I was in Singapore in October for the Gastech Singapore 2015 for a very interesting week learning about many things, including LNG engineering.
Celebrating 50 years as an independent nation, Singapore has been ranked the number one country for “ease of doing business” for the past nine years by the World Bank. Singapore is very cosmopolitan; you can see different types of people living harmoniously and easily interacting with each other. My trip included some wonderful sights such as the “Gardens by the Bay” and the Arts & Science Museum’s “Welcoming Hand.” I appreciated these both as engineering marvels considering environmental / sustainable objectives. And, yes, I also appreciated the excellent food with a diversity of choices including Chinese, Indian, Malay, Indonesian, Italian, Peranakan, Spanish, French, Thai and, of course, the ever-present “fusion” which can mean whatever you like.
Gastech Conference Benefits
The cosmopolitan diversity of Singapore was also evident at the Gas-tech conference. There were exhibitors and attendees from around the world including the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Norway, and the US. In fact, the Black & Veatch booth was streaming live the World Series baseball match-up of the KC Royals and the NY Mets. Unfortunately, my beloved Mets did not win.
Technical conference sessions focused on gas processing, LNG engineering (as well as processing, floating, ships, facilities and infrastructure), natural gas vehicles, and offshore technologies. I learned LNG is about to enter a period of unprecedented growth with significant volumes of new supply about to enter the market. The estimated investment is over $2.5 trillion through 2025. Currently, there are over 400 LNG ships worldwide. The initial exports from the US should be in 2106 from the Sabine Pass facility in the Gulf Coast.
I presented in the Center of Technical Excellence (CoTES) a paper titled, Perlmutter Presentation at GasTech Singapore 2015 (pdf) The session was attended well, and I enjoyed fielding some interesting questions and comments. I was particularly proud to see this presentation was the only filtration one at Gastech — that’s a nice accomplishment for BHS.
Why International Conferences Matter
Did I have fun? Yes. Did I learn? Yes. Did I expand my professional network? Yes. I can only continue to encourage all of my clients, friends, and colleagues to travel to international conferences such as Gastech to experience both the cultural and technical benefits of joining the worldwide process engineer community.
If you are planning to travel or submit to conferences, let me know your how I can help! Perhaps we can meet up at an international destination to discuss our shared interests, this blog and more!