AspenTech 2008 User Conferences—A Great Success!

Save the Date:
2009 AspenTech Worldwide User Conference

If you thought this year's conference was valuable, wait until you see what's planned for 2009. Click here for more information.

The 2008 AspenTech User Conferences brought together all of the user groups—AES for Engineering, ATIMUS for Information Management, and AC&O for Advanced Control & Optimization—for one all-encompassing event. These were hosted in the Americas, Europe, and across Asia-Pacific.

Here are highlights from each regional conference:

AspenTech Americas User Conference, Houston, April 7-10

The Americas User Conference had 496 attendees, including 389 customers representing 132 companies from 10 countries. Companies that presented in Houston included BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Fluor, CB&I, Bechtel, Jacobs, Worley Parsons, ENGlobal, Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips, Dow, Nova Chemicals, Evonik Degussa, Petro-Canada, Sasol, Petrobras, Process Ecology, Air Products, ANSYS, Multiphase Solutions, Schlumberger, NETL, NIST, Esteco, Alfa Laval, and more. Partners such as Microsoft, Intergraph, AVEVA, and FIATECH also presented and shared their insights in technology and industry trends. Research labs and universities were also represented. In the Engineering track alone there were over 60 customer presentations in Houston.

AspenTech European User Conference, Berlin, April 21-24

The European User Conference had 463 attendees, including 341 customers representing 110 companies from 32 countries. Several leading companies presented at the conference, including BP, Evonik Degussa, NIST, BASF, Sabic, Symyx, Sasol Synfuels, Preem Petroleum, Softbit, Technip, KBR, Fluor, ICEC, Repsol, CEPSA, Strategic Estimating Systems, ANSYS, TUV NEL, Shell, StatoilHydro, Billington Process Technology (BPT), Esteco, Aramco, INEOS, CNOOC, PSN, Burckhardt, Perstorp, CalGavin, Shell, Foster Wheeler, SGL Carbon, GS Caltex, Petrofac, Schlumberger, Petroleum Experts, and more. There was also excellent active participation by research institutions and universities. In the Engineering track alone there were over 50 customer presentations in Berlin.

At both the Americas and the European conferences, Monday was devoted to a series of tutorials and product updates for those customers who chose to arrive early. The Plenary and user sessions were held on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by optional paid training classes on Thursday.

AspenTech Asia-Pacific User Conferences

The AspenTech User Conferences in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region were held in May in various countries. These bi-annual events lived up to their promise to be engaging and highly informative. Compelling customer presentations were showcased, tip and tricks were shared to help improve business performance, aspenONE new releases and AspenTech solution roadmaps were presented, and the opportunity to network with industry peers, executives, and the AspenTech leadership team.

Mumbai, India, May 8-9

The India User Conference attracted huge interest with over 160 delegates from 39 companies, including executives from the Aditya Birla Group, BPCL, CPCL, Essar Oil, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Reliance Industries, L&T, and Tamilnadu Petroproducts. Twenty-three customers shared their success stories across various industries and application areas. The plenary session ended with an excellent forum with 6 key customer executives answering questions from the audience on the issues, challenges and opportunities facing Indian business today. Several breakout sessions were held across the remaining day and a half on Process Engineering and Manufacturing.

SE Asia - Bangkok, Thailand, May 12-13 and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 15

The Southeast Asia user conferences were held in two locations this year - Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The Bangkok event was attended by 71 delegates from 19 companies, including Chevron, Foster Wheeler, PTT Exploration & Production, SCG Chemicals and Worley Parsons. A half-day training session was also held in Bangkok where in-depth technical aspects of Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Plus topics were shared. The Malaysia event had 28 delegates from 15 companies, including Malaysian Palm Oil Board, MMC Oil & Gas Engineering, PT Titan, and Ranhill Worley Parsons.

Melbourne, Australia, May 16

The AspenTech User Conference in Australia drew 31 delegates from 21 companies including BHP Billiton, Worsley Alumina, ExxonMobil, Queensland Nitrates and Uhde Shedden. Six customer case studies were presented with plenty of networking and discussions between sessions.

Tokyo, Japan, May 20-21

The Japan User Conference was a great success with 260 customers in attendance from 104 companies. This is even more noteworthy since Tokyo and its surrounding regions had been struck that week by a typhoon. The attendees were a good mix of very high level executives to user communities representing all of AspenTech's key market segments and solutions areas. Several excellent papers were presented by Japanese customers and customers from other regions of the world. In the Plenary session, four keynote speeches were given by Ube (Japan), CEPSA (Spain), Petrobras (Brazil) and BASF (Germany). These presentations highlighted the success and benefits these customers experienced from deploying AspenTech solutions. The rest of the User Conference comprised of 10 breakout sessions with over 40 presentations in Engineering, APC, Production Management & Execution, and Supply Chain. Some of the presenting companies included Nippon Synthetic Chemicals, Tosoh, Kuraray, Asahi Kasei Chemicals, Japan Energy, JGC, Nippon Oil Engineering, JSR, GS Caltex, and NIST. In addition, there were presentations by AspenTech partners Microsoft, Fujitsu and Time Commerce.

Seoul, Korea, May 23

The Korea User Conference, also known by local customers as the 2008 AspenTech Korea Process Industry Conference (KPIC), drew an audience of 125 attendees. Many were young engineers and avid users of AspenTech solutions. There were many excellent presentations from customers, including by GS Caltex on PIMS Model Upgrade using Aspen RefSYS and Crude Manager. An interactive forum was also hosted for customers on Basic Engineering and Economic Evaluation. Other breakout sessions focused on Engineering for Operating Companies, Engineering for E&C companies, and Manufacturing & Supply Chain Management.

Hangzhou, China, May 27-28

The AspenTech China User Conference was attended by 132 customer delegates with focus on Chemicals and Refining & Marketing segments. More than one-third of the attendees were senior managers or executives from key customer companies in China. Key presentations on industry trends, best practices, research programs and roadmap were well received with positive reaction from the audience.

Customer Feedback

Overall, the 2008 AspenTech User Conferences in 9 locations worldwide were attended by nearly 1,800 customer delegates. Customer feedback was very positive as evident by these quotes:

  • "I really enjoyed presenting and discussing with your colleagues and, also, I am now aware of new AspenTech technology that we can use that can have impact in our business."
  • "I was impressed by the number of companies using Aspen HYSYS and their success."
  • "Your roadmap is really strong."
  • "I have been keeping a list of all the ideas I have picked up. I'll go back and start working on this."

©1994-2010, Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.