2010 FeMET grants and scholarships awarded

The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation and the American Iron and Steel Institute’s (AISI) FeMET Initiative, aimed at attracting top talent to the North American steel industry, has awarded its grants and scholarships for the 2010–2011 academic year.

Grants
FeMET Curriculum Development – Six grants in the amount of $5,000 each were issued to professors of ferrous metallurgy or materials science. Of that total, three grants represent renewals from 2009, including:

• Dr. Thomas J. Balk, University of Kentucky (Year 5 of 5).
• Dr. Sivaraman Guruswamy, University of Utah (Year 4 of 5).
• Dr. S. Komar Kawatra, Michigan Technological University (Year 2 of 5).

Three grants were awarded to:

• Dr. John A. Nychka, University of Alberta (Year 1 of 5).
• Dr. Marian Kennedy, Clemson University (Year 1 of 5).
• Dr. Randy J. Bowers, University of Windsor (Year 1 of 5).

Proposals are solicited from North American universities for funding of a curriculum development assistant to enhance or update industry curriculum in ferrous metallurgy programs. The program objective is to utilize students to assist in the editing and updating of textbooks and/or other course materials for use in ferrous metallurgy education, with an underlying objective to increase industry awareness within the academic community. The proposals must indicate how the professor will approach the task, including budget and schedule requirements. University professors will be awarded $5,000 each to fund initiatives designed to enhance or update industry curriculum in ferrous metallurgy programs. The number of awards granted depends on fund availability; the maximum grant per award will be $5,000 per year for 5 years for a total of $25,000.

FeMET Design Grant – Dr. Patricia Morris and a team of materials science and engineering research students from The Ohio State University have been selected for their proposal entitled, “Design of a Virtual Metal-Oxide Sensor Array Device for Off-Gas Detection and Monitoring in Iron and Steel Processing.” Their proposal was submitted in response to the 2010–2011 design theme, “Improvements in off-gas control/sensors.” The Ohio State University was granted $50,000.

The Design Grant program challenges North American university teams (students and professors) to submit proposals for grant funding in the theme area selected by the steel industry. The proposal should indicate how each team of professors and undergraduate students will approach the problem, including budget and schedule requirements. The maximum allowable time for the project is one year beginning in the fall of 2010. The number of awards granted depends on fund availability; the maximum grant per award will be $50,000.

Scholarships

Nine students from four American and Canadian universities have been awarded FeMET scholarships, focusing on metallurgy and materials science. Similarly, three students from three American and Canadian universities have been identified as StEEL scholarship finalists, focusing on all engineering disciplines. The next step for the StEEL finalists is to be matched with interested corporate sponsors. In addition to the FeMET and StEEL scholarships, the third AISI/AIST Foundation Premier Scholarship was awarded.

Scholarships of $5,000 will be awarded to each scholar for the school year beginning in fall 2010. Each scholarship will include a paid internship at a North American steel company during the summer of 2011 and a second scholarship of $5,000 in the student’s senior year, based on satisfactory academic and internship performance.

This is the sixth year of the FeMET Initiative and the fifth year of the StEEL program. The AISI/AIST Foundation Premier Scholarship, now in its third year, is awarded to the highest ranking of all FeMET and StEEL applications received. This scholarship provides the same benefits, with an increase to $10,000 per year.