Southeast regional highlights education

Modern Casting, April, 2007

One of the biggest concerns of today's metalcasting facility owners and managers is the shortage of fresh minds entering the industry. Today's engineering students are being pulled in several directions, and providing an avenue for students to focus on metalcasting was the topic of several discussions at the 75th American Foundry Society (AFS) Southeast Regional Conference held Feb. 28-March 2 at the Crown Reef Resort Conference Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Representatives from Auburn Univ., Auburn, Ala., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., Clemson Univ., Clemson, S.C., Tennessee Tech Univ., Cookeville, Tenn., and Mississippi State Univ., Starville, Miss., spoke on their engineering and metalcasting programs. While the level of concentration given to metalcasting varied at each university, all of the speakers highlighted unique ways in which students were learning about the industry.

For instance, every engineering student at Tennessee Tech is required to take a metalcasting class. According to presenter Fred Vondra, associate professor at Tenessee Tech, the college also is working on a countergravity casting of magnesium project. It has partnered with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Walford Technologies, Oak Ridge, on the 21st Century Truck Project to lighten vehicles and improve fuel economy.

Don Erich, Clemson Univ., touched on the Clemson Environmental Technologies Lab (CETL), which incorporates solid modeling design, reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, metalcasting and machining for commercial jobs. Erich said that although CETL does not have a formal role in the university, 80 students have participated in the operation of the lab over the past five years.

Bill Reynolds highlighted two lab projects in the works at Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech Foundry Institute for Research and Education (VTFIRE) currently is in the fundraising stage of development, although land for the metalcasting facility and some equipment has been acquired. The VTFIRE project is led by the AFS Piedmont Chapter, which aims to raise the total projected cost of the facility ($450,000) by 2008. Meanwhile, the new building for the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) is nearing completion. ICTAS is a laboratory program within the College of Engineering that incorporates research and development into technology transfer.

Following the university presentations, conference attendees were given updates on FEF, The Foundation of Metal Casting Education, AFS and the Cast Metals Institute.

The conference ended with a tour of Conbraco Industries' Conway, S.C., investment casting facility. Conbraco Industries manufactures brass valves and fittings.

CMI Course Schedule

April 3-5         Practical Metallurgy of Aluminum
                  Casting Alloys (60-07)             Cleveland

April 10-12       Introduction to Metalcasting
                  (61-07)                            Schaumburg, Ill.

April 10-May 7    Analysis of Casting Defects
                  (62-07)                            Internet

May 1-2           Gating & Feeding of Investment
                  Castings (63-07)                   Schaumburg, Ill.

May 8-June 4      Ductile Iron Metallurgy (64-07)    Internet

May 21-June 17    Green Sand Control (65-07)         Internet

May 22-25         Gating & Riser Design--Ferrous
                  (66-07)                            Muskegon, Mich.

May 29-June 1     Practical Green Sand Control--
                  Ferrous (67-07)                    State College, Pa.

June 5-6          Statistical Process Control
                  (68-07)                            Indianapolis

Tune 5-July 9     Gating & Riser Design (69-07)      Internet

June 12-14        Induction Melted Steel
                  Processing (70-07)                 Platteville, Wis.

June 18-July 29   Six-Sigma Green Belt
                  Certification (71-07)              Internet

June 19-21        Cupola Melting for Engineers
                  (72-07)                            Schaumburg, Ill.

June 26-28        Analysis & Reduction of Casting
                  Defects (37-07)                    Dayton, Ohio