GMIC 2011

The Shining Inferno - A Symposium on Glass Raw Materials

Christopher Hoyle, Vice President - Technical Director, Toledo Engineering Co., Inc. - Symposium Chair

Presented by the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council

From crystal-clear containers to the skin of a new high-rise office building, glass is a transparent, uniform and attractive material. It may not be obvious that its origin is a shining inferno where a mix of various minerals dug from the ground, perhaps collected from several continents, have been fused into a new entity. This symposium details the state of the art technologies as well as the challenges to glass manufacturers in selecting and processing raw materials for glass production.

Life cycle analysis of glass as a material that competes in our society with other materials is giving new attention to our raw materials. Major suppliers of minerals will be discussing the competing market forces involved in making best use of our mineral deposits, while keeping the costs to the glassmaker reasonable. Increasing quality demands on the glass, applies pressure for increasing purity of our raw materials and increasing beneficiation of what we can dig out of the ground. New glass products, including solar cells, make it critical to reduce trace contaminants such as iron oxide or minimize their effect. Possible use of alternate materials can help reduce energy usage and the carbon footprint of our glass plants. The logistics of collecting the hundreds of tons of raw materials needed each and every day will be discussed. New environmental restrictions are also forcing us to reconsider the choice of raw materials we have traditionally used.

This is an opportunity for members of the glass industry to discuss new ideas, and rethink old approaches with informed experts.

To view speaker bios, abstracts and presentations visit our Publications Page or click here

GMIC 2010

Waste Heat Management in the Glass Industry

GMIC 2009

Energy Efficiency Workshop

Energy Efficiency in Glass Melting - Various Approaches to Energy Efficiency in Glass Furnaces

November 15, 2009

Energy Efficiency (EE) in glass melting operations continues to be of major interest to our industry!  For the second time in three years the GMIC workshop held at the conclusion of the Glass Problems Conference in Columbus, Ohio, focused on various approaches to improve the Energy Efficiency in glass furnaces.  Around 100 attendees hear 8 speakers from 4 countries presenting their ideas and experience with reducing energy. 

For more information on this workshop click here to see abstracts and speaker bios.

To order the Energy Efficiency Workshop CD download the linked order form and email it to Executive Assistant Donna Ransom at: dransom@gmic.org. 

(Tel: +1-614-523-3033) or fax it to (+1-614-818-9485).  Cost, including international postage is: $25.00 for GMIC members, and $35.00 for non-members.

GMIC 2008

Building a Sustainable Global Glass Industry Workshop

Safety - It's Too Important to be Proprietary and Alternative Energies - Addressing Rising Prices and Carbon Constraints - Two Part Workshop -

November 6, 2008

These special workshops preceded and followed the 2008 Glass Problems Conference.  Each CD contains workshop presentations in PDF format.  Click here for details and to information on how to order your CD or visit our Publications page.  Contact GMIC for pricing.

Glass Industry Sustainability

Study Published

The GMIC, with support from the DOE, has published the results of a survey conducted with U.S. and European glass industry executives.  The “Sustainability Study of U.S. and European Glass Industry – Carbon Constraints and Energy” included input from 7 U.S. and 5 European leaders.  The survey and study were carried out by Dr. Warren W. Wolf Jr., an industry consultant and former Vice President of Technology at Owens Corning and former President of the American Ceramic Society.  It identifies the primary strategic concerns held by some of the leading glass companies on both sides of the Atlantic regarding the likely impact of the climate change factors we are facing and expected increases in energy costs and reductions in availability of traditional fossil fuels.  Similarities and differences are highlighted.  The GMIC is initiating discussions with its counterparts in other countries to consider these issues.  Input from all is welcome!  Our long-term success and sustainability may well depend on our ability to work in concert globally to optimize our operations and our positive impact on the emissions and energy use through increased use of glass products in their many forms. Read more......

Delbert E. Day, Curators’ Professor Emeritus, Missouri University of Science and Technology Receives the 2010 Phoenix Award

Dr. Delbert E. Day, Curators’ Professor Emeritus, Missouri University of Science and Technology and Chief Technical Officer of Mo-Sci Corporation has become the fortieth recipient of the Phoenix Award.  The Phoenix Award is given in recognition of outstanding individuals who have made noteworthy contributions in the field of glass. 

Dr. Day received the glass industry's most prestigious award at a special banquet held in his honour at Kemolls in St. Louis, on the 17th September, 2010.  Dr. Day was unanimously selected for the award in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the glass industry.  Dr. Day said in his acceptance speech that it was a great honour not only for himself, but also for his family and for the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla) where he had enjoyed an exciting career spanning nearly 50 years.

In his career as a university teacher and researcher, Dr. Day has published more than 365 technical papers dealing with the structure, properties and uses of glass, edited three books and received 45 US and foreign patents.  Whilst a graduate at Penn State, he received a fellowship from PPG and this is where he first became aware of the potential of glass microspheres.  Dr. Day commented in his speech ‘at the time, I didn’t realize that glass microspheres would be such a large part of my career’.

Dr. Day co-invented the special purpose glass microspheres, TheraSphere™, which are now in commercial use at more than 100 sites worldwide to treat patients with inoperable liver cancer.  Dr. Day said in his speech that after 20 years of teaching he had the opportunity to become an entrepreneur and form a company to manufacture the microspheres after no existing company had shown interest.  Mo-Sci Corporation was formed and now supplies glass microspheres, special fibres and other special glass products to 1200 customers in the US, including four of the Fortune top 5 companies, and 40 foreign countries.  Mo-Sci Corporation has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Delbert E. Day joins a very distinguished list of recipients who have been recognized by the Phoenix Award Committee for their contributions to the areas of glass production, science, education and art.

The GMIC is pleased to recognize Dr. Delbert Day for this great achievement and wishes him  good fortune in future years.

“Director General” of European Glass Maker Vidrala

Javier Gutiérrez Martínez de Compañón

2009 Phoenix Award Glass

Person of the Year

Javier Gutiérrez Martínez de Compañón has been named  2009 Glass Person of the Year in recognition of his lifetime achievements in support of glass. He received the prestigious Phoenix Award at a banquet held in his honor on October 2, 2009 in his home city of Bilbao, Spain.  Mr. Gutiérrez joins a distinguished list glass industry professionals who have been recognized by The Phoenix Award Committee for their contributions to glass and the glass industry.

Mr. Gutiérrez was unanimously selected for The Phoenix Award® in recognition of the commercial growth and technological innovations of the European container glassmaker, Vidrala.  Since graduating from university, Mr. Gutiérrez has spent his entire career at Vidrala, where he has been Technical Director and is now Director General.  Under his management, Vidrala has gone from a small, single facility container manufacturer to a leading European container group with 6 factories in 4 countries. 

The GMIC is pleased to recognize Mr. Gutiérrez for this great achievement and wishes him and Vidrala good fortune in future years.

Phoenix Award Committee Announces

John Gallo

2008 Phoenix Award Recipient

Berkley Springs, West Virginia – Phoenix Award Committee Chairman, Paul Guttmann, formally announced that John Gallo, Vice President of Gallo Glass, is the recipient of the prestigious 2008 Phoenix Award.

The Phoenix Award Committee every year selects a person, now living, with a noteworthy career and who has made extraordinary contributions to the glass industry.

The award will be presented to Mr. Gallo at a black-tie award banquet at The Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco, CA, September 26, 2008.

For decades, John Gallo has brought strong leadership to Gallo Glass. He has devoted himself to reinforcing a dynamic company culture where the success of the company is grounded in embracing new technology and in each employee’s commitment to excellence. Mr. Gallo believes in industry wide collaboration and has shared his insights, ideas and his management style with his suppliers as well as other glass manufacturers, and worked closely with them to develop continuous improvements of their processes.

Technical and Economic Assessment (TEA) Available at GMIC

-October 2004

The long-awaited overview of the glass industry has been published and is available from the GMIC.  "Glass Melting Technology: a Technical and Economic Assessment", was first distributed at the recent Glass Problems Conference in Columbus, Ohio.  Written by Phil Ross and Gabe Tincher, and edited by Margaret Rasmussen, the document outlines the major technical and economic challenges that face the U.S. glass industry.  It provides substantial data to suggest how these challenges might be met to fortify glass manufacturing by addressing broad industry concerns as well as concerns that face individual industry segments.  You can order the TEA from the GMIC by sending a check made payable to GMIC for $15 add $6.50 for shipping n the U.S. and $13 for shipment to non-U.S. addresses. 

You may download the entire document free of charge by clicking here.

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