President's Message
4th Quarter | 2022
Andrew Jack
AIMCAL President of the Board
President's Message
Hello members. Greetings from sunny England!
Welcome in the Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters. Why the name change? We rebranded to bring an exciting new look to our great organization and to have a greater reach to all converters around the globe.
Well, the Orlando stage was set for the 2022 R2R USA Conference. We had an excellent technical program assembled with over 70 presentations; keynotes from the likes of P&G, NASA and “MythBusters;” almost 300 attendees registered and then…Hurricane Ian happened.\
Who names a hurricane “Ian,” anyway?
We certainly felt the full force and sadly had to cancel the R2R USA program only about halfway through. Given the devastation caused in southwestern Florida, this turned out to be the correct decision; our thoughts go out to all of those most affected. For those, like me, who remained in Florida (due to flight cancellations, etc.), we “hunkered down” and made the most of very unusual circumstances with my hotel room becoming a makeshift meeting and event center. For me personally, I enjoyed this time as it allowed me to catch up with old (and new) friends – something that I have not been able to do given the COVID-19 lockdowns over the past couple of years.
The R2R USA Conference was later made virtual with all the excellent presentations available, along with live Q&As and even two keynotes. I would like to offer my personal thanks to Chris Kerscher and staff for their hard work putting together a great conference…only to be thwarted by the weather.
As I write this message, economies on both sides of The Pond are seeing a slowdown and, with this, the inevitable cutback in spending. Recession seems to be the new buzzword, so let’s hope it’s a brief reset before returning to more normal, growing times. Certain market segments seem to be immune to this, mainly in the low-carbon / green-energy sectors. This field grows ever faster as most of the G7 nations and beyond set out to achieve the promises made at the COP Summit in 2021. Sustainability and advanced packaging techniques can be added to this effort as we focus on a greener future with many of our members contributing. Keep up the great work.
To conclude, I hope you all had a great summer. Let’s hope we all can meet again next autumn and that Mother Nature behaves this time around.
Your humble servant,
Andy Jack
President of the Board - Association for Roll-to-Roll Converters