Nabil Nasr to attend International Resource Panel

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A. Sue Weisler

Nabil Nasr, associate provost and director of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, is attending the 13th International Resource Panel and its steering committee meeting from Nov. 4 to 8 in Naivasha, Kenya.

Rochester Institute of Technology will be well represented at two significant sustainability and remanufacturing gatherings occurring early this month.

Nabil Nasr, associate provost and director of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, will attend the 13^thInternational Resource Panel and its steering committee meeting from Nov. 4 to 8 in Naivasha, Kenya, near Nairobi.

Kenya’s State Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program, is co-organizing the panel, which comprises international experts working on issues that include sustainable consumption and production, socio-economic policies and trade. Steering committee members include representatives from government, private sector, academia and U.N. agencies.

“This international expert panel guides the U.N. on its environmental priorities as well as opportunities for cooperation between governmental and non-governmental initiatives,” says Nasr.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery is presenting three short courses during the 2013 International Big R Show, sponsored by the Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association. Held in Las Vegas, the show, which ends Nov. 4, is the most widely recognized event in the remanufacturing industry.

Eugene Park, assistant director of technical programs at the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, is presenting a seminar on advanced cleaning techniques, a unique process in remanufacturing. The current challenges for “cleaning” remanufactured automotive components include the need to reduce costs, the increased number of electric and electromechanical components, and the need to meet new federal and state environmental regulations.

Mike Haselkorn, a senior staff engineer and research faculty member at GIS, is presenting about opportunities for remanufacturers with automotive technology rapidly changing—including the growing popularity of hybrid vehicles. In addition to providing an overview of vehicle trends and how these trends will result in new opportunities for remanufacturers, Haselkorn is discussing conventional and new remanufacturing processes and how they can be applied to vehicle parts remanufacturing.

Haselkorn also is presenting a remanufacturing short course on the recovery of valuable components from failed products, including how companies must take advantage of any technologies that can ensure greater recovery opportunities and enhanced quality of products. He also is discussing how the ability to identify critical failures, without destroying the components, is a key requirement for all remanufacturers.