If there’s one thing I’ve always said about fluid power, it’s that I love the people I work with daily, both in my own circle of employment but also within the companies I cover on a regular basis. In 17 years writing about hydraulics and pneumatics, I’ve had many opportunities to travel to conferences, trade shows, customer meetings and reader visits — and even though I am a writer at heart — those personal friendships and connections will forever be my favorite moments.
I think that’s why the past two years have been so difficult for many of us. We’re social beings, and after two years of staying home, Zoom meetings and canceled or virtual conferences and trade shows, I think we’re all itching to get back out there and see each other again. Fluid power is personal; it’s about relationships and not just about powerful machines and the systems that run them.
That’s why I am excited to announce that we’re bringing our Fluid Power Technology Conference back to in-person programming this year, with two events slated in June and October.
We will kick off the event in Minneapolis/St. Paul, as we co-locate with our sister brand for their DeviceTalks event on June 6 and 7. Here, we are planning to work closely with the engineering faculty from the University of Minnesota to coordinate some sessions and a possible tour of their R&D labs there as well. I can vouch for the innovation you’ll see at UMinn, which is home to the CCEFP as well — on a personal vacation to Minneapolis several years ago, I spent a morning visiting the campus to see the research being conducted there.
We will also be hosting FPTC 2022 at Macomb College in Detroit, October 12-13, with a pre-conference workshop day on October 11. Again, we are working with the faculty there as well to allow attendees to see their hands-on classrooms and labs, where they are educating the future users and designers of fluid power systems.
I am passionate about the FPTC because it is most importantly, an educational event, where we bring some of the industry’s brightest minds together to train and inform the users, maintainers, and designers of fluid power systems. Attendees can learn about the latest trends and innovations, as well as get some basics on component technologies, troubleshooting, system design, maintenance, and more.
It is events like these, too, where I get a chance to connect with some of my favorite individuals in the fluid power space. Both old and new partnerships with experts such as Carl Dyke, Tom Wanke, Josh Cosford and now, Robert Sheaf, of CFC Industrial Training — give our attendees the knowledge they need.
If you attended any of our FPTC events in the past, our FPTC Virtual Series, or our Engineering Week late last month, you know what type of content will be offered there. So I invite you to save the dates for one or both of these in-person events and I hope to connect with you there, too, and forge some new fluid power friendships!
Visit www.fluidpowertechconference.com for more details!
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