Stara Glass’s Giorgio Minestrini won the award for best presentation at last week’s Furnace Solutions event.
Mr Minestrini won the Michael Garvey Award for his paper Primary Techniques for NOx containment for a More Sustainable Glass Industry.
An abstract of his paper is available to view here .
On receiving the award Mr Minestrini said: “I would like to dedicate this award to all of us in the glass scientific community because I think that no one can work alone and thanks to the work of all of us the glass industry can achieve higher and higher results.”
The Furnace Solutions event is organised by the UK Society of Glass Technology’s Melting Technical Committee (MTC).
MTC Chairman Nigel Longshaw said: “It was a paper that stood out because it highlighted a problem and potential solutions but he was honest enough to say there are other solutions available.
“We’re keen on these types of problem-solving papers rather than a paper that tries to sell us something.”
A total of 87 people attended the two-day event held in Lucideon, Stoke-on-Trent on June 6 and 7.
Visitors came from Japan, USA and Costa Rica as well as several European countries and included glassmakers, glass technology suppliers and associations.
They heard eight conference papers on day two and seven papers on the opening Training Day.
Mr Longshaw added: “It has been a stimulating two days. Everybody has enjoyed it and everybody has got something from it.
“One of the things that was said was that the industry should be sending young engineers on these training courses and not people in their late 40s and older. Young people need to know the history of the technology but are not being exposed to it.
“That can only be led from the top. Young people should be encouraged to learn from the people here who have had the experience of working in the glass industry for years.”
Delegate, Fred Aker, from German furnace engineering company Sorg, said: "This was my first Training Day and Furnace Solutions and I was very impressed with the format and quality of the visitors. The format allowed for a lot of networking and the breaks kept the presentations fresh.
“The organisation was perfect and things were kept moving on time.
“I don't know if I personally can attend regularly but I will recommend that someone from SORG does take part."
Conference papers were presented by Sefpro, Stara Glass, Glass Service (Czech Repubilc), Air Products, Luft Und Thermotechnik Bayreuth, FIC UK, Sorg and Ametek Land.
Glassmakers to attend included Stolzle Flaconnage, Nippon Electric Glass, Ardagh, Bormioli Luigi, Vicesa and Guardian Industries.
Pictured: Mr Minestrini (left) receives the award from MTC Chairman, Nigel Longshaw.
