‘The Biggest It’s Ever Been’: AREMA Annual Conference 2023 Wraps Up
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Over the course of the 2023 AREMA Annual Conference, there has been a lot to cover. Three massive exhibit halls, endless technical sessions, and plenty of new people to meet.
INDIANAPOLIS – Over the course of the 2023 AREMA Annual Conference, there has been a lot to cover.
Over the course of the 2023 AREMA Annual Conference, there has been a lot to cover. Three massive exhibit halls, endless technical sessions, and plenty of new people to meet: It is too much to cover in a simple daily news story.
On the last day of conference before AREMA seminars and committee meetings take place on Thursday, October 5th, and Friday, October 6th, the morning began with an AREMA farewell and Committee Leader recognition as well as the incoming president of AREMA, Raymond Verrelle.
What followed the AREMA Keynote Address was a plethora of RSI Breakout Sessions and more AREMA Technical Presentations. Scattered throughout the Indiana Convention Center, presentations on “Tank Car Safety Through Research, Analysis, Design and Manufacturing,” Improving Locomotive Starting Performance with Supercapacitor Systems,” and “Decontamination Prior to Coating: Best Practices to Maximize Performance,” took place before the conference adjourned at 12:30pm.
With all of the travel accommodations made, sessions attended, and booths visited, it is important to ask oneself (and others) if coming to Railway Interchange 2023 was worth it. On Wednesday, I asked a gentleman who works for company that manufactures couplers how the conference was in his opinion, and he was ecstatic. “This was the biggest it’s ever been. And you can quote me on that.”
Indeed, “the biggest it’s ever been” is a sentiment heard multiple times during the conference. “This is definitely the largest conference,” and “There are always so many people to meet here,” are two of the phrases I’ve heard each day. It was not simply the size of the venue or the number of attendees that grabbed attention. The quality of the technical presentations should not be understated. Half-hour Sessions ran all day for several days and covered topics from Communications, Signals, & IT to Track to Structures and beyond. The enthusiasm exhibited in these sessions is hopefully something that can be taken back home by participants as they begin to go about their regular day-to-day work schedules.
As mentioned in a previous news story, AREMA technical sessions are available on-demand for AREMA members.
