If you’re a part of the valve industry, you likely are aware of the huge need for valve education and training.

While baby-boomers may have put off retirement for a few more years – thanks to the recent great recession – our industry is on the verge of losing its most valuable players, those experienced and knowledgeable professionals who have spent decades working in our industry. To replace this great brain drain, educating newcomers to the industry must be a top priority for companies that make, use and specify valves, actuators and controls.

A number of interesting and informative sessions took place at the recent Valve World Americas, held June 21-22 in The Woodlands, TX. We begin an online series highlighting some of the sessions attended by Valve Magazine.

Henk Hinssen, of iHandl Engineering in Belgium, moderated a workshop on “The Good, the Bad and The Ugly of Partial Stroking.” The purpose was to provide a forum for better understanding of the history, purpose and limitations of partial stroke testing (PST). Hinssen was joined by these panelists:

It’s a fact of life that no matter how well we plot and plan, something can happen to upset those plans. From small events, such as equipment or power failures or leaks and spills to bigger events such as strikes from Mother Nature—there is no way to predict when a catastrophe might occur. However, there are many ways to recover, and part of that recovery process involves finding, evaluating and either repairing or replacing valves.

The new Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, located just outside Washington DC, hosted the 2008 Emerson Users Exchange, which ended earlier today. Emerson personnel, members of the media and, of course, the users themselves, arrived Sunday night for a week's worth of speeches, workshops, demonstrations and invaluable networking.