IMTS- The International Manufacturing Technology Show (www.imts.com) returns to Chicago's McCormick Place Sept. 13–18. Nearly 100,000 visitors from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the trade show and conference for manufacturing equipment and technology.
Experts from the aerospace, medical, automotive and energy industries will present the keynote program on manufacturing innovation for the first-ever Industry Inspiration Day at IMTS on Sept. 13. A roundtable panel discussion will conclude the luncheon keynote program, which will be held 12–3 p.m. at the Industry & Technology Conference.
Representing the aerospace industry will be Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus Americas, who oversees the activities and strategy for Airbus in North America. Rene van de Zande, president and CEO of the Emergo Group, a consulting group in international medical device registrations, quality system compliance and medical distribution management, will cover the medical device and in-vitro medical device industries. Leading the discussion for the automotive sector will be Jim Tetreault, vice president of North American manufacturing for Ford Motor. Energy policy expert and chief executive officer of the American Wind Energy Assn., Denise Bode, will complete the panel.
The conference program, Sept. 14–17, will focus on five topic tracks featuring a wide range of industry-specific sessions including materials engineering (physical properties, what's new and future R&D); machining technology and trends (general cutting, grinding, tooling/workholding); alternative manufacturing processes (waterjet, laser, EDM, welding, fastening/joining); metrology (measuring, testing, inspection, 3D inspection, standards); and plant operations (lean manufacturing, CAD/CAM, training/workforce, government, energy efficiency, MTConnect).