The foundry industry was able to meet some of the best young foundry researchers identified in the USA, Finland, Japan, Spain, China, India and Germany through a competition organised by the World Foundry Organization (WFO).
The WFO announced the 2024 Best Young Foundry Professionals at the final stage of the Young Researchers Conference taking place in Germany on 11th June.
The top three prize-winning authors are:
- 1st: Yasuhiko Okimura (Japan), assistant professor, Waseda University.
- 2nd: Jianyue Zhang (United States), postdoctoral researcher, The Ohio State University.
- 3rd: Shrivatsav Shankar (United States), PhD student researcher, Material Science and Engineering Department, UC Irvine, Advanced Casting Research Center.
The top three authors have been invited to travel to the World Foundry Congress 2024 in Deyang, China where they will be introduced to the global industry through the WFO and will take part in networking activities. Congratulations must be expressed to these promising professionals and their universities for this great achievement.
The general secretary of the WFO, José Javier González, said: “We consider this award as a big competition in the global foundry industry to identify the most promising professionals. All the authors in this final stage that took place in Germany have a bright future in our industry, we just need our companies to show them the way.”
The awarding ceremony took place at Clausthal University of Technology as the final stage of a full programme set for the best ten candidates out of a group of twenty that competed online in a preliminary selection. From 8th to 12th June all these promising professionals engaged in networking opportunities with the industry in Hannover, including visits to the HA Center of Competence and Clausthal University. They also took part in the IdeenExpo where they enjoyed a casting practical session in the foundry school and where they were introduced to some relevant foundry industry professionals and companies.
SHORTLISTED TEN AUTHORS
In addition to the winners, congratulations also to the young professionals selected in the final group of the best ten authors: Raquel Fierro Jaime (USA), Andrés Pérez Zabala (Spain), Sohail Mansoor (Germany), Mohammad Jobayer Huq (Japan), Nurul Anwar (Finland), Yunxiang Tan (China) and Monish Kumar V R (India).
The WFO expresses its gratitude to all the collaborators and sponsors that made this possible, with special mention to the commitment and inestimable support of Carsten Kuhlgatz, Albertus-Stiftung, Albertuswerke GmbH and Technische Universität Clausthal, AZTERLAN Metallurgy Research Centre, IdeenExpo GmbH, Hüttenes-Albertus Chemische Werke GmbH, Chemex Foundry Solutions GmbH, Clariant, SQ Group, Inductotherm Group, AnyCasting Software, Foundry Trade Journal, Weir Minerals, General Kinematics Vibrating Equipment, Foseco, Laempe Mössner Sinto GmbH.
Finally, thanks are expressed to the organising team and reviewers: Babette Tonn, Ludwig Tonn, Olatz Garro, Pam Murrell, Katarzyna Liszka, Xabier González, Doug Kurkul, Sang Mok Lee, Hideki Yamaura, Ken Moizumi, Kazumichi Shimizu, Thomas Prucha, Mark Osborne, Jerry Thiel, Wolfram Volk, Susana Mendez Boveda, Ana Isabel Fernández Calvo, Dawid Myszka, Attila Dioszegi and Hiroyasu Makino.
The WFO would like to invite universities, research institutes, companies and associations in the global foundry industry to stay tuned to the news about the next edition of this award to promote the participation of their young professionals in this exciting global competition. www.thewfo.com