PROGRAM SCHEDULE
PRE-CONFERENCE SHORT COURSES
1:00 – 5:00 pm
Course 1: Noon – 5:00 p.m. — Fundamentals of Batch and Furnace Operations
Instructor: C. Phillip Ross, President, Glass Industry Consulting International
This course is an introduction to the principles of commercial glass production employed in Batch & Furnace operations by US Glass producers. Raw Materials, Glass Technology & Properties, Melting Furnaces, and Environmental Issues will all be touched upon. Suggested attendees could be vendors or newer individuals to glass manufacturing seeking an introduction to the issues faced with glass production.
Course 2: Noon – 4:00 p.m. — Glass Defect Workshop
Instructor:Laboratory Team, of GLASS SERVICE, a.s.
This course introduces the topic of glass defect analysis offered by GS Laboratory. It describes
bubble and solid glass defect analysis procedures and discusses their classification based on their
sources. Additionally, the course will explain how identifying defect composition can help glass
manufacturers determine the source of the problem. The course will also review several case studies
and discuss how the information gained during the identification process can be applied to
successfully isolate defect sources.
Course 3: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. — Mining and Mineral Processing for the Glass Industry
Instructor: Adam B. Schrader, Technical Sales Manager – Glass & Ceramics, Covia Corporation
The objective of this course is to have attendees gain an appreciation and understanding of what it takes to mine and extract, process, measure and deliver high quality glass raw materials to the industry. You will also learn about the various types of minerals involved in glass making, examine techniques for removing impurities and contaminants, explore particle size management, moisture control, and methods for minimizing variability. This course is designed for engineers and managers with a basic knowledge of chemistry who want a clearer understanding of the upstream world of mining and minerals for glass production.
5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
STUDENT MEETING at the Glass City Center
5:00 – 11:00 p.m.
HOSPITALITY SUITES at the RENAISSANCE HOTEL
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
EXHIBITS OPEN
8:45 – 9:00 a.m.
WELCOME
Kerry Ward, Conference Director/Executive Director, Glass Manufacturing Industry Council
2026 GLASS INDUSTRY AWARDS PRESENTATIONS
Benjamin Prothman, Board President, Glass Manufacturing Industry Council/Project Manager, KTG Systems, Inc.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTIONS
S.K. Sundaram, PhD, Program Director/Professor, Alfred University
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
OPENING SESSION: How do we save the glass industry? David Imbrogno, Engineering Project Manager, NSG/Pilkington North America
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
REFRACTORIES I
Chairs: Melanie Alan LaRut, Sales Director North America, Saint-Gobain; Jong Han, Principal Scientist, Original Composites & Fiberglass
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
3D thermal scanning for refractory risk management of glass furnaces, Corey Forster, Plume Digital
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Supporting the evolution of glass furnaces through advanced thermo-mechanical simulation of electro-fused crowns, Maxime Simon, Refractories Solution Engineer, SEPRO
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.
BREAK & EXHIBITS
11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
REFRACTOIRES II
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Re-shaping refractory design strategies via the evolution of bonded refractories, Ignacio Ramrez, RHI Magnesita
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The future of fiberglass superstructure refractories, Trevor Wilson, Sales Director, DSF Refractories and Minerals, Inc.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH AND EXHIBITS – POSTER SESSION
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
PROGRAM TRACK: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROJECTS
Chairs: Kerry Ward, Conference Director/Executive Director, Glass Manufacturing Industry Council; S. K. Sundaram, PhD, Program Director/Professor, Alfred University
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
DOE-GMIC glass consortium on advanced electric melting industry project update, Scott Cooper, PhD, Technical Director, USA, CelSian
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Amber glass foam control in electric melters, Jessica Rigby, Material Scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Cold-top batch dynamics in all-electric melters, Eric Muskovin, Glass Lab Technologist, CelSian
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Corrosion behavior of high-chromia refractories in waste glasses, Jaroslav Klouzek, Associate Professor, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
BREAKS AND EXHIBITS
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PROCESS CONTROL
Chairs: Ken Bratton, Manager Research & Development, Bucher Emhart Glass; Mike Gallagher, PhD, Global Combustion R&D Manager Glass Applications, Air Products
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Beyond the PID: revolutionizing glass melting through AI-driven advanced process control, Josh Peeno, President, J Peeno Innovation Group
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Unlocking Furnace Energy Savings Potential: A local Consortium Approach to
Deploying Machine Learning, Matthew Kirian, Director and Program Manager, Northwest Ohio Innovation Consortium; Donghui Zhao, PhD, Program Director & Glass Professor, University of Toledo
4:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Novel and advanced AI sensors for measuring volume flow for glass coatings, Matthew Spink, Applications Engineer, Canty
5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
EMISSION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Chairs: Jonathan McCann, Glass Technology Manager R&D, Johns Manville; Dave Girvan, Float Process Manager, Vitro
5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Tapping into LCA insights for cost saving and GHG reduction in glass industry, Sarah Torkamani, Business Development Manager, Glass Service Group
5:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Implementation of NOx Reduction technology on container glass furnace, Carson Chu, Research Engineer, Combustion R&D, Linde, Glass Service, Remso Glass Furnace Consulting
7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
HOSPITALITY SUITES at the RENAISSANCE HOTEL
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
EXHIBITS OPEN
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
OPENING SESSIONS
Rethinking operator training to improve glass manufacturing performance: Lessons learned across energy-intensive industries, Katelyn Kirchner, PhD, Glass Process Scientist, CelSian
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
PANEL DISCUSSION – GLASS EDUCATION AND WORK FORCE DEVELOPMENT
Chairs: Scott Cooper, PhD, Technical Director, USA, CelSian; S. K. Sundaram, PhD, Program Director/Professor, Alfred University
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Alfred University, M&ST and University of Toledo
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Discussion and Q&A
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.
BREAK & EXHIBITS
11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
GLASS TECHNOLOGY
Chairs: Rob Thompson, Manager Raw Materials & Glass Technology, Corning Inc.; Chris Brenna, Glass Technology Manager, Libbey
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Raw material selection as a catalyst for sustainable glass manufacturing, Billy Kennedy, Scientist, Imerys
11:30 – 12:00 p.m.
Correction to the beam bending method for measuring glass viscosity, William Carty, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Ceramic Engineering, The New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH AND EXHIBITS
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
GLASS ENGINEERING
Chairs: Vice President Technical Services, Toledo Engineering Co; Shrikar Chakravarti, Associate Director, Glass Business Development, Linde
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Why the PMO matters: transforming project delivery in the global glass industry, Ryan Courtney, Manager of Engineering, Toledo Engineering Co
1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Implementation of large-scale heat recovery area with continuous air gas firing on a soda-lime container furnace with flexible boosting input, Bruno Malphettes, Business Development Director, Fives Stein
2:00– 2:30 p.m.
Practical considerations of increasing electrical usage in a glass furnace, Michael Mitchell, Electrical Department Manager, SSOE Group and Stanley Rutkowski, III, Senior Applications Engineer; BSEE, Roman Manufacturing
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
BREAK
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
MELTING
Chairs: Justin Wang, Senior Process Engineer, Guardian; Jan Schep, Melting Strategist Refractory & Steel, Owens-Illinois
3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Glass Futures’ frozen throat – causes, problems, lessons and solutions, Aston Fuller, General Manager, Glass Futures, Ltd
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Decarbonization by reducing energy consumption using Forglass mixing electrodes technology in standard and hybrid furnaces, Piotr, Knast, sp. z o.o
4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Investigation of batch-to-glass conversion kinetics and heat transfer in all-electric glass melting, Richard Pokorny,Assistant Professor, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
4:30 – 5:00 p.m.
CONFERENCE WRAP-UP
5:00 – 5:30 p.m.
GMIC MEMBERS MEETING
**All Conference Events will take place at Glass City Center, Toledo, Ohio, USA
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