CIVS project “Hazard Recognition Scenario Builder for On-Site Customizable Virtual Training” was featured in the May Issue of Iron & Steel Technology. The technical paper was published in the category of Digitalization Applications. The highlighted project was the recipient of the 2023-2024 Digital Technologies for Steel Manufacturing Grant.

Authors of the paper include CIVS Senior Research Scientist John “Jack” Moreland, CIVS Senior Research Engineer Kyle Toth, Graduate student Monika Singhal, Graduate student Sai Laya Mallineni, Graduate student Xibin Zhou, Undergraduate student Ruiyu Yang, and Undergraduate student Yuezhang Chu.

This project has developed a software system that enables steel manufacturers to rapidly develop and deploy site-specific virtual hazard recognition training. The system takes advantage of innovative digital technology to create an immersive, virtual reality training experience. The tool allows steel mill personnel to construct their own safety scenarios based on their specific environment, using their own 360° videos, images, text and video content. This provides a training experience that directly mirrors real-world conditions, enhancing the effectiveness of hazard recognition and response training. The team’s industry mentor facilitated multiple rounds of input and feedback with steel mill personnel to improve the system’s capabilities, usability and deploy-ability, addressing practical issues along the way. This process has resulted in multiple iterations of the software being tested by industry personnel and led to technically robust software that is now bring prepared for wider rollout within the steel industry.

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On May 1, CIVS staff and students received a tour of the Linde Engineering Americas – Tonawanda facility in New York as part of collaboration for the DOE H2RF research project. They were able to observe a firing test of the flameless burner that is one of the main focuses of the H2RF project to use hydrogen fuel in the Gerdau Monroe Special Steel reheating furnace.  The test included operations under normal natural gas-fired conditions, as well as with hydrogen fuel.  CIVS was also treated to a comprehensive tour of the Linde location, including their combustion laboratory and fabrication facilities.

The tour was Organized by Rafat Hirmiz (R&D Metals Applications Engineer) and Joe Maiolo (R&D Associate Director, Metals Applications) from Linde.

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What a learning experience my year as the Elliott Lecturer has been, and my trip to Purdue University NW Campus (PNW) in Hammond IN the 8^th April exceeded expectations in many ways. I am very grateful for the mutual sharing opportunity this visit presented and ratification from some steel industry collaborators who were present at my Clean Steel Revolution Lecture.

Professor Chenn Zhou, NIPSCO Distinguished Professor of Engineering Simulations and Founding Director of the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS founded in 2009) was the perfect hostess and “director of operations”.

Professor Zhou and her team, understanding the need to assist the steel industry in addressing their challenges, founded the Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC) in 2016, inside CIVS. This consortium, 15 steel industry partners strong, generate real life industry relevant challenges and present potential barriers to the PNW CIVS staff, all non-metallurgically trained. They have even created an integrated virtual Blast Furnace (BF) through which one can walk inside during operation.

Industry can and are using the CIVS capabilities to model projects, process, challenges and then visualize it. Some industry driven, some in collaboration with the DOE which has enabled PNW to collaborate with >180 external organizations, producing >$40M savings. They have received a number of multimillion-dollar federal grants to work with industrial partners for increasing energy efficiency, productivity and product quality, reducing emissions. enhancing safety and workforce development, as well as improving competitiveness of steel industry.

Click here to read about her lecture.

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CIVS students and staff attended AIST Midwest Chapter Dinners January-April. Over 20 students attended the dinners to network with industry professionals and hear important Keynote presentations.

• January Dinner Keynote: “Developments in Fiber Optic Measurements for Continuous Casting” presented by Dr. Ron O’Malley, F. Kenneth Iverson Chair Professor & Director, PSMRC, Missouri University of Science & Technology
• February Dinner Keynote: Thomas Toner, Senior Advisor and Vice President Operations, SSAB Americas and AIST President 2024–2025
• March Dinner Keynote: “Using AI for Material/Equipment Tracking and Safety Warning Systems.”  presented by Ed LaBruna, Partner, Janus Automation
• April Dinner Keynote: “Development and Implementation of Digital Technology Solutions for Safety and Training in the Ironmaking and Steelmaking Industry” presented by CIVS Senior Research Engineer Kyle Toth, CIVS Senior Research Scientist John “Jack” Moreland, and Jeffrey Maxfield, Steel North Trainer at U.S. Steel Gary Works

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On Thursday, April 17, over 20 CIVS research students and senior design students participated in poster presentations to showcase their projects during the 2025 PNW Day of Discovery in Alumni Hall. CIVS showcased 17 graduate research posters and 7 senior design posters.

PNW Days of Discovery is a multidisciplinary research symposium organized by the Office of Research, the Undergraduate Research Office, and the Faculty Research Board to increase awareness of PNW research, innovation, and economic development impacts while fostering collaboration among students, faculty, and the research and innovation community.

To further inspire students, CIVS student posters were displayed at the SMSVC Semi-Annual Meeting reception on April 9. Three outstanding posters were selected by SMSVC industry professionals and CIVS staff. The following awards were presented:

• 1st Place: Shiyu Wang: “The Impact of Electrode Power on Melting Performance in SSAB DC EAF”
• 2nd Place: Jay Polra: “Enhancing Real-Time Workplace Safety in Industrial Environments using AI & Computer Vision”
• 3rd Place: Omer Raza: “Blast Furnace Hearth Erosion Modeling”

Along with successful presentations, three CIVS senior design projects received grants from PNW. The Projects are “Design of Diluted Combustion for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction”, “Exploration of Oxygen Blast Furnace Operation with CFD Models, “Virtual Crane Simulation”.

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CIVS Blast Furnace research received the 2025 AIST Josef S. Kapitan Award – Ironmaking for the paper titled “The Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace: Enabling Physics-Based Operational Guidance.” This is the 9th best paper received in the last 20 years in this research topic. Authors of the paper include CIVS Associate Director for Research Ty Okosun, Ricardo Calix (Professor of Computer Information Technology, PNW), CIVS Research Engineer Orlando Ugarte, Hong Wang (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Kosta Leontaras (U.S. Steel), Joseph Morey (Morey Industrial Consulting), Jason Entwistle (U.S. Steel), Brian Rogers (U.S. Steel), and CIVS Director Chenn Zhou.

This award was established in 1953 as the Journal of Metals Award by the Blast Furnace, Coke Oven and Raw Materials Committee of AIME. The name and award rules were changed in 1960 to the Ironmaking Conference Award. The name and award rules were again changed in 1982 to the Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Conference Award, then divided into the Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Best Paper Award and the Josef S. Kapitan Cokemaking Best Paper Award in 2005. The award is presented to the authors of a technical paper judged by the committee to be the best submitted for the conference at which it was presented.

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In the April issue of NWI Business Magazine, CIVS research was highlighted in the article “Future of Energy is Bright”. CIVS collaborates with energy providers and industrial partners to improve energy efficiency, reduce costs and enhance workforce training. It uses advanced simulation, visualization, AI tools and 3D digital twins.

Purdue Northwest’s Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (Chenn Zhou – Director) and the Energy Efficiency and Reliability Center (Bob Kramer – Director) are playing a role in research and workforce programming at schools across Northwest Indiana are helping to meet the Region’s changing needs.

Read the full article.

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Congratulations to CIVS RA Abhishek Kolakotla, who will receive his MSME degree with Thesis Option in May 2025.  He has accepted a position as Assistant Project Manager at ACMS Group starting after graduation. At CIVS, his research project is on “Investigation of Dual Fuel and Flameless Combustion in Reheat Furnaces”. This project challenged him to think critically, solve real-world problems, and apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

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On Friday, April 18, CIVS welcomed Randy Beardsley of NLMK, to give a seminar to over 40 CIVS staff, students, and PNW College of Engineering students and faculty. Randy’s presentation was very well received and was followed by a productive Q&A. His presentation was titled “Ladle Metallurgy Furnace and Casting Processes”.

This presentation covered the basics of the Ladle Metallurgy Furnace and Casting Processes. These two key steps are essential for making high-quality steel and making steel faster. Topics covered will include the purpose of these processes, typical configurations, equipment required, safety and environmental considerations, impact on quality, personnel requirements, and what roles engineers play in these important processes.

Randy is an Army veteran who received the prestigious Reserve Components Achievement Medal while serving, and 36-year steel industry veteran with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a former chairman of the AIST Maintenance Technology Division, a 30-year AIST member, and has been published in both Iron & Steelmaker and Irion and Steel Technology. He has held various leadership roles in both sheet and long product mills in his career, including Melt Shop Manager, Hot Mill Manager, Maintenance Manager, and Plant Manager. He is currently General Manager of Strategic Engineering for NLMK Indiana.

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Approximately 80+ industry collaborators and CIVS faculty, staff, and students met at CIVS for the SMSVC Annual Meeting on April 9 and 10. The events included 1) technical presentations by CIVS staff and students in 6 topics (safety, ironmaking, EAF, Continuous Casting, Ladle, and Reheating Furnace), 2) A Dinner Keynote, 3) Project Technical Committee meetings, and 4) the SMSVC board meeting. Active discussions were held throughout the two-day event, with excellent feedback on the project progress and outcomes as well as the quality of presentations.

This annual event facilitates the advancement and implementation of models and simulators for SMSVC projects. The thorough review and discussions ensure continued project success and future directions to address the industry’s needs. SMSVC’s collaborative efforts toward the implementation of smart manufacturing will continue to impact the sustainability and competitiveness of the steel industry by addressing critical issues in process optimization, digitalization, productivity, and safety. The goal of CIVS and SMSVC is to maintain their position at the forefront of industrial decarbonization, energy transition, smart manufacturing, and workforce development through research partnerships with industries and communities.

The annual event included a Keynote Presentation on April 9 by Ron Ashburn, Executive Director of Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST). His presentation, titled “The Iron and Steel Roadmap,” offered a comprehensive overview of the industry’s current trajectory and future developments.  The talk was both informative and insightful, resonating strongly with the audience and sparking a thoughtful and engaging discussion.

The Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC) is a nationwide, industry-led sustainable consortium launched in 2016 by the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) at Purdue University Northwest and is supported by more than 16 companies and organizations. The consortium is focused on supporting the development and implementation of simulation and visualization technologies to address major technological issues and related barriers that inhibit the growth of advanced manufacturing in the steel industry to ensure a competitive advantage for steel manufacturing.

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