Q: Why is it important to be involved in a conference like Pump Summit Americas?
Eugene: Pump Summit Americas provides an opportunity to interact with many industry professionals who are involved with the operations and maintenance of pumps and directly-related systems. The event provides an opportunity for pump experts to gather, network and exchange information.
Q: Have you been involved with the conference in the past?
Eugene: At Pump Summit Americas 2016, I was the moderator for one of the workshops, which was titled “Unsteady/Pulsating Flows in Pumps and their Control”. I was one of three presenters during that particular workshop. This year, I am even more involved, as I am a member of the Steering Committee, and I will also be moderating and presenting for one of the workshops.
Q: What do you hope the conference will offer to delegates?
Eugene: I believe that the conference will offer delegates the opportunity to engage in knowledge transfer, network with other industry professionals and inspire productive discussions.
Q: Can you speak to the success of our initial Steering Committee meeting?
Eugene: Although our initial Steering Committee meeting started out slow, once we got started and began to look at ‘the big picture’, a very useful and meaningful program was planned. I believe that the Pump Summit Americas 2018 conference will be extremely beneficial to all delegates.
Q: How does the participation of an industry-leading Steering Committee help shape the conference?
Eugene: Having a professional, industry-leading Steering Committee ensures that the topics most relevant to the industry will be discussed during the conference. The Steering Committee did an excellent job of creating a conference program that will cover the most relevant and applicable topics for present-day pump users.
Q: What topics are you particularly interested in bringing to the table, and how do they serve the industry?
Eugene: The topics I’m particularly interested in bringing to the table are associated with piping and fluid dynamics (particularly vibrations and pulsations) in positive displacement (PD) pump piping systems. Often, the system dynamics, primarily the fluid dynamics, are minimally understood by those who own and/or operate pump systems. The topics we plan to cover in our workshop will use many case studies to cover concepts that can be applied to fix real-life PD pump piping vibration problems. Covering these topics will serve the industry by hopefully avoiding some piping failures, which could save money, avoid an environmental infraction or possibly even save one or more lives.
Q: Will you be presenting at the conference?
Eugene: I will be the moderator for the “Pulsating Flow Problems and Solutions” workshop. I will be opening the workshop by introducing the speakers and then offering a brief introduction and history of PD pump pulsation attenuation methods. This will then be followed by two case studies, presented by Nathan Poerner, Southwest Research Institute, and Tappan Souther, Liberty Resources.
Q: What kind of networking opportunities do you foresee arising from the conference?
Eugene: Pump Summit Americas offers invaluable networking opportunities, such as exchanging new contact information, finding new vendor options and exploring new career leads. This significant 2-day event will present these opportunities in the form of workshops, panel discussions, exhibiting hours, lunch hours and coffee breaks.
Q: How will Pump Summit Americas benefit young professionals?
Eugene: Bringing young professionals into these types of conferences is extremely important as it offers a fresh look at how old problems can be solved. Their involvement at these conferences also provides them with the necessary training for avoiding problems that have historically occurred.