The Natural Refrigeration

Welcome IIAR members and guests to the 48th IIAR conference, and welcome to San Antonio. While we’re still two years away from our truly historic 50th anniversary, I’d argue we’re entitled to start celebrating now. So much of the work we, and IIAR’s past leaders, have put into advancing natural refrigeration, is paying off these days. And so much of that work began each year, right here at our annual conference. I’m honored to kick off yet another week of goal setting, moving big projects forward, meeting new and old friends, and spotting the new opportunities that several decades of work on behalf of our industry has materialized.

First, I want to highlight the importance of that technical and advocacy work – and encourage anyone who gets the chance to attend our committee meetings on Sunday – to go! As an IIAR member, you can get directly involved in the work of our organization. Our biggest strength is your talent. Whether it’s technical expertise, new viewpoints or a particular skillset you can contribute, IIAR committees need your time and volunteer leadership.

This year, our NRF lounge will be open again, this time throughout the conference, continuing a tradition started last year to help our NRF scholarship recipients’ network and highlight the exciting research work being advanced by our foundation. Meanwhile, our IIAR staff will be showcasing a new conference scheduling structure they’ve worked hard to create this year – which allows for several chances to see the same session. This will allow for more time in the exhibit hall and more time to really get the most out of our technical program.

The standout technical session this year will be our closing forum, in an interactive format that’s a new addition to the conference. If there’s anything you ever wanted to know about IIAR’s standards, this closing session will be the place to be. We’ll have the subcommittees and current leads on all our standards present to take questions, give perspective and even challenge the audience. Answers to all your questions (and prizes to be won in the process) are on deck!

If you’re an end user with people in technical fields who need to understand IIAR’s role or just a member passionate about our standards, this will be a great event to use to educate or be educated on the work IIAR is doing in our industry.

As usual, our opening keynote session merits some discussion. Delivered this year by evolutionary biologist and stress expert, Dr. Rebecca Heiss, the talk will focus on how to attract and retain talent in the competitive world of work.

And of course, no welcome message would be complete without mentioning our social outing, which I am especially excited about this year. Make sure you don’t miss Pedrottis Ranch where you can brush up on your rodeo skills or just enjoy the live music under a canopy of Texas live oak trees.

I want to give a huge shoutout to your IIAR staff whose hard work makes this gathering possible. Welcome to San Antonio and enjoy the conference!

Best Regards, Lesley Schafer 2026 Conference Chair