AcuTech Is Headed to Houston for the 2026 AIChE Spring Meeting & 22nd GCPS
The 2026 AIChE Spring Meeting and 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety is just around the corner. The AcuTech team is excited to be heading to Houston, Texas for what promises to be another outstanding week for the process safety community. The conference runs April 12–16, 2026, at the Hilton of the Americas and the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Visit Us at Booth #718
Our team will be on the exhibit floor throughout the conference at Booth #718. We invite you to stop by to meet our consultants, discuss your current process safety and security challenges, and learn more about AcuTech’s full suite of services. These include process hazard analysis and quantitative risk assessment, PSM/RMP audits, mechanical integrity, reactive hazards, fire protection, functional safety, and cybersecurity for industrial control systems. Whether you have a specific project in mind or just want to reconnect, we’d love to see you.
Can’t make it to Houston? Reach out to us here on our site. We’re always happy to connect.
AcuTech Presentations at the 22nd GCPS
Our team will be delivering six presentations and presenting one poster across a wide range of process safety topics. Here’s a preview of what we’ll be sharing:
Unrecognized Hazards in Ammonia Refrigeration Relief Scenarios (98b)
Monday, April 13
11:00–11:30 AM
Room 370, GRB
Presented by Colin Armstrong, Principal Engineer & Group Leader, Quantitative Risk Services
Anhydrous ammonia is the most common PSM/RMP-regulated chemical in the United States. Yet guidance for safely siting atmospheric relief discharges in ammonia refrigeration systems remains limited. Using the 2024 Cuisine Solutions incident in Sterling, VA as a case study you will see how dispersion modeling allowed Colin to examine the conditions under which a pressure relief valve discharge can return to grade or be drawn into building wake effects, and what that means for personnel safety.
Confined Explosion Hazards in Enclosed Process Buildings: A Recognized Risk with Limited Guidance (31a)
Monday, April 13
4:00–4:30 PM
Room 371, GRB
Presented by Colin Armstrong, Principal Engineer & Group Leader, Quantitative Risk Services
Confined explosions are responsible for at least 20 fatalities, 123 injuries, and billions of dollars in damages in the U.S. since 1998. This represents roughly 10% of all CSB-reported fatalities. Yet PHAs and QRAs frequently fail to adequately assess this risk category. This presentation introduces a lessons-learned framework based on analysis of CSB-investigated confined explosion incidents from 1998 to 2025, with a goal of improving modeling practices and standardizing confined explosion assessment.
KISS-Ing Process Safety Incidents Goodbye: Practical Solutions for Common Problems (24at) — Poster
Monday, April 13
5:30–7:00 PM
Exhibit Hall B3, GRB
Presented by Felicia Miller, Principal Engineer
Grounded in the KISS principle, this poster presentation identifies ten common process safety vulnerabilities. It pairs each with straightforward, often low-cost, solutions drawn from real audit and field experience across chemical, refining, and pharmaceutical operations.
Lessons Learned: Implementing Effective Process Safety Management Programs in Chemical Startups (71b)
Tuesday, April 14
8:30–9:00 AM
Room 360, GRB
Presented by Felicia Miller, Senior Principal Engineer, and Christina Wyatt, Ascend Elements
Chemical startups in sectors like green chemistry, energy storage, and sustainable materials face distinct PSM challenges, from limited process safety information during PHAs to building a safety culture from scratch. This presentation identifies seven key challenges and offers practical, actionable lessons learned for professionals implementing or supporting PSM programs in startup environments.
Have Facilitation Skills – Will Travel (133b)
Tuesday, April 14
8:30–9:00 AM
Room 371, GRB
Presented by David Heller, Senior Principal Engineer
What does it take to lead a PHA on kelp harvesting, munitions destruction, or nanoparticle production? An experienced facilitator shouldn’t be limited by industry. David explores the technical and interpersonal skills that allow practitioners to lead effective hazard analyses across unfamiliar processes. He will discuss how you can develop and apply those skills throughout your career.
Beyond a PHA: Using QRA and FTA to Evaluate Complex Hazards (146a)
Tuesday, April 14
10:30–11:00 AM
Room 361, GRB
Presented by Rich MacNguyen, Senior Engineer, Quantitative Risk Services
This presentation offers a practical decision framework for escalating from PHA to QRA and FTA when hazard complexity demands it. Three real-world case studies illustrate how advanced quantitative methods captured risks that qualitative approaches could not, including ignition scenario analysis at a hazardous manufacturing facility, flare system overload risk, and confined explosion hazards in a hydrogenation reactor.
Process Safety 101 – Introduction to Technical Aspects of Process Safety (198) — Session Co-Chair
Wednesday, April 15
10:30 AM–12:00 PM
Room 371, GRB
Felicia Miller, Principal Engineer, is co-chairing this session alongside Freeman Self (Bechtel) and Michelle Pfahles (LanXess). The session is designed to provide engineers newer to process safety with clear, accessible introductions to foundational technical disciplines. It will cover control and interlock design, emergency relief systems, hazardous area classification, QRA, and chemical reaction hazards.
Diamond Sponsorship & Conference Backpacks
AcuTech is proud to participate again this year as a Diamond Sponsor of the conference. We are also honored to sponsor the official conference backpacks for the 17th consecutive year — a tradition we’re proud to continue as a small but tangible way of supporting the event and the practitioners who attend it.
We Look Forward to Seeing You in Houston
The Global Congress on Process Safety is one of the most important gatherings of our professional community. Each year we leave energized by the conversations, the knowledge shared, and the relationships renewed.
We hope to see you at our presentations, at our booth, or simply in the hallways of the GRB.
If you’d like to schedule a meeting with a member of our team in advance of the conference, contact us here.