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:

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 seven plenary presentations from a group of distinguished engineers, who will present exciting research at this major industry event.

The following speakers are confirmed as plenary presenters at WFC 13:

Among the signature short courses that AFS has offered for many years is “Introduction to Solid/Liquid Filtration.” The AFS will offer this foundational four-part/eight-hour series in April. The course will be taught by filtration industry veterans Dr. Wu Chen, Dr. Wenping Li, Chris Wallace and Dr. Lin Zhao.

This course is informative and easily understood due to the extensive industrial, practical and teaching experiences of instructors. This course would be appropriate for all job functions, especially those new to filtration or an experienced professional who is looking for more understanding of filtration and competing technologies.

The AFS is offering the short course “Metal Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) Within the Filtration Industry.” The course will be taught virtually by Neil Burns, founder and co-director of Croft Filters Limited and Croft Additive Manufacturing Limited in Warrington, UK, on March 24, 9:00 – 11:00 am central time.

The course will give attendees a basic knowledge of additive manufacturing (AM), the process, and what is involved in the development of additive industrial parts. The course also will focus on Designing for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) and how it differs to conventional designing. Backed with case studies relating to the filtration industry, attendees will leave with a wider understanding of the potential benefits AM can deliver to the filtration marketplace.

AFS Corporate Sponsor Spectubular Technologies, a division of Synfuels Americas, has developed a proprietary, fully automated manufacturing process that creates filter tubes with some of the smallest slots available on the market. Using a patented precision laser cutting process, the Spectubular production line creates tube filters with slots as small as 10 microns, making it especially useful for the manufacturing of pre-filtration, post-filtration and other micron filtration applications.

The Spectubular filter tubes offer several advantages over competing technologies:

One of the most important responsibilities AFS members have is to select new organization leaders. Through March 11, AFS is accepting nominations for six spots for two-year terms on the Board of Directors and the 2nd Vice-Chair, a four-year elected position that progresses from 2nd Vice-Chair to 1st Vice-Chair, Chair and ultimately to Past Chair.

Nominees for leadership in AFS include members who are active and can responsibly and proactively lead AFS into the future, advancing our mission of supporting the filtration and separations industry by providing rich opportunities for networking and the exchange of technical knowledge.

While the American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) is serving as official host of the 13^th World Filtration Congress (WFC 13), eight companies are providing major sponsorships that are making the event possible. Originally scheduled in April of 2020, the rescheduled Congress will be held October 5-9, 2022, in San Diego, CA.

SWM has secured a Diamond Sponsorship. As a leading global performance materials company, SWM is focused on bringing best-in-class innovation, design, and manufacturing solutions to our customers. The company harnesses the power of engineering to help customers solve their most complex challenges. Through unparalleled know-how and deep collaboration with customers, SWM pushes the limits of what’s possible to help make air safer, water cleaner, and the earth greener. Their highly engineered films, adhesive tapes, foams, nets, nonwovens, and papers are designed and manufactured using resins, polymers, and natural fibers for a variety of industries and specialty applications. SWM and its subsidiaries manufacture on four continents, conduct business in over 90 countries, and employ approximately 5,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.swmintl.com.

After an extended delay due to Covid, the 13^th World Filtration Congress (WFC 13) is on track for a fully-fledged, in-person, industry-wide gathering in San Diego, October 5-9.

WFC 13 is the leading filtration conference for technical programming and includes seven plenary and 30 keynote presentations, and more than 300 technical presentations in addition to student and industry poster presentations delivered by experts from around the globe. The expo will showcase the latest filtration and separations technologies and equipment, and networking opportunities will bring together senior executives, end-users, corporate members, engineers, scientists, students, marketing managers, policymakers and strategy directors. 

Guest blog from Maishi Manufacturing, AFS Corporate Sponsor 

Have you ever encountered problems when choosing filter cloth? Do you often wonder which type of filter cloth best fulfills your needs? What are the factors that influence your decision? 

Guest blog from Jeni Wong, Chair of AFS. Jeni has been an active AFS member since 2014, serving as Co-Chair of the 2017 Spring Conference and as a Board member since 2018. She also is active in ASHRAE, serving on the Technical Committee (TC 2.4) as the Membership Chair since 2017 and Voting Member since 2019.

As we start a third year of responding to and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, I am proud to be a professional in an industry on the front line of protecting human health and devising innovations to defend the world against this disease. Especially in the air quality and pharmaceutical sectors, but in other areas as well, filtration is leading the charge to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Polycarbonates are thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. They are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. In addition, they are easily worked, molded and thermoformed, and because of these properties, polycarbonates can be used in many applications. 

Polycarbonates are becoming increasingly important and popular as an environmentally friendly (recyclable) polymer. The global demand for polycarbonates was estimated at 4.6 million tonnes in 2019, and it is forecasted to increase to 5.5 million tonnes by 2024. This growth in demand is creating opportunities for technologies that enable increases in production capacity. 

Scheduled as an in-person conference in San Diego, October 5-9, 2022, the 13^th World Filtration Congress is now accepting a limited number of abstract submissions for oral technical and oral symposia presentations. While many of the presentations originally scheduled for the April 2020 conference are still in the program, there are a few openings for new submissions.

Submissions for student poster presentations are now being accepted for review.