FILTCON25 Honors Excellence & HIGHLIGHTS R&D

By Caryn Smith, Chief Content Officer & Publisher, IFN

The American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) held its annual FILTCON Conference in April, with Louisville, KY as the host city. The event did not disappoint, and it began with the opportunity to take two industry tours to Microbac Laboratories and GE FirstBuild, as well as the annual installment of the AFS Filtration Short Course. An opening networking reception followed the tours and coursework.

The two full conference days included over 25 themed sessions, a robust exposition of 20 vendors from various sectors of the filtration and separation supply chain, and a presentation of AFC’s prestigious awards and annual student poster sessions rounded out the event.

Awards for Excellence

Dr. Eunkyoung Shim, Ph.D. Fiber and Polymer Science was awarded the 2025 Frank Tiller Award – For Leadership in Engineering and Education. Dr. Shim earned a Ph.D. from the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University in Fiber & Polymer Science in 1991.

Dr. Shim joined The Nonwovens Institute in 2006 as a Research Assistant Professor and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science. Named in honor of Dr. Frank Tiller, the internationally acclaimed “Father of Modern Filtration Theory” and key founding member of the AFS, this award highlights scientific merit. The Tiller Award recognizes individuals for outstanding lifetime scientific and engineering achievements in the Technology of FluidParticle Separation.

Other esteemed awardees included: • Wells Shoemaker Award – For service & leadership in action: Saravanan Andan, PhD.

• Senior Scientist – For Significant Contributions to the Technology of Filtration and Separation: Kaiyi Liu, PhD.

• Prof. George Chase Award – For Excellence in Academic Research: Sneha Swaminathan, PhD.

Celebrating the Next Generation

FILTCON25 Student Poster Competition celebrated the next generation of filtration and separation innovators. The top posters awarded were (see photo on page 44): 1st Place: Moni Mahesh Ghosh, The University of Akron; 2nd Place: Pranto Paul, University of Kentucky; 3rd Place (Tie): Cecilia Abella, University of Hawaii at Manoa and Youngwoo Hwang, North Carolina State University. Honorable Mentions included Samuel Thompson (University of Kentucky), Mara Baughman-Leach (University of Kentucky), and Usman Yousaf (University of Kentucky).

Career in Filtration Roundtable

AFS held the first-ever insightful and engaging “Career in Filtration” Industry Roundtable, where students could connect with industry professionals and learn about exciting career paths in academia and industry.

The conversation focused on the diverse opportunities within the filtration and separation field, emphasizing the importance of strong communication skills, collaboration, and innovation. From research and development to real-world applications, the panelists shared valuable advice for students seeking to impact the industry.

Science and Innovation on Display

Session tracks included topics on emerging contaminants, wastewater treatment, automotive, technologies for gaseous pollutants removal, biopharma and carbon capture, standards and testing, and developments in membrane filtration.

One session bringing a new topic to the conference was from Jialong Shen, a Research Faculty at North Carolina State University, who presented “Carbonic Anhydrase Immobilized Textile Gas-Liquid Contactor for C02 Capture.” Shen shared how reactive absorption effectively captures CO2 at atmospheric pressure, which