Underground Construction - May 2021 - 6

EDITOR'S LOG

Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief

Up Close & Personal
of the industry's leading companies. We
expect the conference to be overwhelmed
with people ready to break-out and re-engage with their markets and peers.
That said, there are many new dimensions
to UCT this year. Here's a sample:

UtiliTech

The world has been living in fear for more
than 15 months: fear of an unseen and
unknown virus that threatened the very
fabric of society and totally disrupted our
way of life.
But no longer is fear in charge. On July
13 to 15, our country's return to normal
will be reinstated in a big way as the
Underground Construction Technology
International Conference & Exhibition,
better known as UCT, returns for 2021
(albeit at a later date than usual).
In the Time of COVID, three things
have become common for trade shows
and convention events: delays, switching
to virtual programs, or super-restrictive
health limitations and restrictions for
meetings. Fortunately, with our timely
decision to push UCT back until July, we've
accomplished exactly what we were hoping
for: the right show at the right time to
have face-to-face, interactive meetings and
exhibits, with a minimum of distraction.
In fact, as of this writing, Nashville
(Davidson County) has fully opened both
the city and the Music City Convention
Center. The only health restriction
remaining was wearing masks indoors. That
will be revisited and possibly revised, if not
eliminated, by mid-July.
We are continuing to receive strong,
positive feedback and excitement from
industry. People are thrilled about the
opportunity to attend an open conference
with the best industry education and
information available, and a full exhibit hall
6

MAY 2021 | UCONonline.com

The UtiliTech Conference will provide an interactive forum for the gas utility industry.
Co-located with UCT, UtiliTech will focus
on high-tech solutions and information for
natural gas utility management, operations
and supervisory personnel.
UtiliTech is presented by Gas Utility, the
digital information source for natural gas
utility management, operations and supervisory personnel, and by sister publications
Underground Construction magazine and
Pipeline & Gas Journal.

HDD Hall of Fame Reception

In the span of two months, the HDD industry lost two of its most respected members
in Ron Halderman of Mears and Robert
Westphal of Michels. The HDD Hall of Fame
committee and Underground Construction
magazine are pleased to announce that
these two industry innovators will be posthumously inducted into the HDD Hall of
Fame at a special reception on Wednesday,
July 14. There will also be a full slate of HDD
educational sessions and exhibits.
The HDD Hall of Fame Reception, organized by industry personnel, will allow HDD
personnel owning or operating equipment
of all sizes to converse with their peers as
they honor the 2021 Hall of Fame class.

CIPP 50th Celebration,
Reunion

Cured-in-place pipe, better known as CIPP,
is a technology that forever changed the
face of infrastructure rehabilitation and
launched a wildly successful market. Plans
have been finalized for the first-ever CIPP
Celebration that will include a reunion and
honor two Pioneers of CIPP: Eric Wood and
Bob Affholder.
Industry experts are producing a unique
educational program track that will review
and reflect upon the history of CIPP and

project upon continued successes. Make
plans now to attend what will certainly be
an amazing celebration and reunion.

I&I Conference

A unique, UCT pre-show specialty conference, on July 12, will tackle an age-old
industry issue. Often misunderstood and
frequently underestimated, unabated inflow
and infiltration (I&I) can be deadly to sewer
collections systems. I&I elimiNATION
will explore root causes of the problem,
revealing both the short- and long-term
destructive impacts upon sewer pipelines,
and examine possible solutions.
This educational forum is geared for municipal stakeholders, consulting engineers,
regulators, technology and service providers,
and contractors converging on the challenges
of removing I&I for the preservation and performance of wastewater collection systems.

MVP

The 2021 Most Valuable Professional of
the underground infrastructure industry
will be honored at an annual luncheon on
July 13 during UCT. The award, co-sponsored by the Underground Construction
Technology Association and Underground
Construction magazine, will be presented
to George Kurz, P.E., DEE.
Kurz has 43 years of experience in
state and local government, sewer service
contracting and consulting engineering.
For registration or sponsorship
information, visit the UCTA website at
uctaonline.org.

Dare we say " normal "

UCT is not virtual, it's real. We're not taping
sessions; we're providing actual, live presentations with opportunities for questions and
answers. The conference is being held at a
tremendously interesting, active and fun city.
We look forward to reuniting with many
of our industry friends and colleagues this
July in Nashville, just like " normal. " *
http://www.uctaonline.org http://www.UCONonline.com
Underground Construction - May 2021

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