I’d like to share why FILTCON is a can’t miss opportunity for filtration professionals. I began attending FILTCON shortly after joining INDA in 2022 and came in with a deep material science background but little knowledge in filtration. Sometimes, I found presentations at technical conferences to be either thinly veiled marketing pushes for a company’s product du jour or an academic talk that was so tangentially related to the theme of the event or abstract as to be irrelevant. I can say without hesitation this has not been my experience at the AFS FILTCON events I have attended.
AFS adheres to a rigorous curated process for paper and presentation selection that minimizes and almost fully eliminates commercial content. Each talk has clearly delineated learning objectives that are then addressed with salient technical data. The content is organized into two or three tracks, each with a distinct unifying theme such as air-gas, solid-liquid, modeling, or standards and testing, for example. In recent years, there has been focus on both removal and remediation of PFAS from liquids as well as replacement of PFAS materials in filter media. There have been presentations on the increased adoption of the ASHRAE 52.2 Appendix J filter media conditioning/discharge step in other standards such as the ASHRAE 241 standard. Monitoring of filter life, efficiency, and performance also have been addressed. Other sessions have covered filtration of fuel and fluids in transportation applications; indoor air quality and healthy buildings; and mitigating impacts of particulate pollution from urban mass transportation.
This year will have significant focus on filtration and separation in context of energy transition and regulatory compliance. One minor challenge that FILTCON can present is the wealth of material presented via its multitrack format. AFS mitigates the challenge by adhering to themed tracks and avoiding overlapping sessions on similar topics. Still, a minimum two-person team at the event is useful to ensure coverage of as many topics as possible. If I was unable to attend a talk I was interested in, AFS shares the presentations and speakers have been gracious in addressing questions after the fact.
Apart from the technical presentations, FILTCON includes company tabletop exhibits that are available throughout the day, but especially during breaks and lunch and evening receptions. Supporting this, AFS also recognizes that businesses need to sell products and have created one or two sessions for companies to pitch, in very brief presentations, their latest and greatest products for a more effective interaction between exhibitors and attendees. Also, during the breaks and receptions there is an opportunity to interact with students presenting their research via the student poster competition. Aside from the filtration research the students are presenting, it is a good way to evaluate potential new talent for one’s company. Lastly, in addition to from the abundance of state-of-the-art technical content, networking is facilitated via receptions, breaks, lunches, panel sessions and round tables. The networking and reception format adjusts each year, depending upon the venue.
The INDA and International Filtration News team looks forward to meeting you at the upcoming FILTCON26.
