March 2016, Vol. 71, No. 3
Features
UCT Well-Received In Atlanta, Moves To Fort Worth in 2017
Underground piping infrastructure construction and rehabilitation professionals journeyed to Atlanta last month for the annual Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition (UCT).
Several things set this UCT apart from past shows. Although UCT has been in Atlanta twice, the 2016 edition was in the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta (previous shows in the city were in a facility several miles north of downtown).
A new, two-day format was introduced in 2016 with educational programs the mornings of Wednesday, Feb. 3, and Thursday Feb. 4, and the exhibit hall offering extended hours on both days.
“Atlanta was good for many reasons,” said Show Director Karen Francis. “Atlanta is an easy drive from Florida and other neighboring states making the city a destination for many who have not traveled to Houston for past shows. Many expressed their appreciation for having UCT in their ‘backyard’.”
Wherever it’s held, UCT is the only annual industry event that brings together contractors, utility providers, consulting engineers, manufacturers and service providers in a business and educational environment. UCT’s scope encompasses all underground construction and rehabilitation disciplines. UCT is sponsored by Underground Construction, Pipeline & Gas Journal and Pipeline News magazines and is co-sponsored by corporate, association and academic organizations.
In Atlanta, UCT featured more than 100 educational sessions that covered every aspect of building, maintaining and rehabilitating underground infrastructure.
In addition, other industry organizations scheduled training programs on Monday and Tuesday before UCT opened. Exhibitors showed their products and explained their services in the large exhibit hall which included the RehabZone, a show-within-the-show, no-sell area devoted to rehabilitation technologies and their application (see related article on page 20).
Value of education
Education has become increasingly important for UCT attendees.
Boyd Simon, P.E., who gets to UCT as often as his schedule permits, was in Atlanta for training and picked up credits from CUIRE training on Tuesday.
“It’s important to get continuing training, and this is a good place for it,” said Simon, who is manager of Spartan Directional LLC, Broussard, LA.
Derek Scott, W. J. Scott LLC, took CIPP certification courses, and spent two full days at the show attending several education sessions and visited the exhibit floor.
“It was time well-spent, a good show – excellent,” Scott said. “The RehabZone was very informative.” Located in Pittsburgh, PA, W.J. Scott is a utility contractor specializing in water, sewer, gas and electrical work.
The Atlanta UCT was the first for Thomas Horn, vice president, DSI, Hope Mills, NC. He said the event was well planned and executed.
“I was impressed with the educational program,” Horne said. “On the exhibit floor I saw improvements in several product categories, including reclaimers. I also was interested in pipe lining methods and want to know more about it. We want to be involved with UCT in the future.” In addition, Horne was a panelist on the HDD Round Table held Thursday morning.
The Atlanta show also was the first for Robert Wall, owner of Cable East Inc., Statham, GA. Said Wall: “I saw some things here that will be very beneficial for our personnel, and we’re going to be active and bring more people to future UCT shows. I spent time on the exhibit floor, and it’s good having people there that we need to talk to and speak directly about products. We also got to talk to people on the development side – what’s being tested – and that was interesting.” Wall also participated in the HDD Round Table.
From the exhibit floor
From an exhibitor’s perspective, Ryan Boldan, HammerHead product manager, said the company’s exhibit enjoyed brisk traffic the first day with many quality leads.
“There was significant interest in pipe bursting, point repair and our full solution offering for the repair and replacement of underground infrastructure,” said Boldan. “The unveiling of the HydroBurst 100 XT to the UCT audience was exciting. We had pipe bursting customers old and new impressed with its next-generation design.”
Added Regional Manager Brian Cowles: UCT Seminars not only help our customers learn about technologies and techniques to assist them in addressing their infrastructure issues, but it’s also an opportunity for us to network with them and understand what kind of challenges they are facing in the field.”
A regular event at UCT is the MVP luncheon, and this year Dr. Tom Iseley, director of the Trenchless Technology Center at Louisiana Tech University, was honored as the industry’s “most valuable person.”
Networking is an important element of every UCT with multiple opportunities for project owners, engineers, exhibiting company personnel and others in the industry to exchange ideas. The annual networking reception was Thursday, co-sponsored by TT Technologies.
The annual HDD Round Table was a platform for a panel of directional drilling contractors to discuss issues and opportunities and exchange comments with an actively interested audience.
One measure of any annual conference and trade show’s acceptance is the commitment to attend the next show. By that yardstick, UCT 2016 was a “huge” success, said Francis.
Exhibitors were lined up at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday waiting to select their space for UCT 2017, she pointed out.
UCT travels to Fort Worth from Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, 2017.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
UCT 2017
www.uctonline.com
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