International Silicone Conference is far from ordinary.
Organized by Rubber & Plastics News, the conference is dedicated to insights into the latest trends and technologies throughout the silicone rubber industry. But the program also is intended to give attendees the resources and opportunities they need to grow professionally and help their businesses succeed in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive marketplace.
Bookending the conference agenda this year is an Akron Rubber Development Laboratories workshop that is focused on testing and a pair of open houses—hosted Shin-Etsu and Wacker Chemical Corp.—that offer a behind the scenes look at silicone molding and compounding.
These additions, Conference Chairman Eric Bishop said, not only add an enriching professional development opportunity for attendees, they also provide a stronger return on the professional development investments made by attendees' companies.
"The International Silicone Conference has been a mainstay for providing up-to-date and new information to the market regarding silicones," Bishop said in a statement. "To be able to attend the conference, workshop and the open houses in one trip not only is an excellent educational opportunity, but a terrific value."
Here's a look at the three new opportunities offered by the 2020 International Silicone Conference:
1. ARDL workshop
On May 12, a day before the conference is set to open, ARDL will host a special workshop aimed at connecting the testing and simulation worlds. The workshop will examine the fundamentals of finite element analysis, and will cover topics such as uniaxial tension, uniaxial compression, pure shear, volumetric compression, and compression stress relaxation.
Moreover, the workshop includes an overview of dynamic mechanical analysis and a look at fatigue testing. This portion of the workshop will include discussion of strain, temperature, and frequency sweeps performed in tension, compression, or shear. It also will review the data generated by those sweeps.
Throughout the day, attendees will be introduced to principles behind testing and workshop leaders will help to make connections to real world products and applications. They also will have the opportunity to tour the ARDL lab and learn more about the testing equipment used on site.
"We are proud to offer the ARDL Workshop as an enhancement to our traditional conference format," Conference Chairman Eric Bishop said in a statement. "Finite Element Analysis is a popular and dynamic topic and is included in the conference agenda, but one can only go so deep in 30 minutes. For those attendees focused on FEA, this workshop provides an opportunity for a half-day of in-depth instruction from leading scientists in the field."
2. Shin-Etsu Open House
Shin-Etsu Silicones will welcome conference attendees to a special open house event, planned for 1 to 4 p.m. May 14.
Visitors will have the chance to see the LIMS Technical Center, which is located at the company's U.S. headquarters in Akron. During the event, Shin-Etsu will offer LSR molding demonstrations on its 110-Ton Arburg All-Electric press and it Engel 60-Ton Hydraulic press.
Guests also will have the chance chat with LIMS Processing experts, who have a more than 50 years of combined experience in LSR molding.
3. Wacker Chemical Open House
Wacker plans to focus on expanding industry insights with its open house, also planned for 1 to 4 p.m. on May 14. Those attending this open house, hosted that the Military Aviation Preservation Society Museum in North Canton, Ohio, will be introduced to Wacker's high consistency silicone compounds and will have the opportunity to look at the company's Silmix operations.
The 2020 International Silicone Conference will be hosted May 13-14 at the Sheraton Suites Cuyahoga Falls, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The agenda includes more than a dozen presentations from experts representing some of the industry's leading companies, and provides a variety of networking opportunities for attendees.
To register or to learn more about this year's event, visit the conference website.