Illinois Association of

Technical Accident Investigators

Back

2026 IATAI Conference

Start
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
8:00 AM
End
Friday, October 09, 2026
5:00 PM
Location
Elements by The Odyssey, 16235 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park, Illinois

Registration

03 Vendors – $700.00
05 Crash Testing Sponsorship – $2,000.00
06 Wednesday Evening Social Event – $1,000.00
07 Coffee Throughout the Conference – $500.00
08 Lunches (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) – $500.00
09 Speakers
11 Registered with 2-Day Course

40th Annual IATAI
Fall Conference

October 7th through 9th

Elements by the Odyssey
16235 South La Grange Road
Orland Park, Illinois, 60467

Details

The following topics will be presented at the 40th IATAI Conference:

After the Crash Investigation - Lauren Frank & David Keltner
Pedestrian vs Ford Mustang Case - Ken Harmon
Mock Trial - Rusty Haight & Camilo Oceguera
Counterfeit Airbags - Presenter TBD
Nighttime Pedestrian Visibility in Crashes - Dan Billington
Officer Wellness - 100 Club
Case Study - NORTAF MCAT
EDR Update - Shawn Gyorke
Crash Testing Data Presentation - Dynamic Safety

IATAI will be hosting live rollover crash testing after lunch on Wednesday, October 7th. Be sure to plan accordingly for the October Chicagoland weather. On Wednesday evening, a social networking event will be held at Barraco's Pizza, 15601 S. Harlem Ave in Orland Park, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Food and drinks are FREE!

Lunch will be provided daily, and the annual IATAI business meeting will be held during lunch on October 8th. Certificates of attendance will be issued after the last session on Friday, October 9th.

Nearby Hotels

Note: There is no special rate set up for the conference

Homewood Suites by Hilton Orland Park
16245 S. La Grange Road
Orland Park, Illinois 60467

Hampton Inn Chicago Orland Park
16176 S. La Grange Road
Orland Park, Illinois 60467

ACTAR Examination and Information

The ACTAR exam will be hosted on October 4th from 8:00am to 5:00pm at the Evanston Fire Department Headquarters Training Room, 909 Lake Street in Evanston, Illinois. Please note the following deadlines in order to take the ACTAR exam:

Application Submission Deadline: August 5th, 2026
Exam Registration Deadline: September 4th, 2026

Click here for a link to the application
Current IATAI members receive a discounted price on the application and exam fees.

In need of ACTAR Continuing Education Units (CEU)? Well, attend the conference!

In May of 2022, ACTAR implemented a new way of tracking CEUs at conferences and other training events. This new way involves the use of the i-Attend Self Check-In application. The i-Attend Self Check-In application should be installed and tested before the conference. QR codes will be provided at the conference for users to scan in order to get the CEUs.

Click here for more information and links to instructions for downloading and using the i-Attend Self Check-In application.

Registration Information and Deadlines

Early Registration is open from now through August 23rd, 2026

Regular Registration is open from August 24th through ~~September 21st~~ October 2nd

Late Registration is open from ~~September 22nd~~ October 3rd through October 6th

Door Registrations will be $550 for members and $600 for non-members

Additional Information

Refunds, minus a $50 processing fee, will be made if the cancelation occurs more than 30 days prior to the conference. Substitutions of attendees can be made with prior notice to an IATAI board member.

If paying by check or invoice, approval is needed from the IATAI Treasurer. Please Contact Brad Brachear at treasurer@iatai.org. All checks must be received before September 30th, 2026. Failure to receive the check by September 30th will result in the attendee being charged the "Door Registration" price which will be charged on the first day of the conference.

Vendors and Sponsors

Vendors will be given the opportunity to introduce themselves and provide an overview of their company at the start of the conference. Vendors will be placed in high traffic areas. Your company information will be added to the website once registration and payment are received.

In addition to booth space, IATAI offers the following sponsorships on a first come bases:

Crash Testing Sponsorship - $2,000
Evening Social Event (Wednesday Night) - $1,000
Coffee Throughout the Conference - $500
Lunches (All Three Days) - $500

Vendors should register for the event online. Offline registrations will be accepted with approval from the IATAI Board.

Illinois Association of Technical Accident Investigators is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization