Continuous Casting Technology Committee Meeting

The committee will develop AISTech sessions, select abstracts, determine session structure and session chairs, review paper- and session-chair instructions, and finalize the call for papers for AISTech 2028. Technical discussion topics include hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealing, aluminized products, new zinc-alloy coatings, dual metallic/organic processes, new facilities and modernizations, productivity improvements, new equipment technologies, coated-product substrate quality, defect prevention and detection, and surface post-treatments. The agenda also includes planning for a 2027 European Galvanizing Line Study Tour. The second day includes a tour of Befesa Zinc in Mooresboro, North Carolina.

The program combines technical and management sessions, exhibits, and presentations for foundry professionals, suppliers, casting designers, buyers, and OEM representatives. Topics include additive manufacturing, casting design and purchasing, engineering, environmental health and safety, ferrous and nonferrous alloys, Industry 4.0, marketing and sales, melting, molding, pouring, quality control, workforce development, and casting case studies, reshoring, material selection, and casting quality. The program also includes the Hoyt Memorial Lecture on integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and artificial intelligence for sustainable metalcasting. Its themes include alloy design, process innovation, digital manufacturing, workforce development, and using physics-based ICME with AI and machine learning to improve casting development, manufacturing processes, and prediction of microstructure, defects, and mechanical properties.

The technology conference covers ironmaking, steelmaking, finishing processes, and engineering and equipment technologies. Program topics include safety and health; environmental technology; cokemaking; ironmaking and direct reduced iron; electric and oxygen steelmaking; specialty alloys and foundry operations; secondary refining and continuous casting; hot and cold rolling, galvanizing, tinplate, plate and long products; pipe and tube; metallurgy; energy and utilities; electrical and digitalization applications; project and construction management; maintenance and reliability; refractory systems; material handling; cranes; and transportation and logistics. Technical topics include hydrogen-based ironmaking, scrap optimization, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas reduction, carbon capture and storage, water treatment and reuse, AI and digitalization, predictive maintenance, industrial control-system cybersecurity, steel product quality, and process reliability. The schedule lists technical sessions, the Howe Memorial Lecture, an undergraduate student project presentation contest, a graduate student poster contest display, a Steel to Students roundtable, Technology Committee meetings, and a Town Hall Forum. The event also includes an iron and steel exposition.

The conference covers brazing and soldering research, development, and applications through plenary lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, and multiple tracks of presentations. Topics include aerospace, automotive and structural applications; corrosion of brazed joints; materials and process design and control; solder joining methods; filler-metal properties; mining and heavy equipment; furnace brazing; emerging technologies; joining ceramics, composites, lightweight materials, and refractory metals; and testing and inspection of brazed and soldered joints. The published program includes sessions on brazing ceramics, high-entropy and active filler metals, gas-turbine engines, stainless steels, cemented carbides, filler-metal and solder properties, brazing fluxes and chemical interactions, heat exchangers, properties of brazed and soldered joints, and processes and materials. C3 Committee meetings are also scheduled.

The conference objective is to enhance the value of participation in AIST activities and provide resources to help attendees grow as leaders in the association and the steel industry. Program topics include a North American steel update, economic perspectives, AIST strategic plan and program updates, and a rapid-fire discussion for questions, comments, and concerns. Leadership sessions address leading through uncertainty using neuroscience, psychology, and practical leadership strategies. A session on applying AI across a steel business addresses finance, supply chain, HR, and sales; data privacy and protecting proprietary know-how; AI adoption examples; identifying which data is safe to use with which tools; and preparing an implementation plan for IT. The event is invitation-only and open to Member Chapter officers, Technology Committee officers, Board of Director members, Board standing committee officers, and AIST Foundation Board of Trustees.

The annual conference addresses marketplace, government, industry, and business trends affecting die casting. Agenda sessions cover a Washington, D.C. update; U.S. manufacturing; the U.S. economy; die-casting strategies; tooling strategies framed as winning over China; an NADCA R&D update; and a roundtable discussion.

The event brings together the ACerS Annual Meeting, AIST Steel Properties & Applications, the TMS Fall Meeting, and the Advanced Materials Show. Planned technical symposia cover additive manufacturing, including modeling, AI and machine learning, process control, ceramic 3D printing, and qualification and certification of computational materials tools. Other materials topics include ceramics, glass, electronic and nanostructured materials, advanced alloys, and high-temperature phase transformations. Steel and ferrous-metallurgy programming addresses alloy design, steel processing and coatings, medium- and high-manganese steels, decarbonization, scrap recyclability, and materials for transportation, defense, energy, hydrogen, carbon capture, geothermal, and nuclear applications. Energy-focused symposia cover clean hydrogen, electrochemical storage and conversion, thermal management, and alternative-energy devices, including solid-state batteries, electrolyzers, fuel cells, and thermoelectric systems. Additional planned topics include corrosion and degradation in extreme environments, nuclear materials and waste-storage forms, and materials for advanced manufacturing. The co-located Advanced Materials Show focuses on high-performing materials technology and the materials manufacturing supply chain.

The program includes keynotes, panels, breakouts, and interactive roundtables on steel-industry conditions; fabrication businesses, leadership, and industry outlook; AI and digitization in manufacturing; shop-floor equipment use cases and return on investment; and manufacturing’s economic and financial outlook. Sessions also address profitability, capital investment, business growth, tariffs, steel, leadership development, recruitment, small- and midsize-manufacturer growth, and potential changes to tax policy, OSHA and EPA regulations, and tariffs. Roundtable topics include culture, marketing, AI, and operations.

Technical committee meetings provide insight into the rationale behind new and revised API upstream standards and proven practices for safe, sustainable, and environmentally sound operations. The event also covers API-sponsored research and development. The Committee on Standardization of Oilfield Equipment and Materials is responsible for approximately 400 standards, including approximately 275 that form the basis of the API Monogram Program. Listed committee areas include offshore structures, tubular goods, valve and wellhead equipment, drilling structures, well cements, field operating equipment, drilling, completion and fluids, fiberglass and plastic pipe, drilling well control equipment, subsea production equipment, quality, completion equipment, supply chain management, materials, offshore cranes, lifting and handling, and drilling and production technology. Some listed subcommittees may not meet at this event. Participation is open to interested parties.