PEMA to host 11th Technology Forum and 3rd Student Challenge at TOC Europe 2015

The Port Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (PEMA) will be hosting its 11th State of the Industry Forum on Port Equipment and Technology and the finals of its 3rd Student Challenge at TOC Europe 2015 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 9-11 June.

Founded in 2004, PEMA provides a forum and public voice for the global port equipment and technology sectors. The Association has seen strong growth in recent years, and now has over 80 member companies representing all facets of the industry, including crane, equipment and component manufacturers, automation and software and technology providers.

The PEMA Forum takes place in the TECH TOC Theatre on the TOC Europe exhibition floor on Tuesday 9 June from 13:00 – 14:20. Under the theme, ‘What will power port equipment of the future?’ the Forum’s opening session will explore current energy technology and trends, operations and cost factors that influence decision-making, and areas of research and development. A second panel session, ‘IT and Systems Integration’, will address how the industry is progressing towards open standards for the integration of different software, equipment control systems and process automation technology.

Both sessions will be moderated by Paul Avery, Editorial Director of World Cargo News. Leading industry players taking part this year include: Conductix Wampfler, Cavotec, Terex Port Solutions, ABB, Hans Kuenz, Navis, Konecranes, and APS Technology Group.

PEMA will host the finals of its 3rd Student Challenge on 10 June from 15:00-17:30 in the BULK Theatre on TOC’s exhibition floor. As part of PEMA’s education outreach, the Student Challenge provides a fun and lively way to expose students to the real business of the ports and terminal world, as well as to highlight university programmes and student talent to the ports business community. This year, the finalists are University of Hamburg, the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg and Blekinge Institute of Technology from Sweden, who will each have 30 minutes to present their ideas on the 2015 theme - The Impact and Mitigation of Berth Error.

The judges will confer on the spot and the winning team will be awarded with a cheque for €1000. This year’s judging panel consists of Lyes Chebrek of APM Terminals, Carly Fields of Port Strategy, Yvo Saanen of TBA, Arwin Stehouwer, Port of Rotterdam and Tom Ward from Parsons Brinkerhoff.

Both sessions are free to attend for all delegates, speakers, visitors and exhibitors coming to TOC Europe. In addition to these events, PEMA will be exhibiting at Stand D124. For details of PEMA events at TOC Europe 2015, visit: www.pema.org/pema-events. To register as a TOC attendee, visit www.tocevents-europe.com.

For more information on this media release, please contact Rachael White, PEMA Secretary General at: Tel +44 20 8279 9403 | rachael.white@pema.org