28 Feb Best of British Casting showcased at Ferrous Symposium

The CMF was pleased to support the recent Postgraduate Research Symposium on Ferrous Metallurgy, organised by the Materials Processing Institute which was supported by the Company of Armourers and Braziers, who already support a number of awards and bursaries in UK materials research and both sponsored and hosted the event at their fabulous Armourers’ Hall in London.

The Symposium, now in its 7th year, forms an important part of the dissemination activities of the PRISM programme of research and development, funded through InnovateUK and delivered by the Materials Processing Institute, for the metals sector, as well as supporting and showcasing current ferrous research projects.  The event was supported by sponsorship from the Institute of Materials, Metals and Mining, the Henry Royce Institute, The Materials and Design Exchange, UK Metals Council, the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Metals, Tata Steel and the Cast Metals Federation.

With presentations from 10 young researchers working on projects from the Universities of Warwick, Swansea, Brunel, Cranfield, Southampton, Strathclyde, Leicester and Manchester, as well as a further 13 posters, the event was a great showcase for the depth of industrial research currently being supported.

Our CEO, Dr Pam Murrell FICME was honoured to be invited to present the Keynote Address at the event, entitled “Challenges and opportunities for the UK castings industry – can castings be part of the solution for the transition to net zero?”  In her presentation Pam presented a number of case studies showcasing how the industry provides many of the components needed in a lower carbon economy – for transport, medical and sustainable energy generation – as well as being part of the circular economy for metals.  She spoke about how the industry is continuing to adapt and innovate, employing new technologies and innovations to be more competitive and how the UK industry, if provided with the right industrial environment can be, and wants to be, part of the solution for growth providing lower carbon, high integrity, near net shape products made from recycled metal alloys.

Compered for his final time by Chris McDonald, before he embarks on a career change later this year, the event was also the Prize Giving Event for the Armourers and Braziers’ Materials Science Committee, with a number of their prestigious awards and bursaries being presented before networking during the Drinks Reception.

“It was lovely to meet these enthusiastic young people, as well as all the people supporting and guiding them – and even better when several of the projects were focussed on castings, specifically microstructures in continuously cast slab (at University of Warwick), mechanical performance and consistency in ductile cast irons in wind turbines (University of Strathclyde) and understanding of graphite nodule nucleation in SG iron (University of Leicester)”, said Pam.

“With a greater focus on materials, sustainability and responsible supply chain sourcing, has there been a better time to be involved in the global metals sector?  I hope that many of these young people will have some appreciation of the value of our sector and will go on to have exciting and rewarding careers.”