Steel Strategy _ 6 MAJOR PREOCCUPATIONS IN TODAYS STEEL INDUSTRY

6 MAJOR PREOCCUPATIONS IN TODAY'S STEEL INDUSTRY ARE:

1-Environmental challenges,  

2-The Impact of Globalisation, 

3-Product Focus and Diversity,

4-Steelplant Technology,

PLUS  THE TWO BOTTOM LINERS, AS ALWAYS ARE:

5. THE PEOPLE.

Steel Strategy Seminar_Graduates and Managers in Steel Industry will broaden their understanding during these five 1-day seminars, while meeting the cursed bottom line...

6 THE COSTS.

  MORE...AT THE FIVE 1-DAY SEMINARS.

So say the specialists, Professional Metallurgists-Steelmakers  (IOM3-Iron and Steel Society, a division of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining) and Global Sponsors, EEF The management association UK Steel,  EEF The management association UK Steel,  GrefTech-Graphite Industry   Siemans VAI and  TATA .



           

 

LINK Strong Packaging Innovation Push_Starpack Industry Awards 2011_Innovation from the Packaging Division of IOM3

Strong Packaging Innovation Push_Starpack Industry Awards 2011_Innovation from the Packaging Division of IOM3

IOM3 TV_ Great new feature by The Instutute of Materials Minerals

Free features

1. Young Persons' World Lecture Competition, Kuala Lumpur, September 2010

 - 7 lectures, all of which may be viewed and downloaded as readable Power Point documents

2 Charles Hatchett Lecture 2010

 - 2 Lectures, one of which may be viewed and downloaded as readable Power Point documents
Development of niobium-alloyed large diameter pipes,  by Sandrine Bremer.

IOM3-TV

Colleagues, that's not all, The Institute, IOM3 have introduced a selected You Tube video on Institute matters and videos on materials science recommended by members.
You Tube Materials Science Series (Free Viewing and may I add, recommended!)

NB. Could be my blogging initiatives especially in the Video presentation approach is not all vein

Maney Publishing - Journal-of-the-month-Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly_FREE PAPERS

Let me bring to the attention of my colleagues in  "The Global Community of Metallurgists, Chemical Engineers and Materials Scientists", this new introductory offer of free papers (3 years of CMQ online to read or download) courtesy of our IOM3 joint publisher

 Maney journal-of-the-month- Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly(cmq)

For example I personally downloaded today a few papers from the April 2011 edition concerning corrosion of carbon steels using nanoindentation , thermal barrier coatings, superalloys to mention but my first rapid perusal. I also downloaded some golden oldies from the Key paper archive on the Maney site:FREE MATERIALS LINK

Moore's Law and beyond _ Where Semiconductor Science is going_Interdisciplinary Public and Private Partnership Funded Projects in the Semiconductor Field

The joint NSF-NRI grants were awarded to the following projects in nanoelectronics research and can be viewed in detail at the accompanying links:
• Scalable Sensing, Storage and Computation with a Rewritable Oxide Nanoelectronics Platform, directed by Jeremy Levy at University of Pittsburgh.
• Integrated Biological and Electronic Computation at the Nanoscale, directed by Timothy Lu at MIT.

• Developing a Graphene Spin Computer: Materials, Nano-Devices, Modeling, and Circuits, directed by Roland Kawakami at University of California at Riverside.
• Meta-Capacitance and Spatially Periodic Electronic Excitation Devices (MC-SPEEDs), directed by Jonathan Spanier at Drexel University.
• Hybrid Spintronics and Straintronics: New Technology for Ultra-Low Energy Computing and Signal Processing Beyond the Year 2020, directed by Supriyo Bandyopadhyay at Virginia Commonwealth University.
• Charge-Density-Wave Computational Fabric: New State Variables and Alternative Material Implementation, directed by Alexander Balandin at University of California at Riverside.
• Ultimate Electronic Device Scaling Using Structurally Precise Graphene Nanoribbons, directed by Paulette Clancy at Cornell University.
• Nanoelectronics with Mixed-valence Molecular QCA, directed by Craig Lent at University of Notre Dame.
• Scalable Perpendicular All-Spin Non-Volatile Logic Devices and Circuits with Hybrid Interconnection, directed by Jian-Ping Wang at University of Minnesota at Twin Cities.
• Physics-Inspired Non-Boolean Computation Based on Spatial-Temporal Wave Excitations, directed by Wolfgang Porod at University of Notre Dame.
• Novel Quantum Switches Using Heterogeneous Atomically Layered Nanostructures, directed by Philip Kim at Columbia University.
• Superlattice-FETs, Gamma-L-FETs and Tunnel-FETs: Materials, Circuits and Devices for Fast, Ultra-Low Power, directed by Mark Rodwell at University of California at Santa Barbara.

These 12 NSF-NRI joint grants expand and strengthen the commitment to this public-private partnership program, which is in its sixth year.
NSF Divisions participating in this competition are the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) in the Directorate for Engineering, the Division of Materials Research (DMR) and the Division of Chemistry (CHE) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and the Division of Computing and Communications Foundations (CCF) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering,
Companies participating in NRI are GLOBALFOUNDRIES, IBM, Intel Corporation​, Micron Technology​ and Texas Instruments​. These companies assign researchers to interact with the university teams. This kind of university-industry engagement will be instrumental in order for NRI to reach its goal of demonstrating the feasibility of novel computing devices in simple computer circuits during the next five to 10 years.

REFERENCE 1

via The regular progammed Yahoo Materials Science Search of 19 Sept 2011

Pick of the Day from my RSS feed-Reducing Metal-Metal Friction_an InnoCentive Challenge

Reducing Metal–Metal Friction 

Call for the attention of  metallurgists, materials scientist and coatings specialist:
NB. If I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to get in touch.

AWARD: $10,000 USD | DEADLINE: 10/30/11 or 30 Oct 2011  | ACTIVE SOLVERS: 170  | POSTED: 8/30/11 or 30 Aug 2011.

The Challenge is to find a treatment that can reduce the Coefficient of Friction on stainless steel metal parts. It will be a bonus if the solution is applicable to Titanium, Aluminum and other ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. The solution could be a coating or a surface treatment.

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Overview

Metal to metal friction in small manufactured devices causes many problems like galling and eventually wearing out and failure of parts. The Seeker is looking for a durable treatment or coating that can reduce the Coefficient of Friction (COF) in a Metal-Metal system with various Alloys of SS, Ti and Al. Any solution must not affect the strength of the base metal.

To receive an award, the Solvers will not have to transfer their exclusive IP rights to the Seeker. Instead, they will grant to the Seeker non-exclusive license to practice their solutions.

This is a Theoretical Challenge that requires only a written proposal to be submitted. The Challenge award will be contingent upon theoretical evaluation of the proposal by the Seeker.

Call for the attention of metallurgists, materials scientist and coatings specialist:
NB. If I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Sincerely yours in materials science and engineering

Energy Sustainability Tops EPSRC List of Six Global Research Challenges

As my two previous posts have shown energy sustainability remains a primary consideration. It tops the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) list of

SIX GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES to be ADDRESSED:
1.Energy
2.Digital economy,
3. Manufacturing the future,
4. Healthcare technologies,
5. Living with environmental change
6. Global uncertainties.

Energy sustainability and better renewable energy topics are one of the main motivators for my blogging activity. I shall continue to address such topics at the risk of being boring.

Such is the importance of this subject and the quality of Energy Initiatives WW that one may safely "assess risk" (another challenge) of  boredom to be small or insignificant? Here I shall add the MIT Energy Initiative to my RSS feed to the blog. To consult this feed please scroll down to the blog footer blocks.  Let me draw readers attention for example to a recent advance in the form of Sun-Free-Photovoltaics

Among the many useful features in the MIT-EI figure an extensive video series both visual and script version. video series both visual and script

Foresight-Hindsight in Materials Science and Engineering _Project Portfolio Management

Following my last post “ Selection Criteria for Research Project Funding,” 8 Sept. 2011, let us continue our “Foresight –Hindsight” (marketing) exercise using a short presentation using a modified BCG matrix (4 squares)or  GE/McKinsey matrix(9 squares) chart

The chart which I wish to draw to the attention of my metallurgical and materials scientist friends,  members of  The Institute was originally published in Materials World    and archived in my personal files for more than a decade.  Cf. Image 1 below.   It is a nine square GE/McKinsey matrix.

-Areas of Attractiveness are represented by 3 colums- (vertical axis):  1. Emerging,2. Intermediate and 3. Key priority areas, of increasing attractiveness 1 to 3.

-Areas of Feasibility are represented by position on the horizontal axis :  increasing feasibility from left to right.

Within this matrix the upper most right hand square is magnified and again divided into another 9 square matrix, “Attractiveness versus Feasibility”.  Such a process both shows how this approach can be usefully refined while pragmatically bringing focus to the necessary couple, Key Priorities which are Feasible.  Clear objectives can be given and so motivation increased.  The challenges of the research for excellence are respected and the likelihood of impact in appropriate areas increased.

The presentation allows the representation of 9 blocks IE GE/McKinsey presentation.

The arc through the intermediate and emerging  themes draws attention to the fact that the most-attractive and desireable does not always correspond to the most feasible.

Many of the themes presented in the previous post "Selection Criteria for Research Funding" EPSRC 2010 - 2013 have previously figured in the BCG - GE/McKinsey Matrix approach established at least a decade earlier (Image 1) An attempt to show this continuing preoccupation with certain themes is shown in the table below in bold characters. One reason for this is the wide nature of themes cf previous post headings:

THREE WIDE FOCUS THEMES TO IMPACT UPON.

THREE STRATEGIC GOALS.

SIX GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES to be ADDRESSED

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KEY PRIORITY AREAS	Health & Life Style	Optical Tech.	Genetic & Biomolecular Eng., Bioinformatics, Communication with machines, Telerepresentation/ multimedia, Sensors & sensory information processing, Software Eng., Security & privacy tech
INTER- MEDIATE AREAS	Risk assessment & management, Design & Systems Integration, Chemical & Biological Synthesis,	Information Management, Modelling & Simulation, Catalysis, Work place & Home.	Management & Business                                    Process Eng.,   Environmentally     sustainable tech.
EMERGING AREAS	Demographic change, clean processing tech, Energy Tech, LCA,  Automation.		Biomaterials, Materials Process & Control, Materials processing tech.

                                 Feasibility---------------------->

RELATED POSTS
1. Selection Criteria for Research Project Funding 8 Sept. 20112..
2.Critical Minerals and Metals Defined  12 April 2011.

REFERENCES – EBOOKS on Forsight and Portfolio Management

1.      GE/McKinsey matrix(9 squares) chart
2. Portfolio Management: Fundamental for New Product Success  [pdf]

by Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett and Dr. Elko J. Kleinschmidt,
Reference Paper #12

Compliments of: Stage-Gate International and Product Development Institute Inc

3. Idea Evaluation [pdf]

4. Foresight Projects are in-depth studies examining major issues 20-80 years in the future.

5. Selection of research priorities – method of critical technologies by Karel Klusacek [pdf]
Technology Centre of the Academy of Sciences CR Rozvojova 135, 165 02 Prague 6, Czech Republic

6. Crafting a methodology for formation of R and D strategy based on evolutionary epistemology: case study of Iran power industry [pdf]

7. Priority Systems: Technical Terms Used in Project Portfolio Management

8. MIND TOOLS

9. Stakeholder Identification and Analysis Techniques, John M. Bryson, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 245 Humphrey Center, University of Minnesota [pdf].

NB WARNING TO THE R&D Communities

OUTSOURCING !!!

Selection Criteria for Research Project Funding

Summary of  UK, Selection Criteria for Research Project Funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

TWO MAJOR MOTIVATORS.

1. Search for Excellence

2. Impact of research results, ie.  the demonstrable  contribution that excellent research makes to society and the economy. To maximise impact goal achievement, routes to success must be envisaged and planned from the project outset.  Potential of Results in the Long Term are evaluated after 4 years.

Excellence will be measured at an International Level and reviewed by peers.

THREE WIDE FOCUS THEMES TO IMPACT UPON.

Impact embraces all the extremely diverse ways research-related knowledge and skills benefit individuals, organisations and nations by –

1. Fostering global economic performance, and specifically national economic competitiveness.

2. Increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy.

3. Enhancing quality of life, health and creative output.

EVALUATION 

Four-year delivery plan sets out priorities and strategies to 2013

EPSRC published a four-year delivery plan setting out our priorities and strategies to 2013.

THREE STRATEGIC GOALS –

1. Shaping capability.

2. Delivering impact.

3. Developing leaders. 

SIX GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES to be ADDRESSED:

1.Energy

2.Digital economy,

3. Manufacturing the future,

4. Healthcare technologies,

5. Living with environmental change

6. Global uncertainties.

EXAMPLE OF A PARTICULARILY SUCCESSFUL PROJECT.

Full impact may be years away, but the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics 2010 to EPSRC researcher Professor Andre Geim and fellow Russian-born scientist Konstantin Novoselov for their groundbreaking work on the two dimensional material graphene.

REFERENCES.

1. MATERIALS WORLD Aug 2011 "Leading the way" (access limited to members only)

2. EPSRC
3. IMPACT WORLD