Three Special Plenary Sessions Featured at 2014 ASME Congress in Montreal

Chris Van Buiten

This year's ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Montreal, Canada, will boast a packed slate of activities, including hundreds of technical sessions, a busy exposition show floor, the final round of the Student Design Competition, and the annual Honors Assembly. The Congress, which will take place from Nov. 14-20 at the Palais des Congres convention center, will also feature three Congress-Wide Plenary Sessions that are sure to appeal to all Congress attendees, regardless of their technical interests.

The first session, titled “Taking on the 'Impossible': The Sikorsky Innovations Story,” will be presented on Tuesday, Nov. 18, by Chris Van Buiten, vice president of Sikorsky Innovations. During his talk, from 8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m., Van Buiten will review the history of his company, from its founding by Igor Sikorsky, the inventor of the world’s first practical helicopter, to the innovative projects the company is working on today. Van Buiten runs the group responsible for developing and supporting many of these next-generation technologies, which include the X2 high-speed compound helicopter, the SARA (Sikorsky Autonomous Research Aircraft) unmanned helicopter, and the DARPA X-Plane. He will also look at how Sikorsky supports other innovators, such as Toronto's AeroVelo, the recent winners of the AHS/Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Vertical Flight Competition. A continental breakfast will be served prior to the presentation, from 7:30 a.m.-8:00 a.m.

Dennis O'Donoghue

The following day, Dennis O'Donoghue, vice president at Boeing Test and Evaluation, will present the second Congress-Wide Plenary, "Testing the Future of Flight — Boeing's ecoDemonstrator Program." The session will examine that new program, which is focused on accelerating the testing, refinement and completion of new technologies to improve the environmental performance of aircraft, and improving environmental sustainability throughout an airplane's life cycle. The technologies selected for the ecoDemonstrator program span the range of technology maturity, from nascent technologies, including fuel cells and other clean energy sources for future generations of jetliners, to those that are ready for implementation, such as the new natural laminar flow winglets on the 737 MAX that improve fuel efficiency. O'Donoghue's presentation will take place from 8:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m., following a continental breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m.

Ann Marie Sastry

The final Congress-Wide Plenary, "The Next Energy Storage Revolution — Cheap, Clean, Solid State Devices," is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20, from noon-12:45 p.m. During the session, presenter Ann Marie Sastry, co-founder and CEO of battery technology company Sakti3, will delve into the subject of solid state battery technology, which has shown real potential in terms of energy storage and safety, but has had difficulty moving beyond niche applications because of expense and scalability issues. Sastry, the winner of the 2011 ASME Frank Kreith Energy Award and 2007 ASME Gustus Larson Award, will discuss her company's vision for the deployment of solid state battery technology deployment and future product development. Lunch will be served from 11:30 to noon prior to Sastry's presentation.

For more information on the Congress-Wide Plenary Sessions and the other activities taking place at the 2014 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, visit http://www.asmeconferences.org/congress2014.