FeMET Initiative's Design and Curriculum Grants Awarded

AISI and the Association for Iron and Steel Technology's "Ferrous Metallurgy Education Today," or FeMET Initiative, has awarded its design and curriculum development grants for the academic year 2008-2009.

FeMET Design Grant—A team of metallurgical and mechanical engineering students and their professor from Colorado School of Mines has been selected for their proposal titled, "Weldability, Processing, Microstructure and Fracture Toughness Relationships in Advanced High Strength Steel." Their proposal was submitted in response to the 2008-2009 design theme "Technologies for Welding of New Generation Steels."

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 proposals must 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 2008. The number of awards granted depends on the funds available, with the maximum grant per award being $50,000.

FeMET Curriculum Development Grant—Seven grants in the amount of $5,000 each were issued to professors of ferrous metallurgy or materials science for the 2008-2009 academic year. Of those seven, six grants represent renewals from 2007, including:

• Dr. Robert H. Wagoner, The Ohio State University (Year 4 of 5)
• Dr. Harvey Abramowitz, Purdue University Calumet (Year 4 of 5)
• Dr. David P. Field, Washington State University (Year 4 of 5)
• Dr. Thomas J. Balk, University of Kentucky (Year 3 of 5)
• Dr. Sivaraman Guruswamy, University of Utah (Year 2 of 5)
• Dr. Thomas E. Graedel, Yale University (Year 2 of 5)

One new grant was awarded to:

• Dr. Alan P. Druschitz, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Year 1 of 2)

Proposals for the Curriculum Development Grant 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. The number of grants depends on funds available, with the maximum grant awarded being $5,000 per year for five years for a total of $25,000. For more information, contact BV Lakshminarayana.