PM columnist Julius Ballanco was awarded the honor of "Best Technical Presentation" at the CIB W62 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in September. Ballanco's presentation was titled "Violently Fracturing Toilets."

The conference is a gathering of plumbing researchers from around the world and was held at Heriot-Watt University.

Ballanco had been invited as a presenter by Prof. John Swaffield, head of the deptartment of building engineering at Heriot-Watt University and one of the foremost plumbing researchers in the world.

According to one conference attendee, "Julius was the only American invited to present a paper at the conference. There was a great deal of interest in his topic and his presentation was exceptionally well received."