Something for Everyone

Ceramics Expo
Written by Robert Hoshowsky

With the theme Enabling a Clean, Efficient & Electrified Future, this year’s Ceramics Expo is on track to be bigger than ever. Held May 5 to 6 in Cleveland, Ohio – the birthplace of the popular show – 2020 marks the sixth year of the Expo.

“More than 260 exhibitors have already confirmed their place, and we are expecting to reach and surpass the 300 mark in May,” says Ceramics Expo Event Director Danny Scott of “the leading annual supply chain exhibition and conference for advanced ceramics and glass materials, manufacturing and components.”

Ceramics Expo is organized by international exhibitions and conferences company Smarter Shows (Tarsus) Ltd. Soon after joining Smarter Shows, Scott was working on other events, including Space Tech Expo USA, and assisting with the launch of its co-located show, Space Tech Expo Europe. With over 20 years’ experience as a sales professional, focusing on B2B & B2C environments covering many industry sectors including Events, FMCG, Recruitment and IT, Scott leads the well-established Ceramics Expo, managing the direction and delivery of the exhibition and conference.

Diverse representation
With last year’s expo having generated 7,215 leads and welcomed 2,868 attendees from 35 countries and 1,641 unique companies, 2020’s upcoming Ceramics Expo will bring in a large audience from across the ceramic and glass supply chain and end-user industries. This includes representatives from the automotive, aerospace, electronics, telecommunications, defense, alternative energy and smart material industries. “The majority of the attendees are either buyers, engineers, R&D or technical professionals, while a fifth will be owners, CEOs, VPs and other job functions with decision making powers within their companies and institutions,” says Scott. “We’re expecting to see a year-on-year increase in both visitors and exhibitors with people visiting from across the U.S. and further afield, and from a wide range of industries and sectors.”

The 2020 Ceramics Expo features a who’s-who of exhibitors representing powder processing, component manufacturing, engineering services, forming, molding, academia, raw materials, laboratory, heat treatment, chemicals and many other disciplines. Along with worldwide leading manufacturers and suppliers covering the ceramic and glass supply chain spectrum, the event features the Ceramics Expo Conference. A free-to-attend seminar program boasting more than 50 sector experts over both days, the conference kicks off with Track One: Industry Trends & Applications, followed by Track Two: Materials and Manufacturing. Over both days, industry leaders will share their technical expertise in ceramics, providing conference attendees with real-world case studies, new technologies and materials, and valuable information on industry trends.

“We are excited to welcome a selection of expert speakers from industry-leading companies in several areas,” comments Scott of this year’s lineup of confirmed speakers. “I am particularly thrilled to welcome Mike Pilliod, the Director of Manufacturing Innovation at Tesla, who will be discussing the company’s developments in the field of glass,” says Scott.

Along with other notable speakers, this year’s Ceramics Expo Conference will be joined by Dr. Mohsen Seifi, Director of Global Additive Manufacturing Programs at ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials). Dr. Seifi will be working with Global Materials and Process Engineer Jason Jones of Moog Aerospace, and Alfred University Professor, Ceramic Engineering, Holly Shulman to weigh in on integrating additive manufacturing into the ceramics supply chain.

The Conference also features an exciting session devoted entirely to NASA and its exploits in the world of material development. “Three separate research centers will be sending representatives to discuss a variety of fascinating projects,” comments Scott. “The centers are Glenn Research, Kennedy Space and Langley Research, who will join us on May 6th for this unique experience.”

Presentations, panel discussions and more
This year’s theme, Enabling a Clean, Efficient & Electrified Future, will address the question: what does the future hold for the ceramics industry? Informative and lively Conference discussions will cover important subjects including “Maximizing Advanced Ceramic Materials as the Disruptive Technology for Electronic Packaging and Assembly,” “Unlocking the Potential of Glass in Applications Varying from Consumer Electronic Displays to Solar Power,” and panel discussions including “Further Integrating Additive Manufacturing into the Production of Technical Ceramics,” along with many other topics.

“Advanced ceramics will play an integral role in many facets of the next generation of sustainable technology,” says Scott. “Emission control in the form of catalytic conversion and engine sensory equipment regulate combustion engines’ emission of harmful chemicals. This makes possible the cleaner operation of energy production and mobility. The thermal management capabilities of ceramic materials allow for better efficiency and energy usage in a variety of applications, including Ceramic Matrix Composites. The improvement of energy density in fuel cells enabled by ceramic and glass components in separators and cathodes makes the future of electrified mobility possible.”

Continuing with this year’s theme, attendees will be kept up-to-date on recent developments in vital areas including energy harvesting and storage, industrial and technical coatings, and electronic packaging and assembly. Another integral facet of Ceramics Expo Conference 2020 is the development of mobility, whether it be the miniaturization and lightweighting of electronics, improvements to energy storage devices, or emission control technology. “Overall, the theme will allow our speakers and exhibitors to explore the future and discover the opportunities for the industry going forward.”

Meeting and learning
Six years ago, Smarter Shows identified that the ceramics industry was lacking the opportunity to congregate, exchange ideas and do business all in the same place, a fact substantiated by the American Ceramics Society (ACerS), a respected non-profit established in 1898. “With ACerS as a founding partner, Smarter Shows launched Ceramics Expo, a show that not only enriched but diversified any alternatives, a fact that led to it becoming the leading annual supply chain exhibition and conference for advanced ceramics and glass materials, manufacturing and components,” says Scott.

Receiving a tremendous amount of positive feedback over the years from Intel, GE Aviation, the Ceramic and Transparent Branch of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, BASF and other companies big and small is a motivating factor for the dedicated Smarter Shows team. “There are many positive words that both visitors and exhibitors have shared with us throughout the years,” says Scott. “We have a dedicated section on our website with comments from representatives of titans in the industry like Saint-Gobain, Toshiba, Hitachi and many more, praising the networking opportunities that arise at the show, the interactive product demos, the informative conference sessions. But the pleasure we get from praise as a team can never amount to that we get from seeing familiar faces at the show year after year. That is our positive feedback – knowing that we offer the platform where the ceramics community comes together to engage and grow their industry.”

With the team at Smarter Shows busy delivering a multi-channel marketing campaign aimed at people across the ceramics industry for this year’s show, Scott says plans for the seventh annual Ceramics Expo in 2021 are already in motion. “It’s a totally unique opportunity to discover technologies, understand the latest products and solutions, hear from the leading experts in the field, understand where the opportunities will be in the years ahead, and network with all the key stakeholders. As such, it’s an absolutely must-attend event.”

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