ITC 2016 2010 WRAPUP PREVIEW
ITC 2016 WRAPUP
Antonio Ayala, who served as WAI president in 2009, welcomed attendees to the 2016 ITC in Monterrey.
3RD TIME BACK...ANOTHER ITC CHARM The WAI had very good experiences in Monterrey, Mexico, when it staged an International Technical Conference there in 2008 and in 2010, and the return to the same location after a six-year hiatus proved to be just as well received by attendees. The conference, held Oct. 18-20, 2016, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, drew 190 participants, including many who had good things to say. The educational forum included 20 technical presentations, 42 tabletops and a plant tour of the new KIA automotive factory, where tour-goers got to see the mammoth plant’s stamping, welding, painting, assembly, and quality assurance processes. Sergio Valdés Ramírez, Viakable, and Cesar Estrada, Asociación Nacional de Transformadores de Acero AC (ANTAAC) were featured speakers. “The Monterrey ITC had many high points – several outstanding technical papers were presented, and every
speaker and presentation was informative and relevant,” said WAI President Andy Talbot, Mid-South Wire, who was also one of the presenters. He focused on the “enthusiastic participation of all of the exhibitors and attendees” as well as the memorable Kia plant tour. WAI Past President Antonio Ayala, who has been a key volunteer in the four past Mexico events, said he was quite pleased with the results for Monterrey. “This ITC was characterized by the high quality of its speakers and papers, its suppliers, and mainly the high level of the participants. The KIA plant visit was a success. In short, everything went great.” Before the ITC had even ended, some attendees were asking whether there would be a return in two years. It even led to discussions whether, if so, the Mexican setting should once again be Monterrey, or possibly in Querétaro, where the WAI staged an ITC in 2004.
WAI President Andy Talbot was also a presenter.
Cesar Estrada spoke about the changing role of ANTAAC.
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