The 26th annual Membrane Technology Forum (membraneforum.com) was sold out for the first time ever. The record-breaking attendance (20% from international delegates) was up 27% from 2013.

The three-day forum, held June 4 to 6 in Bloomington, Minn., marked the ninth consecutive year that Dairy Foods magazine and Filtration & Membrane World LLC have partnered to produce this one-of-a-kind event.

The forum covered fundamentals of membrane technology, fouling and cleaning as well as provided updates on new technologies, materials and applications in food processing, functional ingredients, bioactives, biotechnology, process waste water and biofuels.

On the third day, participants took guided tours of the facilities of Dow, Ecolab, GEA, GEA Power & Water, Tetra Pak and Summit Brewery.

“The vocational part of this event gives our attendees a unique chance to get up close and personal with new and existing membrane products and processes from some of the leading companies is this field,” said Sefa Koseoglu, president of Filtration & Membrane World LLC. “We would like to thank these companies for letting us within their doors; this adds a lot to the event.”

“The Membrane Tech-nology Forum is a great and unique resource for professionals in dairy, beverage, food processing, functional ingredients and the bioactives industries as much of the commercial membrane application information is not available through open literature,” said Dairy Foods Publisher Tom Imbordino. “Adding a second track allowed us to deliver over 40 presentations this year which helps show the broadening of needs in these areas.”

Industry experts came together for this annual event to share their knowledge and expertise in an interactive forum allowing participants to get the most out of their experience.

“We’ll again be expanding next year’s event with even more content and presentation choices,” Imbordino said.

 A call-for-papers, dates and location for the 2015 event will be announced soon.