SARPA Conference 2026, themed 'Nucleation', runs 6-8 August 2026 at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre — the inaugural conference under the rebranded Society for Alloy Research, Production and Applications (formerly Casting Technology New Zealand).
SARPA Conference 2026, themed "Nucleation", runs 6-8 August 2026 at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. The dates and venue are confirmed on both the organiser's own site and Te Pae's official What's On listing, which links directly back to the SARPA page.
The conference is staged by SARPA NZ, the Society for Alloy Research, Production and Applications, formerly known as Casting Technology New Zealand (CTNZ). The organiser describes SARPA as New Zealand's premier metal casting and application industry society, with more than 50 years of history and 100-plus active members, chaired by Murray Speed. The 2026 edition is positioned as the inaugural conference under the new SARPA identity, marking the society's rebrand from CTNZ.
The audience is metal and alloy industry professionals, spanning foundry, casting, research and academia. The three-day programme features keynotes from Dr Daniel Miracle (US Air Force scientist and former President of TMS) and Professor Derek Warner (University of Canterbury), alongside speakers from the University of New South Wales, FoundryLab, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Bluebox Technical. The schedule pairs technical presentations with an industry tour, a quiz night, the SARPA AGM and a heritage banquet. The conference is deliberately timed to run ahead of PRICM-12 on the Gold Coast (9-13 August 2026), giving delegates a linked trans-Tasman materials-science circuit.
Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre sits at 188 Oxford Terrace in the central city, on the banks of the Avon River within Christchurch's compact CBD. The purpose-built venue is walkable to a dense cluster of city-centre hotels and is a short drive from Christchurch Airport, which carries domestic and trans-Tasman services. That combination of a fit-for-purpose central venue with walkable accommodation is a recurring reason organisers cite for choosing Te Pae.
A sector body rebranding and running its first conference under a new name at a tier-one convention centre is a healthy signal for New Zealand's association-events pipeline, and the deliberate alignment with an Australian materials conference shows how NZ associations are structuring events to capture trans-Tasman academic and industry delegates.
Cited links supporting this report.
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