International Lightning Safety Day

Building Resiliency Before the Storm

Lightning doesn't wait. In an era of rapid electrification… where cities across North America are
connecting more systems, more buildings, and more communities to an expanding electrical grid
- a single lightning strike can do far more than damage one structure. It can trigger a cascading failure
across interconnected systems: knocking out a hospital's power, corrupting a data center's
operations, shutting down an industrial facility, and leaving entire communities vulnerable in the
moments they need reliability most.

Resiliency is being proactive.

It's making decisions before a storm arrives...in the design room,
the engineering office, and the policy meeting.

Come ready to learn. Leave ready to build resiliency.

Texas is at the forefront of this challenge. With one of the fastest growing
portfolios of data centers, healthcare facilities, high-rise
commercial buildings, and industrial infrastructure in the nation,
the need to assess, design, and build with lightning and surge
protection in mind has never been more urgent.
But this isn't a Texas issue alone.

Building resiliency is imperative for North America. As
electrification expands and critical systems grow more
interdependent, the question isn't whether your infrastructure will
face a lightning risk. It's whether it's been built to survive one.

This conference exists to answer that question.

Bringing together engineers, architects, facility managers, and
community leaders, the ILSD Houston Conference provides the
framework for understanding lightning risk, applying national and
international protection standards, and designing infrastructure
that protects not just one building — but the systems and
communities that depend on it.

International Lightning Safety Day is observed each year on June 28th - a date chosen to honor
and remember a devastating tragedy. On June 28, 2011, a single lightning strike at Runyanya
Primary School in the Kiryandongo district of Uganda killed eighteen pupils and a teacher,
hospitalizing thirty-eight more. A block of classrooms was destroyed and later abandoned. It was
a loss that shook families, an entire community, and ultimately the world.

That incident catalyzed the international lightning safety community. In September 2011, the
NAM Science & Technology Centre convened global experts in Kathmandu, Nepal - bringing
together scientists, engineers, and safety advocates for the first time around this shared cause.
A successor meeting in Uganda in 2013 led to the formation of ACLENet, the African Centers for
Lightning and Electromagnetics Network. In August 2015, at ACLENet's Second Scientific
Symposium in Lusaka, Zambia, delegates from 17 countries unanimously resolved to declare
June 28th as International Lightning Safety Day — formally adopted on August 13, 2015.

ILSD is both a commemoration of the young lives lost at Runyanya and a reminder of our
collective mission: to reduce deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning worldwide.

Join us in Houston, TX on June 26th

University of Houston Clear Lake, Pearland Campus

Your Guides for the Day

Hosts and Speakers

Dr. Shriram Sharma, PhD
Aegis Flash Solutions

Kelley Collins
Lightning Protection Institute

Lightning Protection University

Presenting Speakers

Masato Ito

Bryan Holland

Mitchell Guthrie

Ron Hotchkiss

Chris Vagasky, CDM

Mary Ann Cooper, MD

SPONSORS

Presenting Sponsor

ILSD Advocacy Partners

Supporting Sponsor