From the Editor Lynn Postle – With a heartfelt need to future proof the industry as our companies and those working in them adapt to an ever changing world, the Institute has placed sustainability at the centre of discussions at this year’s UK IRE Annual Conference.

Taking place on 13 November in Derbyshire, the annual conference event will challenge existing concepts and highlight the importance of adapting materials, processes, products and consumables to be ‘greener’ as we strive for a low carbon way of living. The call for contributions is on, so interested parties should contact secretary@ireng.org now to discover how best to get involved – as a presenter, sponsor or delegate. This is your opportunity to engage with fellow IRE members and the wider industry at what is fast becoming a premier event for the refractories sector. Also, the IRE Training Day will continue the tradition of offering enhanced skills development on the day after the conference.

In addition, the IRE- Australasia 2024 Conference – to be held in Sydney, Australia on 8-10 December – will focus on refractory innovations in the Asia-Pacific area. It follows the success of the 2023  conference and offers a sounding board for delegates from the region and further afield. In support of the need to highlight the professionalism and development of the global refractories sector, this issue of The Refractories Engineer is also full of news of innovations and sustainable engineering taking place in our sector. One such ‘hot topic’ is the growth of the use of hydrogen and in particular green hydrogen, which is why we place the spotlight on this matter in this issue. As the song goes: “the times, they are a-changing”, let’s not get left behind!

Whether you have a comment about the journal or want to get more involved at regional, national or international level, there is plenty the IRE can offer, so visit the website or give us a call to see how you can get even more out of your involvement with our fast growing organisation. Collectively, we will be more than capable of embracing the challenges our “new world” demands of us.

In the meantime, happy reading. Find out more at https://www.ireng.org/the-refractories-engineer-journal/ and content includes:

• Message from the President
• Australasian Update
• IRE Australasian Conference 2024
• Industry News
• International Events Diary
• Supplier News
• End User Industry News
• General News
• Energy Supply and Efficiency
• Growth of Hydrogen
• Technical Paper

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