The Cleanroom Technology Conference 2018 drew to a close on Thursday (17 May) with positive feedback from both delegates and exhibitors.
Held at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham, UK, the two-day event (16-17 May) built on the success of the inaugural edition last year and attracted 600 visitors over the two days, a 58% increase over the footfall registered in 2017.
The accompanying exhibition doubled the number of companies totalling 62 brands on display ranging from cleanroom consumables to monitoring technology and equipment from international manufacturers.
Feedback from exhibitors has been positive. "My congratulations on a great improvement this year in the standard and quality of delegates at the events," said Alan Sweeney, European Clean Process Segment’s manager at Camfil.
Commenting on the event, Carl Hunneysett, Door Division manager at Central Insulations, said: "The Cleanroom Technology Conference is a great opportunity to get up close to new products and understand a wider range of success stories and issues within the industry. Not only were these two days a great experience, but also the contacts made and information gathered will really help us going forward. We will absolutely attend the event next year."
The conference and exhibition attracted 600 attendees over the two days
Jean-François Teneul, global life sciences market leader at DuPont, said the event was highly appreciated for different reasons. "First of all, the quality of the organisation and the content of the presentations. All went very well during those two days and the content of the presentations was very adequate to the current context, i.e. GMP Annex 1, barrier systems in cleanrooms, protection of the operators, garments clothing, etc. To me, there was a good balance between presentations and time to spend with the exhibitors. In addition, I liked very much the initiatives of the two workshops (I participated to both of them) and the way it had been done by the speakers. In conclusion, congratulations, and I am eager to come to the next Cleanroom Technology Conference."
Delegates have also praised the conference and exhibition for the quality and variety of content in the agenda. "I was very impressed by the event - a lot of very good speakers and a wide variety of exhibitors, plus good networking opportunities and free lunch. Certainly no complaints here!" said Craig Bradford, technologist environmental monitoring group at Abbot.
This year's event debuted workshops that were both informative and practical
Paul Hurren, pilot plant and validation leader at Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare, concurred: "Just wanted to thank you for an excellent two days, very insightful and a great opportunity to see new developments in all things cleanrooms," he said.
Cleanroom Technology Awards
In addition to a content-packed agenda, the event saw the debut of the Cleanroom Technology Awards. Four award categories were introduced to recognise and reward achievements in the industry, two of these celebrated the best product innovations from those exhibiting at the Cleanroom Technology Conference 2018.Connect 2 Cleanrooms (C2C) received the Best Facility Award. The company was recognised for the cleanroom construction it delivered for medical technology group Convatec. The judges praised the project because it was broad in scope and showed careful consideration of aesthetics, energy efficiency and sustainability while meeting budget and timeline constraints, and making good use of the latest build technology and methods.
The Best Innovation Award was attained by Honeyman Group for its HydroGienic, a patented pharmaceutical water distribution system. This game-changing innovation not only provides economic advantages and ease of installation, it also offers flexibility, sustainability and overall operational benefits.
The Best Cleanroom Facility and the Best Cleanroom Innovation were judged by John Neiger, editor of Cleanroom Air and Containment Review and Susan Birks, former editor of Cleanroom Technology magazine.
Kimtech received the Best Exhibitor - Product for its A5 Sterile Cleanroom Coverall and Air Techniques International won the Best Exhibitor - Technology for the AC100H microbial air supply by Lighthouse World Wide Solutions.
An in-depth report of the two-day event will be published in the June issue of Cleanroom Technology. A photo gallery showcasing the event is available online.
