The world’s largest user organization supporting owner/operators of 7F gas turbines promises a robust in-person event when the group gathers at the Marriott St. Louis Grand, May 20-24, for its 2024 conference and vendor fair.
This year’s program begins with a seven-stop tour of MD&A’s turbine/generator repair facility (users only) on Monday morning (May 20), followed by lunch and an afternoon-long session of practical technical presentations by MD&A’s leading engineers.
Tuesday (May 21) is dedicated to vendor presentations selected by the steering committee. The program is arranged in five 30-min sessions with four services providers presenting simultaneously in each session. Highlights of the topics covered by the vendors can be found here.
The classroom programs on Monday and Tuesday conclude by 4 p.m. so attendees can participate in the vendor fair, which runs until 7. Seventy-five companies (over 130 in total) will be on hand each day to help you navigate their products and services offerings, but only a few will be available both days. Review the exhibitor list here to be sure you don’t miss someone of interest. No need to rush through the aisles: Heavy hors d’oeuvres and open bar won’t allow you to go hungry.
Wednesday is dedicated to user-only sessions with presentations and discussion focusing primarily on safety, combustion, auxiliaries, rotors, exhaust systems and components, and controls. See technical program at a glance to get an idea of the nitty-gritty discussions you’ll be having with fellow users.
Thursday is GE Day. A slew of information coming your way in general session and then in various deep-dive breakout session throughout the day. See those topics here.
The Friday morning session, which was greatly improved by the steering committee last year, includes both the OEM’s traditional deep-dive knowledge-sharing program and two special user-only sessions—one on how to prepare for borescope inspections, the other on coupling alignment. A feature of GE’s Friday program is a one-hour session on effective technical communications and how to maximize the value of the OEM’s customer portal.
This all would not be possible without the tireless efforts of this 7FUG Steering Committee noted below, who, for over three decades, have set the highest standard for technical content and robust problem-solving discussion. They are happy to announce the offering of PDH credits starting at this year’s conference at no added cost. These will help fulfill engineering licensure and company training requirements you may have.
2024 Steering Committee
Chairman: Dave Such, Xcel Energy (2006-2019; 2022)
Vice Chairman: Zach Wood, Duke Energy (2020)
Luis Barrera, Calpine (2014)
Sam Graham, Tenaska (2007-2018; 2022)
Edwin Rivera Hernandez, Dominion Energy (2023)
Clinton Lafferty, TVA (2020)
Doug Leonard, ExxonMobil (2020)
Justin McDonald, Southern Company Generation (2013)
Dan McQuade, Vistra Corp (2023)
Brian Richardson, FPL (2022)
John Rogers, SRP (2019)
