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For years, the cleaning and restoration industry has operated largely on experience, instinct, and hard-won field knowledge. The Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) is working to add something to that foundation: science.

On September 28-29, 2026, CIRI will host its first Science Symposium at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas—a two-day event designed to close the gap between laboratory research and the technicians doing the work every day. Registration is open now at ciriscience.org.

“It’s all about how we can get the information that the research is being done on to the technicians in the field and make it understandable,” said CIRI Chairman Kevin Pearson, who also serves on the IICRC board. “The science is great, but how do you apply it? That’s really what this symposium is all about.”

A new home for an important mission

CIRI has a history worth knowing. The organization was founded with a straightforward but ambitious goal: to root cleaning practice in evidence-based science and measurable outcomes. After a period of uncertainty at the end of 2024, IICRC stepped in to bring CIRI under its umbrella — a move Pearson had advocated for years earlier during his tenure as IICRC chairman.

Since then, CIRI has published two issues of the Journal of Cleaning Science, rebuilt its organizational structure, and is now staging its first major public event. Pearson, who has served on the IICRC board for 15 years, is chairing the effort with the same straightforward lens he applies to everything: how does this actually affect someone in the field?

“I really enjoy seeing the cool research that comes out and thinking about how it could have affected me when I had my cleaning and restoration company,” Pearson said. “That’s what I come back to, how does this apply?”

Who will be in the room

The speaker lineup is unlike anything the industry has seen at a single event. Researchers from Yale, the University of Toronto, Berkeley Labs, NIST, and institutions in Australia are confirmed to attend — not just to present, but to engage directly with attendees throughout both days.

Sessions will cover smoke and fire restoration, mold, water damage, and adjacent disciplines. One presenter will address how NASA approaches cleaning aboard the International Space Station. Another will explore the restoration of fine art damaged by fire or Category 3 water — a niche that turns out to have significant crossover with restoration science.

For attendees who do hands-on fire or mold work, Pearson’s advice is simple: come with questions.

“If you do a lot of fire restoration work or a lot of mold work, you’re going to have the experts there in those fields doing the research,” he said. “If you’ve got questions you’re always wondering about, maybe those researchers haven’t gotten to that point yet—or haven’t thought about that aspect. There’s going to be a lot they can learn from people in the field, and a lot of people in the field can take back to their companies.”

That two-way exchange is intentional. CIRI has been bringing researchers into IICRC instructor meetings for the past couple of years, and the dynamic has been striking. “When the researchers are in the room, the instructors don’t leave,” Pearson said. “They don’t get up. They’re there, they’re engaged, they’re asking questions. And the researchers are learning from them.”

Why it matters long term

The symposium is built around a simple premise that the industry has been slow to fully embrace: Cleaning must be rooted in science. Not just in appearance, not just in anecdote, but in documented, peer-reviewed, measurable outcomes.

For Pearson, who describes the CIRI chairmanship as one of the most genuinely educational experiences of his career, the long-term vision is an event that grows in scope each year as more research comes online and more industry professionals engage with it.

“There’s so much research being done,” he said. “I think every year we can build on it and bring in more and more people.”

The symposium takes place on the 52nd floor of a Palms tower, with floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the Las Vegas Valley and access to an outdoor patio during breaks.

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