Welcome, everyone to the First Annual

AVIATION FUEL HANDLING TRAINING SYMPOSIUM

Yes, we will do this again next year. The tentative plan is for the event sponsors to work
together to hold it in Los Angeles The response to this Symposium has been so
overwhelming that we had to turn away over 100 people, which really is a disappointment
for all of us. We will plan to have more room and more time next year.

What makes this event different from any other may seem to be the mix of experts and the
range of subjects covered. But it is more than that, it is the total mix of attendees and
speakers together. We have over 30 countries represented here. It really is amazing.

 So what is a Symposium? In this case it is a series of concise, targeted talks by industry
experts on all aspects of the handling of Aviation Fuels.

 Next year we will get into more detail, specifically on subjects such as refueler operation
and maintenance and overall quality control from the refinery to the airplane. 

 Many years ago, we started our yearly Gammon Conferences in New Jersey and we will
have our Seminars, Conference and Open House this year as usual, on June 7-9. You can
visit our web site and click on Events to see the details. All are welcome and there is no
charge.

 But when we talked together, those of us in the industry felt something more was needed.
What was needed was a Symposium in which all the elements of the industry would be
represented. 

 Because Gammon Tech is involved with every industry group and has done our
conferences for decades, it became our job to set this Symposium, but you'll notice it is not
simply “our” symposium, it is a group effort. 

 So first and foremost, what do we want to accomplish with this Symposium? We want to
educate people in the industry not only about what is going on in the industry and who is
involved in these things, but to introduce you to the different groups and companies that
actually make it all work.

 While here, you can meet and ask questions of the experts present and when you go home,
you'll have all the contacts you may need to get answers that may come up in your day to
day jobs.
 IATA/IFQP and JIG address the industry from the international airline perspective and
A4A represents the US Airline perspective. IATA IFQP and JIG together write the
international refueling standards and IATA meets twice a year somewhere in the world
providing information and airline interface for you. A4A writes the ATA-103 standard but
has no events like the IATA.
 
ASTM International writes the test standards but more importantly it defines what jet fuel
and avgas are. Everyone who makes or handles aviation fuels should know that ASTM is
made up of industry volunteers and anyone can join and take part. We need
representatives in ASTM to help.

 CRC is the Coordinating Research Council, which helps the ASTM by conducting the
research behind the ASTM standards, if the costs are too high for one oil company or
manufacturer to cover by itself. This only covers about 10% of the research, but the most
important 10%. It is also a volunteer organization, like ASTM.

 The Energy Institute is critically important as well. The EI writes most of the operational
and design standards for the equipment we work with, sort of a counterpart to ASTM
International. In the past this was split between API and the IP, but this has now moved to
the Energy Institute. In the same way that ASTM defines the fuel, EI defines the filtration,
hose, couplers and many other aspects of how fuel is handled through our fuel systems. EI
is also made up largely of volunteers and we encourage you to participate.

 SAE is known to everyone. When you buy oil for your car, there it is right on the container,
"SAE-10W-30" or something similar. SAE has not always been big in our industry, but this
has been changing. SAE standards are now accepted to define all underwing nozzles and
the interface between the fueling equipment and the aircraft. I am presently Chairman of
AE-5C which will be Chaired by Pete Bufkin of Westmore starting later this year, but our
superiors are from Airbus and Boeing. SAE really is important to the industry. SAE is also
all-volunteer and we encourage you to help us. Tom Boriack is presently Chairman of the
working group working to develop a basic, foundational standard for refueler vehicle
design.

 So, Welcome to the Symposium. We have arranged the schedule to avoid conflicts with the
EI, who decided to join us all here and also have separate meetings this week. They will be
joining us tomorrow.

 One last thing. All of this is made possible by the generous contributions of the Sponsors.
As you know, we have charged no entry fee and we are all providing your breakfast,
morning and afternoon breaks and lunch both days and dinner tonight. You will not go
hungry. Representatives of the event sponsors are wearing red ribbons on their nametags
that say “sponsor” (so… if you have any complaints, that’s how you can find them! haha)
We have been honored to have this event sponsored by 28 companies and I’d like to thank
all of them for their support. Our sponsors are Engine & Accessory, Hannay Reels, Total
Control Systems, Faudi,Westmor, PecoFacet, ProFlo, OCV, Veeder-Root, SkyMark, Garsite,
Parker Velcon, Eaton Carter, LC, Meggitt, Cla-Val, Conidia, World Fuels/Ascent, Emcee
Electronics, Hewitt, PEAR, FQS, ECHA, IATA, NPMA, EI, Inspectorate and of course, Gammon
Technical.
Furthermore, SkyMark is sponsoring the open bar this evening. Funding this ourselves  is
our way (the sponsors together) of making this Symposium cost effective for you and your
companies.
Thank you for coming to the 2017 Jet Fuel Handling and Training Symposium.

 One last thing. We at Gammon Technical have worked hard to make our web site very
complete and act as an on-line catalog as well as having all of our GamGrams. Going to our
site, and I’m sure this is true of many of the other sponsors, it the best way to get the latest
and most accurate information.