GOING AHEAD VIRTUALLY

Virtual

23rd NLGI Lubricating Grease Conference, 2021 23

Virtual Conference During The Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic brought the whole world to its knees, stopping all movement, restricting travel, meetings and get-togethers. The year 2021 was the first time that NLGI-IC annual conference was held in the virtual world by connecting the delegates across the globe digitally. The Conference provided a platform for industry experts to present their research and share knowledge on lubricating greases and related technologies. The Conference covered a wide range of topics, including the latest advancements in grease technology, best practices, and regulatory updates. Attendees participated in Q&A sessions and connected with other industry professionals.

A Brief Overview

Dr. SSV Ramakumar was Conference President in the 23rd NLGI Lubricating grease Conference 2021. He is a distinguished research and development professional with a distinguished career in the hydrocarbons sector. He has also been recognized for his contributions to the field, receiving several prestigious awards for presenting the best research papers at international conferences. The Conference was well led under his leadership and its main agenda was the latest grease industry trends, focusing on technology, sustainability, and how advancements could be made virtually.

Technical Discussion And Key Takeaways Of The Conference

This virtual Conference attracted over 300 global delegates online and six sponsors. There were 9 technical sessions by industry stalwarts which went on for 12 hours. The Conference also witnessed 28 papers from scholars in the virtual Conference.

Dr. Deepak Saxena welcomed all the delegates to the Conference. The President of NLGI-IC, Dr. SSV Ramakumar, delivered a lecture on the theme of the Conference, emphasizing the need to popularize the use of HPM grease in the Indian industry. The Conference was inaugurated by Mr. Snehasis Samaddar, VP & Head of CESC. During the Conference, Dr. Gareth Fish of Lubrizol presented the development of high-performance greases for electric vehicles, and Dr. T. Singh provided an NLGI Grease production survey. Dr. E. Sayanna of SGL discussed post-COVID recovery and the future readiness of the grease industry. Mr. Puneet Verma of Lubrizol also spoke on the impact of Covid on the lubricant industry and solutions for recovery. Mr. George Diloyan of NIS Inc provided details on developing high-performance grease substituting MoS2. Representatives from Vanderbilt, Ducom Instruments, and Quality Speciality Chemicals gave business talks and presented their products and services. Dr. Sathwik Chatra of SKF covered the running behaviour of greaselubricated rolling bearings, their processes, and their characterization. Mr. Joe Kaperick of Afton Chemical explained a case study of the grease lubrication of a wind turbine. Representatives of oil and steel industries gave field trial studies, and Mr. S. Murali of Balmer Lawrie presented the utilization of FTIR in the characterization of greases.

Key Numbers

Twenty-five years of NLGI India conferences have attracted delegates from around the globe to present papers and exhibit their products and services. These conclaves have been instrumental in catalyzing the expansion and evolution of the lubricating grease industry, both in India and on a global scale. Let us examine some of the notable statistics from previous conferences.

5351

Number of Delegates

476

Number of sponsors

149

Leisure time spent in hours

15

591 Number of papers presented

525

Number of exhibition stalls

146 Number of technical sessions

253 Hours spent on technical sessions

Long Service Awards

16 Lifetime Achievement Awards

37 Best Paper Awards