U.S. Team Wins IFAT 2016 Operations Challenge
The challenge was modeled after WEF's Operations Challenge skills competition, which is held each year at WEFTEC, and the participating teams were judged on core competencies of wastewater operations.
Team KSB-USA was awarded the gold medal on June 2 as the overall winner of the third Open German Championship in Wastewater Technology during IFAT 2016, a major conference on water, sewage, waste, and raw materials management that took place in Munich, Germany. The May 30-June 3 event's attendance was about 138,000 overall for the 50th conference in the series.
"The feedback from all our participants was overwhelming. The further rise in participation figures is impressive proof of how, for fifty years, IFAT has been shaping the development of the environmental technology sector," said Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff, chairman of the Advisory Board of IFAT and managing partner of Kirchhoff Ecotec. "Excellent new contacts were forged for our companies, in particular in the international arena. Overall IFAT has been a tremendous success in its anniversary year."
The winning team competed against 36 teams from six countries; it was organized by the Water Environment Federation and sponsored by KSB, Inc. The challenge was modeled after WEF's Operations Challenge skills competition, which is held each year at WEFTEC, and the participating teams were judged on core competencies of wastewater operations that included work safety and health; scheduled and unscheduled maintenance; instrumentation & control; and process control. The U.S. team included Coach Dave Vogel (CH2M, Lanesborough, Mass.) and members Dale Burrow (TRA CReWSers, Dallas); Donnie Cagle (Terminal Velocity, Wake Forest, N.C.); and Steve Motley (Terminal Velocity, Virginia Beach, Va.).
"We are so proud of Team KSB-USA and congratulate all of the participants of this fantastic international competition," said WEF Executive Director Eileen O'Neill. "It was our great honor to have been invited to be a part of IFAT and the Open German Championship, which along with WEF's own Operations Challenge competition showcases the incredible dedication, professionalism, and outstanding skills of our operations personnel. A special thanks to KSB, Inc. for their support and to everyone who helped make this event a success."
Second and third places went to two German teams: Nuremberg – Die Drei Wreckla and Stadt Stuttgart Pumpis.
This year's WEFTEC, the federation's 89th annual technical exhibition and conference in New Orleans, will take place Sept. 24-28 and will include Operations Challenge 2016. For more information, visit www.weftec.org.