Thank you to over 60 SMSVC industry attendees for a very productive Semi-Annual Meeting on April 12th & 13th at CIVS. The meeting was opened with the CIVS & SMSVC overview by Dr. Chenn Zhou, followed by seven SMSVC project technical presentations by CIVS research students and staff. After each presentation, were comments by project technical committee industry members as well as engaging Q&A sessions.

Mr. Wendell Carter, Executive Vice President of Technology at Cleveland-Cliffs gave a very insightful dinner keynote address entitled “A Discussion on Cleveland-Cliffs Steelmaking, CO2 Capture, & Electrification.” CIVS research students had the opportunity to display their presentations from Days of Discovery during the social portion prior to the dinner. SMSVC members were able to vote on their favorite presentations which resulted in a three way tie for first place. The two-day event ended with the Implementation of Smart Manufacturing Forum.

In the Implementation of Smart Manufacturing Forum, Dr. Zhou reviewed funding opportunities and related CIVS & SMSVC activities and projects. These projects include the Integrated Virtual Blast Furnace, Virtual Die Casting, Smart Ladle, and Digital Twin. The impacts of Smart Manufacturing utilization will allow the steel industry to fulfill their responsibility of transforming raw materials in the safest and cleanest way possible.

The forum was an opportunity for industry members to discuss the significance, needs, challenges, and current practices, as well as short, mid, and long-term targets for the implementation of smart manufacturing. SMSVC’s collaborative efforts toward the implementation of smart manufacturing will continue to further make impacts on the sustainability and competitiveness of steel industry by addressing critical issues in process optimization, energy efficiency, decarbonization, digitalization, productivity, reliability, quality, safety, and workforce development.

This annual event facilitates the advancement and implementation of models and simulators for SMSVC projects. The thorough review and discussions on the SMSVC projects, such as safety, electrical arc furnace, blast furnace, reheat furnace, ladle, and continuous casting areas, ensure continued project success and future directions to address the industry’s needs.

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