Report – NACE Corrosion 2010, March 14-18, San Antonio, Texas

Citation

(2010), "Report – NACE Corrosion 2010, March 14-18, San Antonio, Texas", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 57 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2010.12857dac.004

Report – NACE Corrosion 2010, March 14-18, San Antonio, Texas

Article Type: Conferences, training and publications From: Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Volume 57, Issue 4

As many of the more regular readers of ACMM are aware, I often recommend attendance at the annual NACE Corrosion Conference that takes place in the USA, usually around the end of March or early April. And so the pilgrimage took place, this time to San Antonio again (it was the second or third time the conference has been there over the course of the last 30 years). San Antonio is quite nice but it is a pain in the neck for overseas visitors to get to because most delegates need to fly into Houston and then get an extra round-trip for the last 200 miles/300 km to get there, which adds expense, time and inconvenience. So why is the event held there? That is an easy question to answer. Americans love the place. San Antonio may well have been the location for the Alamo – the famous victory of the Mexicans over the Texans – but all is now forgiven, at least so far as history is concerned. San Antonio this year was heaving. I have never known it so busy. Part of the reason was Spring Break – the half-term American schools/universities break where students traditionally head for the sea shore and party as hard as possible on the beach. That explained why the air fares were so high this year to get to the NACE meeting and why the whole town was packed when the Corrosion Engineers arrived.

And what was special about this year’s NACE Corrosion meeting? Oh, lots and lots of things – the first of which was that, unexpectedly, this was claimed to be the largest ever NACE meeting with some 5,800 delegates and more exhibitors than at any previous NACE Expo exhibition. Previously, the record had been held by New Orleans, or San Diego, or Orlando – each carefully timed to encourage US employees to take their families with them on the back of the conference and exhibition package. It was quite a surprise, therefore, to find that this year’s meeting exceeded all previous numbers.

Another milestone was that some 45 percent of total conference delegates came from somewhere outside the USA. This clearly came as good news and bad news to some of the indigenous attendees. Good news because it is always nice to be able to claim a new attendance record. Bad news because it showed to what extend NACE as an organisation is dependent upon the rest of the world for its continuing survival and position in the global corrosion control industry. Had those overseas delegates not shown up, the NACE Corrosion Conference would have been a very sad affair indeed.

The changing power balance is being reflected within the organisation as well, however. It was good news to hear that the Board of Directors has voted for equal rights for non-US and indigenous members. Equal representation, if you like. There was a warm welcome for the incoming President, Dr Chris Fowler, of Bodycote UK (now known as “Exova”), only the second British President of NACE in the existence of the organisation. Dr Fowler has long been a NACE supporter, having served for many years in the European Section (now “Area”) of NACE International. It is to be hoped that his tenure of the Presidency will mark a transition away from the parochial style of the NACE “Old Guard” – essentially the last vestiges of the former Guild of Pipeline Engineers that was the precursor to NACE International – towards a more mature and rounded global leader in corrosion control resources and best practices that will better befit the aspirations of the next generation of Senior Officers and Technical Society Members.

This brings me to what could be seen as the latest thinly veiled “Trojan Horse” to emerge from NACE – the so-called “World Corrosion Organisation” – driven as it was like a coach and four over the remnants of the findings of the former International Strategy Committee Advisory Board, a group convened specifically to present the recommendations of the various national and international corrosion societies outside NACE and North America, with the declared intent of smoothing and facilitating improved relations between NACE and those various other groups. At the end of some three years of deliberations, its recommendations were tossed unceremoniously into the NACE garbage can and then, like a rabbit from a hat, NACE produced the World Corrosion Organisation as its answer to global collaboration/domination. Unsurprisingly, most of those that had been involved in the consultative committee yelled “FOUL!!” at the tops of their voices and have maintained a strictly arms-length relationship with the WCO initiative.

It was not so much what was done by NACE in launching the WCO without external consultation, it was how and why it was done, that put so many of the other national corrosion societies so firmly off side. Nobody really doubts the value of having a strong global voice for the corrosion control industry as a whole, and nobody really doubts that NACE International is probably in the best position to provide it. However, nobody (other than the most die-hard proponents) can accept that one entity has a right to impose their view of how that should work over the heads of everyone else in the corrosion world. There is still a place for the local or national corrosion society in many countries in the world, and those societies are supported by their members (many of whom are also NACE members), and who expect their society to be recognised and respected by NACE. This attitude has generated extreme and unhelpful reaction for many years. Hopefully soon a more conciliatory style may develop will result in better collaboration and more effective representation of the corrosion control industry as a whole.

Aside from the political developments, it would be fair to record that the technical programme was probably stronger than has been the case in some years. The formal seminars were well attended and the quality of presentation slides showed a continued improvement. As ever, the hit-or-miss phenomenon of the less formal Technical Committee meetings meant that some were fantastically interesting and others were an utter waste of time. Nevertheless, attendance gave the opportunity to meet on a face-to-face basis to exchange ideas and information with other specialists from around the world who are working in the same field, in a way that is rarely achieved at the formal seminars. The “Front Page Issues” were well to the fore, there was a large Department of Defense (DoD) programme, allowing individuals and companies access to the various issues of interest to the US military forces. There was a first-class Student Poster Session that was crammed with papers and attracted far busier attendance by conference delegates than I have seen at previous meetings. The Research in Progress sessions were quite strong, and it was interesting to see the Nuclear Industry Corrosion sessions are gaining momentum once more. A number of Pulp and Paper industry seminars were conducted, and the Refinery Industry Corrosion sessions were excellent, and were packed with delegates, as normal. Of course, there was the usual crop of cathodic protection, pipeline management, chemical treatment, and coatings sessions. There is always too much to do, too many people to see, and too little time to cover the ground.

Still, there is always next year. The meeting will be in Houston, as is the case every five or so years. That event is less popular with Americans, for a variety of reasons: partly because so many of the corrosion professionals work there; partly because Houston is not viewed as a leisure location (as compared to New Orleans, for example); and partly because Houston is not at the sea side. However, Houston is where NACE is based, and it makes sense for the meeting to be held at home every once in a while. As far as the rest of the corrosion world is concerned, Houston is not a bad choice of venue because there are so many places to visit that are in close striking distance to it that the opportunity can be taken to combine NACE attendance with a visit to a nearby supplier or contractor company.

The main draw for the NACE Corrosion Conference, however, is that it is an absolutely unique event in the corrosion calendar where a good proportion of the practicing corrosion engineers from every country around the world are present and available to exchange their knowledge and ideas. The meeting itself is not, relatively speaking, so expensive (though hotel and travel costs add to overall costs), and the value is unequalled by any other corrosion-related event. As I have commented in previous reports of this meeting, if you did not manage to get to this year’s conference that is a pity because it was a good one, perhaps one of the best. However, now might well be the time to make plans to attend next year’s meeting. I can promise that you will not be disappointed.

William CoxEditor