Have Your Say! Our Call for Speakers and Topics is OPEN.
Lubricant Expo and The Bearing Show North America invites you to register your interest to speak, or to submit your suggestions for speakers and topics, at the 2027 edition of the event.
March 9–10, 2027 | Hall D, George R. Brown Convention Center | Houston, Texas
The conference brings together technical and commercial leaders, innovators, and decision-makers from the automotive, industrial, energy, heavy machinery, aerospace and defense sectors to discuss the technologies and strategies shaping the future of lubrication, tribology, and bearing performance.
For its 2027 edition, the show moves to Houston. As the center of the North American energy industry and a hub for base oil production, chemical distribution, and Gulf Coast refining, Houston positions the event closer to the heart of the lubricants supply chain. The move also opens the program to a wider set of mission-critical end-user sectors — defense and space, data center infrastructure, mining, and construction — where lubrication and bearing reliability are increasingly central to uptime, safety, and operating cost.
This year’s themes include but are not limited to:
- Base Oils — Supply, Pricing, and the Shifting Group Landscape: Group III supply security and price volatility; the shift from Group I to Group II and III; re-refined base oils (RRBO) entering mainstream formulation; and what wider feedstock choice means for buyers.
- Sustainability, Carbon Footprint, and the Circular Economy: product carbon footprint (PCF) measurement and reporting; lifecycle analysis and carbon accounting; the commercial case for re-refined and renewable feedstocks; and how sustainability holds up under cost pressure.
- Regulation and Compliance: PFAS restriction and regulatory pressure; evolving specifications and standards; and the operational impact of compliance on formulation and product availability.
- Additive Technology and New Specifications: additive innovation (such as nanotechnology), performance testing, and new specifications across automotive and industrial applications.
- Powertrain Diversity and the Future of Mobility: fluid development across ICE, hybrid, and electric powertrains in on- and off-road applications.
- Supply Chain Resilience and Chemical Distribution: building a resilient North American supply chain; the impact of geopolitics and trade policy; and consolidation in chemical distribution.
- Metalworking Fluids and Industrial Growth: MWF formulation, performance, and application; sustainability and worker-safety considerations; and supporting North American industrial expansion.
- Condition Monitoring, Reliability, and Maintenance: oil analysis, predictive maintenance, and condition monitoring; optimizing equipment reliability through lubricant selection; and reducing unplanned downtime.
End-User Sector Spotlights
Reflecting the move to Houston, the 2027 program will give dedicated attention to the lubrication, tribology, and bearing challenges of high-growth, mission-critical sectors:
- Defense and Space: tribology for U.S. defense and space systems; PFAS-free lubricants and greases for aerospace and defense applications; bearing health monitoring for autonomous and uncrewed systems; lubrication for satellites, launch systems, and the new space economy; and how defense-grade technologies transfer across extreme environments.
- Mining: predictive maintenance and oil analysis; reliability and the cost of unplanned downtime in heavy-duty operations.
- Construction: automated and centralized lubrication; lubrication’s impact on equipment uptime and profitability; and addressing premature bearing failures, hydraulic system failures, contamination-related wear, and poor lubrication practices.
- Data Centers: the convergence of lubrication and thermal management; bearing reliability in cooling infrastructure; lubrication challenges in liquid-cooled and immersion-cooled facilities; smart bearings and predictive maintenance; coolant health monitoring and fluid analytics; and PFAS-free cooling and lubrication technologies.
The deadline to submit your proposal 30 September 2026. All submissions will be reviewed within 6–8 weeks of this deadline at the latest. The full agenda will be published early January.
Selection Criteria
Please note our conference is programmed based on extensive desk and phone research done with our audience and advisory board. All speaking slots are allocated based on relevance and merit. It is not possible to ‘book’ a slot.
As this is a free to attend conference made possible with the valued support of our exhibitors, we will do our best to include as many of you as possible but please take note of the following selection criteria:
- Sales / product pitches are not permitted – we want to make this a constructive and enlightening conversation around shared challenges and developments and in our experience, those sharing thought leadership will garner the best response from the audience.
- Original content: we strive to offer our attendees fresh content and perspectives every year, your submission is more likely to be accepted if you put forward original content that has not previously been presented at other events.
- Repeat speakers: although we appreciate your valued contribution to last year’s event, we try and limit the number of repeat speakers
- We give priority to speakers that fit the following speaker profile:
- End-Users / Buyers of lubricants and bearings
- Seniority: director level or above
- Job functions: R&D, Purchasing/Sourcing/Procurement, Scientist, Engineer/technical/design, Owner/CEO/President/GM, Project Management, Engineer/technical/design, Facilities/maintenance manager, Operations, Project Management, Purchasing/Sourcing/Procurement