FeMET Initiative Accepting Proposals for Design Grant Program

AISI and the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation are calling for proposals from North American universities under FeMET's Design Grant Program, seeking innovative designs and solutions to an industry-related theme. This is the second year of promoting interest in the steel industry to students studying metallurgy and materials science under the banner of their "Ferrous Metallurgy Education Today," or FeMET Initiative.

AISI and AIST Foundation together launched the FeMET Initiative to encourage more students to choose metallurgy or materials science as their field of study, to recruit more of such graduates into the steel industry and to increase the number of professors knowledgeable in steel in North American universities.

The Design Grant program will direct a team of students and professors to address an important industry issue or "challenge" by working collaboratively. Proposals must include the team's approach/methodology, including a budget and schedule requirements. Proposals will be judged based on the following criteria: technical approach and relation to the theme, probability of success and its potential benefits and team qualifications, and may be awarded up to a $50,000 grant for their project.

The theme for 2006 is "Comparative Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Assessments of Steel Products." This involves quantifying the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions from raw material extraction, through end of life including steelmaking, the use phase and the recycling phase and then comparing the results for steel to those of another material in the same market.

"Last year's submissions to the Design Grant Program was excellent," Andrew G. Sharkey, III, AISI president and CEO said, "and this year we hope for even greater response from North American universities."

According to Ron Ashburn, AIST Foundation executive director, "This year's theme will provide a comparative life cycle analysis to benchmark steel against wood, plastic and other consumer materials. This information will help us better understand what is required to build a sustainable steel industry from an environmental perspective."

Applicants are directed to visit either www.steel.org, or www.aist.org for a complete set of application instructions. Completed proposals must be submitted electronically in pdf form by 5 p.m. EDT on May 2, 2006.