Learning from space travel: Cleanzone Congress features future trends
The third Cleanzone Congress on 21 and 22 October 2014, organised by Messe Frankfurt and its partner ReinraumAkademie, will be focusing even more closely on the varied requirements of its participants. On both mornings of the event, informative 'Basic' sessions will explore the key questions pertaining to planning, operating and working in cleanrooms. These modules are aimed at everyone who is new to this theme and those without specialist knowledge who are seeking expertise for introducing or optimising their cleanrooms. The 'Advanced' sessions taking place in the afternoon, on the other hand, are targeted at professionals and those already active in the cleanroom industry who are looking to expand their expertise regarding key product developments, market trends and innovations. The Cleanzone Congress will be covering the following three fields: cleanroom construction and planning ('Basic'), new cleanroom applications ('Advanced') and the operation of cleanrooms (both 'Basic' and 'Advanced').
Basic sessions: practical expertise and realisation examples
What things must be observed when setting up a cleanroom? What are the regulations and statutory requirements? What technical solutions, training and consumables are worthwhile for which products? In the 'Basic' sessions, presentations by experts such as Dr Lothar Gail (GMP Consultant), Hubert Rott (Dittel Engineering), Alexander Mayr and Christian Dragosits (both from MED-EL Medical Electronics Innsbruck) will be providing in-depth knowledge on cleanroom standards, exploring current questions of cleanroom use with examples from medical technology, detailing cleanroom air handling concepts and investigating issues of systems classification. In addition, topics such as clothing concepts, employee training, monitoring systems and cleaning agents will be addressed by experts including Markus Schad (decontam), Rolf Zimmermann (ReinraumAkademie), Michael Müller (vali.sys) and a specialist from Ecolab. The developments of the past few years will be the topic of a presentation focusing on air handling concepts given by Eric Stuiver, Director of the Clean Technology Practice at Deerns. According to the Dutch expert: “Looking back to my first encounter with cleanrooms in the mid-eighties a lot has changed. Today we face new challenges: how to deal with (which) chemical contaminants, how to measure and control nano-sized particles, how to design a cleanroom that motivates ‘clean’ behaviour. These are questions for the international cleanroom society and they need the help and enthusiasm of young people with new ideas that can develop robust solutions that are at the same time economically and practically constructible ”
Advanced sessions: focusing on future trends
Market trends, technical innovations, specific product developments and the challenges they pose for cleanroom technology: the advanced sessions are aimed at participants who want — and need — to remain abreast of the very latest developments.
The headline speaker, Prof. Dr med. Rupert Gerzer, Director of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will be offering participants an inside look at his field of research and how it ties in with future requirements in the field of cleanroom technology: “Manned space travel is facing a number of fascinating challenges. We still do not have satisfactory answers for how people can remain healthy and productive over long deployments in a space station. In addition to the far-reaching effects of weightlessness, another core problem is the accelerated growth, and increased mutation rate, of micro-organisms. Even a minuscule mistake can result in irreversible contamination that poses a particular threat to the weakened immune systems of astronauts. Work in this area, as well as the unique findings of our research, is providing valuable impetus to technological innovations in a variety of disciplines.” His presentation will also be focusing on themes like new training methods, radiation protection, the unpredictable effects of space tourism and far-reaching findings in the field of weightlessness for fundamental research. Whether it be for screens, displays or large-scale room lighting, OLEDs are booming. In his presentation, Dr Manfred Weigand (Merck) will be taking a look at the special requirements entailed by organic LEDs for cleanroom production. Other topics that will be covered in the first session include energy efficiency in accordance with the TC-209 standard and the challenge posed by MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) for cleanroom production.
Topics covered by the presentations on the second day of the congress include the even application of the disinfectant hydrogen peroxide, procedures for putting on cleanroom clothing, energy efficiency, compliance and facility management, subjects aimed in particular at professional users who wish to bring their production in line with the state of the art. Joseph Ortner (Ortner Reinraumtechnik) and Con Leddy (PM Group) will be among those providing scientific presentations.