9th Annual Conference on End-to-End 3D Had 850 Participants, 60 Exhibitors, 100 presenters
April 19, 2012 (The Woodlands, TX) – More than 850 3D innovators convened in the Woodlands, Texas for the 9th annual SPAR International Conference on End-to-End 3D. The participants came from throughout the United States and 30 countries for a 4-day immersion into the latest trends on 3D laser scanning and imaging technologies. The conference program had 5 tracks – Industrial Facilities, Civil Transportation & Building, New Technologies, Security Planning & Law Enforcement, and Digital Historic Preservation—and more than 100 presenters, all experts in their respective fields. The exhibit hall featured more than 60 exhibitors, a record for SPAR, and included all the leading hardware manufacturers, software suppliers and service providers. The 16 new exhibitors included 3 companies from France, 1 from Israel, 1 from Belgium, 1 from India and 2 from the United Kingdom. Additionally, 9 universities exhibited to showcase their latest research. SPAR International took place April 15-18, 2012 at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center.
Lisa Murray, Director of SPAR International, said the growth of the event is testament to the growing use of 3D technology to work better, faster, safer and smarter. “Attendance is up by more than 100 people over last year,” said Murray. “There’s a real excitement about 3D technology and SPAR is at the heart of it.”
In opening remarks to a packed audience, Murray encouraged participants to take full advantage of all SPAR has to offer. She invited them to speak with presenters, staff and advisory board members, reach out to fellow attendees, scour the exhibits, attend live demonstrations and social events, and soak up information about the very latest 3D technologies. Following her remarks, keynoters Dr. Phil Manning (Head of Palaeontology Research Group, University of Manchester) and Abe Reichental (President & CEO, 3D Systems Corporation) delighted the audience by sharing diverse and fascinating uses of 3D imaging: Dr. Manning, to determine the physical characteristics of dinosaurs; Abe Reichental, to print in 3D (including a chess rook his 3D printer spat out during his remarks). Keynoter Lawrie Jordan (Director of Imagery, Esri), talked about bringing multi-sensor point information beyond 3D and into the cloud. (Video of the keynotes is available here.)
The break-out sessions covered topics as diverse as “Scanning after a disaster,” “As-built BIMs: Creating new opportunities in the construction sector,” “Integrating short and long range ground-based laser scanning and airborne LiDAR,” “Using a hand-held 3D imager in crime scene investigations,” and “3D digitization at the Smithsonian Institution.” Perhaps the best-attended session was “Next generation photogrammetry,” which had attendees questioning how much accuracy they really need and what the data will be used for—and whether the use of photogrammetry, in certain situations, could fit the bill.
Full event information, including SPAR 3D Executive Editor Sam Pfeifle’s video blog, is available on www.SPARPointGroup.com.
The next SPAR International will take place April 15-18, 2013 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The next event in the SPAR 3D portfolio is SPAR Japan (June 5 & 6, 2012 in Kawasaki, Japan) followed by SPAR Europe (12-14 November 2012 in The Hague, The Netherlands).
About SPAR 3D and Diversified Business Communication
SPAR 3D (www.SPARPointGroup.com) investigates and reports on 3D scanning, imaging and position capture technologies used to improve the productivity, quality, safety and risk profile of engineering, fabrication, construction and manufacturing operations. Wholly-owned by Diversified Business Communications, the company’s annual SPAR conferences in the United States, Europe and Japan attract project managers, engineering and technical leads, industrial metrologists and surveyors, security and law enforcement professionals and experts in historic preservation and documentation. The events showcase new data capture and processing technologies used for 3D surveying and dimensional control for work on offshore platforms, nuclear power plant modifications, refinery revamps, discrete and process manufacturing, transportation, building and civil infrastructure projects, historic preservation as well as forensic investigations and security planning.
SPAR 3D () investigates and reports on 3D scanning, imaging and position capture technologies used to improve the productivity, quality, safety and risk profile of engineering, fabrication, construction and manufacturing operations. Wholly-owned by Diversified Business Communications, the company’s annual SPAR conferences in the United States, Europe and Japan attract project managers, engineering and technical leads, industrial metrologists and surveyors, security and law enforcement professionals and experts in historic preservation and documentation. The events showcase new data capture and processing technologies used for 3D surveying and dimensional control for work on offshore platforms, nuclear power plant modifications, refinery revamps, discrete and process manufacturing, transportation, building and civil infrastructure projects, historic preservation as well as forensic investigations and security planning.
Diversified Business Communications, based in Portland, Maine, USA, provides information and market access through face-to-face events, magazine publishing, and online resources on four continents. Diversified serves a number of industries including: technology, commercial marine, oil & gas, and business management. Diversified operates divisions in Australia, Hong Kong, India, the UK and Canada. For more information, visit: www.divbusiness.com.
