HOUSTON — With its newly established formal standing, the first Latin American affiliate of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers is preparing to host its first symposium in Mexico City next month.
Society officials from Mexico and the United States say the event, the International Symposium of Reliability and Energetic Triboefficiency, will showcase the chief contribution of the Mexico Section – its role in bringing lubrication information to a local audience in its native language.
The society, based in Park Ridge, Ill., recognized the Mexico section a year ago but the affiliate had to incorporate to comply with Mexican tax law. It did so last month.
The symposium will be held June 18-21 at the Technological Museum of the Federal Commission of Electricity and will feature presentations by Mexican and American speakers, with simultaneous translation. Making information available in Spanish is the main benefit of the section, according to Francisco Avila, general coordinator.
The advantage is clear to us – language, he said. There are many people interested in the field but they can’t read or speak English. With this new section they will be able to [access tribology information] in their own language and [interact] with Latin people who are more receptive in regard to their culture and the needs that arise from it.
The section currently consists mostly of lubrication industry professionals and academics but hopes to attract lubricant end users, too. STLE Executive Director Ed Salek said it also expects to serve as a springboard for creation of more sections in Mexico and, in the long term, other Latin America countries.
I got the sense that longer term is not really that far in the future, he said.
Information about the Mexico section is available at 52 (555) 645-5756 or in Spanish at www.stle-ia.org.