An Arena of Color, Light and Concepts

Get Poetic and Pragmatic at Gear Expo’s sister show, Heat Treat 2015

Erik Schmidt, Assistant Editor

When you look at the floor plan for the Cobo Center (Detroit, MI) from Oct. 20-22, the names on the lineup really shouldn’t come as a great surprise.

Gear Expo and the ASM Heat Treating Society Conference & Exposition are both present and accounted for, co-located in the same showroom like peas in a very large pod — two different shows cut from the same cloth (or, if you want to be more on the nose: a high-powered gear grinder).

The industries really do go hand-in-hand (no heat treating, no gears, after all), and so it makes a perfect sort of sense that their respective biennial shows would exist side-by-side, conjoined at the hip.

Gears and heat treating — well, it just seems to work doesn’t it?

And for even more serendipitous symmetry, get this: The show’s host, the ASM International Heat Treating Society (HTS), was founded in 1913 in Detroit.

“Heat Treat 2015 is the premiere event organized by the HTS, the world’s largest network of heat treaters,” said Kelly Thomas, CEM, CMP senior manager of global events and exhibit sales for ASM. “HTS members work to provide events and services to serve their worldwide membership of captive and commercial heat treaters, equipment manufacturers, researchers, governments and technicians. We are excited to bring our members back to [Detroit] for Heat Treat 2015.”

According to Thomas, the 28th Heat Treat Expo will feature nearly 200 exhibitors and 5,500 attendees covering 100,000 gross square feet of show floor.

“The HTS Exposition is a fun and exciting place to be,” said Professor Richard Sisson, chairperson of the Heat Treat 2015 Organizing Committee. “The exhibitors are presenting their latest and greatest products. This is a chance to meet with the experts and learn the latest developments and future products and services that are in the works. If you are looking to purchase a new system, service or even software, this is the place for one-stop shopping. I learn something new with every visit to the show floor.

“There will be over 130 technical sessions where attendees can learn the latest research and development in their respective fields, highlighted by the returning ‘master series’, a comprehensive technical program with three special lectures: ‘Martens & Osmond: Hardenite Past & Future’, ‘Bainite and the Bainite Controversy’ and ‘Holloman and Jaffe on Tempering’.

“The Organizing Committee has been hard at work putting together the programming for Heat Treat, and I think that attendees will respond positively to the quality and variety of our technical sessions. In addition to topics such as ‘Advances in Heat Treating’, ‘Quenching and Cooling’, ‘Applied Energy’ and ‘Processes and Applications’, we will offer a new ‘Applied Technology’ track for operators and technicians.

“Industry leaders will also present their view of the future direction of the industry during a special panel session, ‘New Directions and Opportunities in Heat Treating’. There are more opportunities to learn and exchange ideas than ever before, so I encourage heat treat professionals at any level to attend this show.”

Though Gear Expo and Heat Treat Expo share a great expanse of common ground, they certainly aren’t without distinct differences. Both shows were described as being akin to a “family reunion” — highly educational, mind expanding family reunions, to be fair — but it was Robert J. Madeira, vice president of heat treating at Inductoheat, Inc, who took up his quill and parchment to paint Heat Treat Expo in a most Shakespearian light.

“The first impression of stepping onto the Heat Treating exhibition show floor is one of purpose,” Madeira said. “The everyday work of one’s job transforms into an arena of color, light and concepts. The feeling of one person, one job, leaves and an overwhelming feeling of being a part of an enormous family of dedicated people.

“With each step the mind focuses on what the visual and sounds mean to our own experiences. Then there is a draw that develops, freezing one moment in the experience, whether a concept worth investigating or maybe a machine that would make our daily duties better. First step by step, then stride by stride, the reality of your purpose and what brought you here in the first place takes root. The day ends with a host of new ideas, greetings among old acquaintances and security that you are part of the ASM Heat Treating family who stands to support you doing a job that matters.”

It’s a nice bit of fresh air to get such poetic musings in an industry stuffed to the brim with pragmatism, but then again, solving problems is the main objective of Heat Treat 2015 — not soliloquies or bawdy puns.

And on top of several returning educational programs, there will be a handful of new learning opportunities for attendees to gather information to apply to their businesses back home.

“This year, we are highlighting the work of the LIFT Consortium (Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow) during a special plenary session with Dr. Alan Taub, LIFT chief technical officer,” said Thomas. “Since the conference was in Detroit, we really wanted to highlight a local organization that is doing great work for the industry.

“We are also featuring live demos and workshops. Attendees can learn about the latest equipment and technology through live demos on the expo floor — for free. It’s also important that we continue to encourage the younger generation to explore a career in materials science and engineering. With that in mind, we have put together a ‘This is Heat Treat’ student program, which will provide students with a unique opportunity to network with professionals in the industry and learn about all aspects of the field through technical programs.”

So come and learn and listen and then depart on Oct. 22 with knowledge in your mind and poetry in your heart, leaving both Gear Expo and Heat Treat Expo behind until 2017, proclaiming to no one and everyone in eloquent tongue like the Bard of Avon:

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow

For more information: ASM International Phone: (440) 338-5151 www.asminternational.org