LUBMAT 2014 Conference and Exhibition, Manchester, UK.

The 4th Conference and Exhibition on Lubrication, Maintenance and Tribotechnology (LUBMAT) 2014 took place in the conference suite of the Hilton Deansgate Hotel, in Manchester between the 25th and 27th June 2014.

The events in this series take place nominally on a biennial basis, hosted alternately in Spain and the UK, and are co-organised by the Jost Institute for Tribotechnology who are part of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) along with their Spanish partners IK4 Tekniker.

Almost 150 people representing 23 countries and over 60 industrial organisations from countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe were at the 2014 meeting which aimed to bring together knowledge creators, equipment suppliers and end users of technology to discuss problems in lubrication and maintenance and share ideas.

The conference programme featured almost 80 presentations grouped into seven tracks. These consisted of: Lubrication Management, Lubricants and Additives, Lubrication Management for Renewable Energy Systems (Wednesday), Tribology, Special Fluids and Internal Combustion Engine Lubrication (Thursday) and Efficient Maintenance and Reliability and Sustainability (Friday). The meeting also featured an exhibition as well as networking events at Manchester Town Hall, where delegates listened to the Manchester Chamber Choir and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry which hosted the conference dinner.

Two plenary presentations were delivered at the start of each day of the conference, each covering themes within the session topics of each day. Plenary Speakers were:

Drew Troyer (Sigma Reliability Solutions, USA) – “From tribal to tribology: Achieving precision lubrication on the plant floor”
Ian Taylor (Shell Global Solutions, UK) – Lubricants for improved energy efficiencyAmir Kadiric (Imperial College London, UK) – Damage and Failure in rubbing contacts
Sergei Glavatskih (KTH, Sweden) and Oleg Antzutkin (Luleå TU, Sweden) – Some aspects of ionic liquid lubrication technology”
Stuart Lunt (Parker Hannifin, UK) – Developments in sensors and portable instruments for oil condition monitoring”
Robert Gresham (STLE, USA) – Future trends in tribology and lubrication engineering”

A full programme for the conference sessions has been placed on the LUBMAT 2014 for reference until the website is closed and it is intended that the majority of the papers listed will be publically accessible on the UCLan following an embargo period of around 12 months. A number of papers will also be recommended for publication in peer reviewed journals and trade press following review by the conference organisers.

One of the most remarkable features of the event was that even though it was a full scale international meeting organised by professionals a large proportion of the event management and operation was conducted by students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) under the guidance of University staff. Margarita Martinez Ortiz from Colombia, a student on placement from the School of Sports, Tourism and the Outdoors at UCLan, was the Event Co-ordinator. She was assisted by Kelly-Marie Staunton and Lauren Davies, who are also students in the same School, while Graduate interns James Hyland and Bridie Farrell provided media support with student Aida Dominguez-Morales from Spain acting as Community Manager supporting web based media communication mainly using Twitter.

Placement Student Margarita Martinez Ortiz said “this has been the perfect opportunity for me to put into practice the theory I have learned at university. I am now, more than ever, sure of the career path I want to follow, and feel much more prepared to enter the job market. Working to assist the organisation of LUBMAT has allowed me not only to gain valuable experience, but to get to know myself and start my professional growth process.”

Director of the Jost Institute, Prof Ian Sherrington, said “this is fourth conference in the series has attracted engineers from around the world. In running this event we are proud to have drawn some of the biggest international names in engineering as our partners. These include: the American Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the British Gear Association from the UK. They form a perfect complement to our permanent Spanish partners IK4 Tekniker and underline the developing international interest in this series of meetings and its growing impact and relevance. We are absolutely delighted with the continuing success of this initiative”.

LUBMAT 2014 was kindly supported thorugh the generosity of: Hy-Pro Filtration, Integrated Scientific (Tannas co.), Oil Doc and Nanovea and co-sponsored by: Nimbus Labs (website), Fuels and Lubes Magazine (F+L Asia), Lube and Greases, the British gear Association, the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), Lube Magazine and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) who acted as media partners.

The next LUBMAT Conference and Exhibition will take place at the Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao, Spain between the 7th and 8th June 2016.

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