This year’s Hotbels conference attracted multiple representatives from 40 glass production facilities, in addition to delegates from 23 different organisations that supply essential services and products to the glass industry.
The highlight of each Hotbels event is the presentation of the Business & Technology United (BTU) Award. This annual award was established in 2007, giving distinguished recognition to an individual or a group that has contributed significantly to the evolution of Hotbels and education in the glass industry.
The 2022 BTU Award was presented to Chuck Mace of Ardagh Group. Mr Mace has worked in the glass industry for 31 years, accruing a broad range of experience in furnace operations and engineering.
He has held many positions of increasing responsibility including Batch & Furnace Manager at Dunkirk, Lincoln, and Dolton; Furnace Design Engineer; Furnace Operations Engineer; Manager of Furnace Operations; and presently he is the Director of Furnaces with responsibility for operations, maintenance, engineering support and process improvement of Ardagh Group’s North American Glass container division.
Mr Mace joins a distinguished group of previous BTU Award recipients, including:
- C. Philip Ross, Glass Industry Consulting International (2007)
- Michael A. Nelson, Corhart Refractories (2008)
- Dr Douglas H Davis, Toledo Engineering Co (2009)
- John T Brown, Corning Inc and GMIC (2010)
- Michele Blackburn, Saint-Gobain SEFPRO (2011)
- Kevin Lievre, Formerly Air Products (2012)
- Matthew Wheeler, RHI US Ltd (2013)
- The Verallia Group (2014)
- George Kopser, Hotwork USA (2015)
- Roberto Cabrera, Vitro Vidrio Y Cristal (2016)
- David Boothe, Allstates Refractory Contractors (2017)
- HarbisonWalker International (2018)
- Brian Naveken, TECO (2019)
In addition to Mr Mace’s contributions and discussion on Economics of Nano-Tec, attendees had the opportunity to learn from an array of important speakers from Cardinal FG, HarbisonWalker International, Hotwork USA, Fosbel, RHI MAGNESITA, TECO, CelSian Glass & Solar, Ametek & Simpson Combustion & Energy LTD, and ERTL Combustion Products.
Image: BTU Award 2022 winner Charles ‘Chuck’ Mace (centre) with Tom Graham and Demetrius Rankin from Hotwork USA and Bob Chamber and Eric Yaszemski from Fosbel.