More than 5,400 manufacturing professionals from around the country descended on the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston last week for the biennial HOUSTEX event, held February 26-28. There, visitors interacted with more than 280 exhibiting companies occupying 65,610 square feet of exhibit space.
Offering attendees an interactive experience engineered to educate, connect and solve, HOUSTEX 2019, produced by SME and AMT, built upon its legacy with a refreshed program of workshops, networking events, free educational presentations and an expanded show floor. Visitors had the opportunity to experience the latest—from additive manufacturing to robotics, machining centers to welding, and dozens of technologies in between.
One new feature this year was the SME ZONE, the “nerve center” for everything happening at the event. There, attendees could catch keynotes, panel discussions and industry experts at the theater, see the next generation of manufacturers at the Student Summit, network with fellow attendees and exhibitors during hosted events, and learn more about SME.
Growing Through Education
Not just looking to connect buyers and sellers, the show made education a priority, kicking off with a keynote on Feb. 26 on how to get started in automation and why, presented by Matt Tyler, president and CEO, Vickers Engineering, and Corey Carolla, vice president, corporate development, Red Rabbit Automation. Founded in 2017, Red Rabbit Automation is a spinoff of Vickers Engineering, Inc., Troy, Mich.