Monday the 4th of May at University of Kentucky Centre for Applied Energy Research (CAER) Nashville, Tennessee marked the beginning of the World of Coal Ash Conference 2015 (WOCA15). The theme of the Conference was once again ‘Science, Applications and Sustainability of Fly Ash’, which explored the changing business environment of fly ash across the world.  The American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) in conjunction with The University of Kentucky hosted the conference for the construction materials industry. 

Craig Heidrich represented the Ash Development Association of Australia during the Conference where interested parties took advantage of valuable opportunities to meet with suppliers, peers, customers and friends to solve problems both local and global.  

The Conference highlights included:
•    192 Presentations over 15 topics
•    900+ Delegates networking, listening and learning from the best in the field
•    35 Sponsors
•    100 presentations about Waste Management, Cement & Concrete and Pond Management.  

A number of awards were also presented to delegates for their contributions and presentations at the Conference. We were lucky enough to have an Australian win the award for “Most Outstanding Student Oral Presentation" at WOCA 2015. Ali Kiani, from the University of Newcastle Callaghan, NSW presented on Upgrading of Cenospheres in Fly Ash using as series of Inverted Reflux Classifiers. 

Other awards from the Conference included:
•    Best Technical Paper presented at WOCA 2015: Angela Pakes Ahlman
•    Best Technical Poster presentation at WOCA 2015: Asokan Pappu
•    Most Outstanding Student Poster presentation at WOCA 2015: Jenet Hattaway
•    Most Outstanding Student Oral presentation at WOCA 2015: Maria Amaya
•    Midwest Coal Ash Association Stipend Awardees
     o    Maria Amaya – The Ohio State University
     o    Sarah Dillon – Tennessee Technical University
     o    Madison Hood – University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research
     o    Qian Zhang – Indiana University