2027 Labor Relations/Human Resources Conference

Corporate and site security personnel in the refining and petrochemical industries are invited to hear expert discussion of pressing security issues, including drone usage, international security, and cybersecurity.

Trade show and conference covering automation across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, energy, and other industries. The conference combines show-floor technology exploration with expert-led sessions; its 2027 programming and speakers are still in development. Show-floor programming includes Keynote Stage presentations, Show Theater sessions and panels on emerging technologies, practical applications, and market trends, and Innovation Stage presentations featuring new hardware, software, technologies, and approaches to work. Other featured programming includes startup pitches, live demos, the Startup Challenge, Innovation Awards, Humanoid Pavilion & Stage, and AMR technology demos.

The meeting brings together executives, decision-makers, and technical experts from refining businesses, technology providers, contracting and consulting firms, and equipment manufacturers. Sessions address policies, regulations, geopolitics, and disruptions affecting downstream businesses. The agenda includes general sessions, concurrent breakout sessions, and a Government Relations Breakfast.

Content for association CEOs and senior-level association executives focuses on emerging industry, business, technology, and association management trends. The conference includes table discussions on trending issues and crowd-sourced solutions, general sessions, Conversessions, and CEO and staff roundtables. A New CEO Breakfast features discussion of strategies for establishing leadership in a new role. Registration is for trade association leaders and their staff.

The conference objective is to enhance the value of participation in AIST activities and provide resources to help attendees grow as leaders in the association and the steel industry. Program topics include a North American steel update, economic perspectives, AIST strategic plan and program updates, and a rapid-fire discussion for questions, comments, and concerns. Leadership sessions address leading through uncertainty using neuroscience, psychology, and practical leadership strategies. A session on applying AI across a steel business addresses finance, supply chain, HR, and sales; data privacy and protecting proprietary know-how; AI adoption examples; identifying which data is safe to use with which tools; and preparing an implementation plan for IT. The event is invitation-only and open to Member Chapter officers, Technology Committee officers, Board of Director members, Board standing committee officers, and AIST Foundation Board of Trustees.

The program addresses safe, efficient, and responsible coal use, with sessions on emergency preparedness, procurement, reliability, AI-ready coal assets, unit-operation costs, workforce recruitment and knowledge retention, maintenance prioritization, combustible-dust hazards, ash use and marketability, heat-rate degradation, fire protection, and contractor safety. Roundtable themes include safety and health, boiler and combustion, coal handling, emergency response, incident prevention, uses for ash, and AI applications.

The annual conference addresses marketplace, government, industry, and business trends affecting die casting. Agenda sessions cover a Washington, D.C. update; U.S. manufacturing; the U.S. economy; die-casting strategies; tooling strategies framed as winning over China; an NADCA R&D update; and a roundtable discussion.

The program combines technical and management sessions, exhibits, and presentations for foundry professionals, suppliers, casting designers, buyers, and OEM representatives. Topics include additive manufacturing, casting design and purchasing, engineering, environmental health and safety, ferrous and nonferrous alloys, Industry 4.0, marketing and sales, melting, molding, pouring, quality control, workforce development, and casting case studies, reshoring, material selection, and casting quality. The program also includes the Hoyt Memorial Lecture on integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and artificial intelligence for sustainable metalcasting. Its themes include alloy design, process innovation, digital manufacturing, workforce development, and using physics-based ICME with AI and machine learning to improve casting development, manufacturing processes, and prediction of microstructure, defects, and mechanical properties.

Described as one of the largest petrochemical events in the world, the conference draws participants from companies across the globe to hear from industry leaders on political, economic and environmental issues facing the petrochemical sector. Sessions include Reflections from the C-Suite with the CEO of BASF Corporation, a TotalEnergies refining and petrochemicals SVP, and Dow's Chief Operating Officer; The Evolving Global Policy Landscape and its Impacts on the Petrochemical Industry; and Supply Chains Under Stress, examining how leaders are responding to global supply disruptions with executives from LyondellBasell, Brenntag North America, and the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region. A workforce-focused session, Shaping Tomorrow: The Petrochemical Workforce and Next-Gen Leaders, addresses talent pipeline challenges. Market analysis sessions include S&P Global's "Petrochemicals: The Phoenix Amid the Flames" and Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS's "Chemical Crossroads: Mapping the Route to 2060." A Women in Industry panel addresses mid-career leadership in the chemical industry, and the International Petrochemical Luncheon features a conversation with former President George W. Bush.

The conference serves semiconductor-industry executives, engineering and fab managers, academics, startup founders, financial analysts, market researchers, consulting firms, and consortia. Its stated focus is materials innovation, management, and business success; the 2027 agenda is not yet published.