With over 1,000 attendees from more than 30 countries, RadTech 2024, which took place May 20-22 in Orlando, Florida, grew by 40% from the 2022 event. Organizers of the event report that attendance exceeded expectations and signals significant interest in the use of UV+EB technology for sustainable and responsible manufacturing. Conference sessions on the latest advances in coil coatings, sustainability, 3D printing/additive manufacturing, hot-melt adhesives, and metal packaging brought the industry together to advance UV+EB technologies and helped attract first-time attendees.

RadTech 2024 featured over 70 exhibitors and 120 presentations. The event's biennial awards dinner was a highlight, recognizing the outstanding contributions of industry leaders. Samantha Leap, Chemence Inc., was honored with the Best Paper Award for her work on Low Extractable Biocompatible UV Adhesives for Wearable Devices, while Dr. Cristobal Garcia, Evonik, received the award for his research on optimizing defoaming and deaeration in UV coatings and inks. 

One of the key highlights of RadTech 2024 was the presentation of the biennial UV+EB market survey. Michael Gould, technical key account manager at Rahn USA and the current president of RadTech, shared insightful forecasts, projecting a robust growth of over 5% per year in the use of UV+EB formulated products in North America over the next three years. Notably, a diverse range of applications, including 3D printing/additive manufacturing, UV inkjet, hot-melt adhesives, wide-web flexo, food packaging, metal decorating, coil coatings, and batteries/storage devices, showed above-average growth, indicating a promising future for the industry. 

In addition, RadTech presented special service awards, including an award to Paul Elias of Miwon, a long-time RadTech and industry leader and board member, and Todd Fayne of Pepsi for his leadership in driving RadTech sustainability efforts and spearheading a RadTech Degradable Materials challenge.

RadTech—The Association for UV+EB Technologies will announce plans for the next technical conference and exhibition in the coming months. Learn more about RadTech—The Association for UV+EB Technologies at https://radtech.org.