Society of Glass Technology (SGT) President Stuart Hakes casts his eye over the past year and looks forward to the physical events planned over the next 12 months.
Well it has certainly been an interesting year with the pandemic curtailing our events. For most of the year the SGT staff have been on furlough courtesy of the Government scheme, but also have been working diligently from home to keep the Society ticking over. All credit to the staff for their efforts.
As you may know, we were unable to hold Furnace Solutions in the normal way and held it as a webinar.
I think it was enjoyed by all and one of the unseen advantages was that many of our European and other overseas members, particularly those in India and the US were able to participate. We even had an attendee from Australia.
We have just completed planning for next years Furnace Solutions to be held on 8th and 9th June. We will probably change the venue but more on that in the next newsletter.
In the mean-time we are calling for papers and speakers. If you are interested in presenting a paper please contact either Christine at The Society of Glass Technology or the new Chairman of the MTC (Melting Technical Committee) which is Iain Shoveller of Global Combustion.
Nigel Longshaw has relinquished the role of Chairman after an excellent 4 years guiding the Melting Technical Committee. We offer our thanks for all his efforts.
During the pandemic we also lost a very valuable, long-term member of staff, Lisa Fearn who has taken up another role elsewhere. We wish her every luck in her new post. At present the office is ably being held by Christine Brown, Lisa Tyers, David Moore and Sara Lindley.
We are continuing with our Training Days again via webinar, future ones being 10th November, 8thDecember and 12th January 2022, 9th February and 9th March. For further information please see the Glass Technology website. Each session will be held in the afternoon to allow our US and possibly our Far Eastern colleagues to join us. We hope to see you there for these valuable Training Sessions.
On 10th November we have Alan Stephens of FIVES whose presentation is entitled “Forehearth Audits – Is Glass Conditioning at Its Best”.
On 8th December we have Pauline Darbouret of Ferro Corporation training on “Forehearth Colour Technology – Today’s Performance Needs & New Challenges of Tomorrow”.
On 12th January we have Matthias Hagen of LTB presenting on NOx Emissions & Possibilities to Reduce.
On 9th February we have Jan Theren of Lucidien “Challenges of Tin Bath Blocks in the Float Process and How Best to Test them.”
In addition, towards the end of 2021 on 3rd December we have the Yorkshire Section Annual Dinner & Dance to be held as usual at The Oulton Manor Hotel near Leeds. All details and administration through Christine Brown or online. This is always well attended – remember to book early, full tables are available for your Christmas Party if required.
The Society of Glass Technology is intensely involved in the Glass Futures programme and is looking forward to the next phase of development which should be the start of construction now that groundworks have been started. A ground-breaking ceremony is set to be held on 19th November.
Next year the United Nations has designated as the “International Year of Glass” and again the Society is heavily involved in planning various activities to celebrate this wonderful opportunity.
All in all, with the emphasis on climate change and the environment, there are many exciting things happening in the glass industry going forward and the Society is a good link to ensure you are kept up to date and able to participate.
I must also stress that the Society is the main link between industry and academia as our membership is split pretty evenly between the two.
As a new initiative we are asking supervising lecturers and professors if their students have anything they would like to publish.
Maybe a first article that they would have presented at a conference but have not had a chance to due to the pandemic, or maybe just as a first experience of publishing in general.
The Society hopes to publish these so they get a taste of what to expect from the publishing experience.
We are always looking for content for both Glass Technology and the peer reviewed Physics & Chemistry of Glasses.
We have an exciting array of things in the future and we look forward to your participation. We are always looking for new members to join with our progress.
