Dr Alireza Rahnama has developed a new processing route which allows low density steel-based alloys to be produced with maximum strength, whilst remaining durable and flexible– something which has been largely impossible until now.

Two lightweight steels were tested - Fe-15Mn-10Al-0.8C-5Ni and Fe-15Mn-10Al-0.8C – for their potential to achieve maximum strength and ductility.

During production, two brittle phases can occur in these steels: kappa-carbide (k-carbide) and B2 intermetallic – which make the steels hard but limits their ductility, so they are difficult to roll.

Kateryna Hechu, the lead author of a research paper entitled ‘Real-Time Measurement of Contraction Behaviour of Peritectic Steels During Solidification,’ has, along with her co-authors been awarded the prestigious 2017 Jerry Silver Award by The Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST).

AIST represents an international network of steel industry knowledge and expertise. It is a non-profit organisation with 17,500 members from more than 70 countries.

The Jerry Silver award is presented to the author of a process metallurgy or product applications technical paper judged to be the ‘best of class’ by the AIST Metallurgy – Processing, Products and Applications Technology Committee. One of the authors must be a student.

WMG is delighted to welcome Professor Zhang, who will be working alongside Professor Sridhar Seetharaman’s world-class Steels Processing Research Team, as part of a special month-long stay.

Professor Zhang, is an admired expert in the field of iron and steel manufacturing, especially for clean steel and modelling for process metallurgy, and is normally based at the School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing.

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has been awarded the best paper award at the IAS (Argentinian Iron and Steel Institute) annual Steel Conference in Argentina. The prestigious conference on Ironmaking, Steelmaking, Rolling and Steel Products is the major steel conference in South America. The conference took place from 5-7 November 2013 at Rozario, Argentina.

Professor Seetharaman is the Tata Steel / Royal Academy of Engineering Professor for Low Carbon Materials Technologies at WMG. He leads WMG's research in Materials Processing, with a focus on Iron and Steel Manufacturing.

Professor Seetharaman's paper was entitled ‘Oxidation and embrittlement in grain boundaries induced by Cu in a low carbon steel with Cr and 0.2% Cu under different thermal and atmospheric conditions’. The paper was produced by Professor Seetharaman along with his PhD student Erica Sampson (Carnegie Mellon University) and J.A. Mendez and C. Cicutti of Tenaris Siderca in Argentina.

19th IAS Steel Conference 2013 website

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman, who leads work on physico-chemical aspects of iron and steel manufacturing with an emphasis on energy efficiency, low carbon and reduction of emissions at WMG, University of Warwick, has been selected for an honorary Professorship at the University of Science, Technology Beijing, in China.

The honorary Professorship is a prestigious post and Professor Seetharaman was nominated for the Chinese government Award of Top Overseas Professorship. Professor Seetharaman is the Royal Academy of Engineering / Tata Steel Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies at WMG and will be visiting the University of Science, Technology Beijing (USTB) through the month of August. He will be giving lectures, supervising students as well as making visits to steel plants and other universities that have metallurgical programs.

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has been selected to become Editor of the US-based journal, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions (MMT).

MMT is produced jointly by two societies, The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and ASM International. It includes three editions of its journals, Journal A (Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science), Journal B (Process Metallurgy) and the soon-to-be-launched Journal E (Energy Materials). Professor Seetharaman will be serving as Editor of all three editions from July 2013.

Professor Seetharaman holds the Royal Academy of Engineering / Tata Steel Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies at WMG where he leads research on physico-chemical aspects of iron and steel manufacturing and usage with an emphasis on energy efficiency, low carbon and reduction of emissions.

WMG's Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has been selected as the recipient of the Jerry Silver Award for Best Paper 2013 by the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Metallurgy Technology Division. The award is for Professor Seetharaman's work entitled 'Effect of Silicon on Hot Shortness'.

The Jerry Silver Award is presented to the author of a process metallurgy or product applications technical paper judged to be the best of class by the AIST, where one of the authors is a student.

Professor Seetharaman has recently joined WMG as the RAEng / Tata Steel Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies.

The award will be presented to Professor Seetharaman during the AIST Metallurgy, Processing, Products and Applications Technology Committee Meeting in Canada, later this year.

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has this week taken up the new post of Professor of Low Carbon Materials Technology at WMG.

The new Chair is jointly sponsored by Tata Steel and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Professor Seetharaman has a wealth of experience in developing ways of working with next-generation steels, including steels whose enhanced strength can help automotive companies meet their obligations to make lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The appointment of Professor Seetharaman is in line with the market differentiation strategy that Tata Steel is pursuing in Europe’s mature steel markets. A key element of this strategy entails the use of technical innovation, including the development of new products, to help customers achieve their business goals.

WMG is very pleased to welcome a number of new academic appointments this month, who will take a leading role in some of our exciting research areas.

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has joined WMG to take up the Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies, sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Tata Steel. Professor Seetharaman joins us from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he was the POSCO Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Co-Director of Center For Iron and Steel Research. Professor Seetharaman will be leading a new programme in the manufacture and application of advanced steels in low carbon technologies and setting up a new team, within WMG's existing Materials and Manufacturing theme, to work with Tata Steel to address the current international priorities of the low carbon agenda.

Professor Tony McNally has joined WMG to lead our developing research in the area of Nanocomposites. Professor McNally joins from Queen's University Belfast, where he was Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Polymer Processing Research Centre. The Nanocomposites team, based in WMG's International Institute for Product and Service Innovation, will span WMG's work in Digital Technologies, Materials and Manufacturing.

Dr Claire Dancer has also joined WMG this week to develop WMG's work in Nanocomposites. Dr Dancer joins from the University of Oxford, where she worked as a researcher in the Department of Materials, specifically looking at Manufacturing Methods for Metamaterials.

We also welcome Dr Kwabena Agyaping-Kodua who is joining WMG from the University of Nottingham where he has been Senior Research Fellow in Digital Manufacturing and Systems Engineering at the Precision Manufacturing Centre. As part of WMG's Digital Lifecycle Management team, Dr Agyapong-Kodua will be continuing to develop research activities in the digital manufacturing and systems engineering field, particularly within the remit of high value manufacturing.

WMG have today, Monday 12th of November 2012, announced that Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has been appointed to the Tata Steel and Royal Academy of Engineering joint Chair for research into Low Carbon Materials Technology.

Professor Seetharaman is currently the POSCO Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Co-Director of Center For Iron and Steel Research, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He gained his undergraduate degree from the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden) and his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also spent a year as a research associate at Imperial College in London. He is currently the principal editor of AIST (Association for Iron and Steel Technology Transactions) and he is on the International advisory board of Steel Research International and ISIJ (Iron and Steel Institute of Japan).