Cluster Researchers at TMS Conference 2017 in San Diego
This year, two Cluster researchers attended the “TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition” as expert in their respective fields of research. Viktor Kripak (IEHK) and Patrick Messer (GI) took part in the conference and exhibition in San Diego, representing their research on the internationally acclaimed conference from 26.02 – 02.03. The annaual meeting, which is organized by the American “Minerals, Metals & Materials Society”, gathers more than 4,000 engineers, business leaders, researchers, experts and students from around the globe, promoting scientifc exchange in the field of materials science. The society, which was established as early as 1871, has more than 13,000 members from 94 countries and is the world's biggest community in the field.
The affiliated exhibition, taking place for the 146 time in 2017, looks back on a long tradition and allows the attendees to engage in scientific exchange, networking and establishing new collaborations amongst them. International technology transfer, innovation and environmental protection are other theme complexes the congress focuses on. The participants focused on a broad range of topics in more than 65 symposia, Additive Manufacturing being only one of the topics.
Victor Kripak from the RWTH Steel Institute IEHK does research on the development of an Aluminium-free Case Hardening Steel within the Cluster's research area Virtual Production Systems as a research associate. Patrick Messer from the Foundry Institute (GI) works within the area of Integrated Technologies and does research on a special procedure of pressure-die casting.
Kripak praises the impressive location of the conference in San Diego, the general organization and the interesting sessions within the field of steel machining.
Patrick Messer used the opportunity of attending the international conference to introduce his research field, the Multi-Omponent High Pressure Die Casting (M-HPDC) to raise awareness for the new process. The M-HPDC-process is a special procedure of the conventional die casting process, which is still in the development phase. Especially in this phase, it is most important to raise awareness and to establish the project within the community to allow for a successful implementation into the industry, says Messer. The conference as one of the biggest world-wide is especially convenient for this cause becoause of its international reach and allows the presentation of innovative technologies in an international atmosphere.
“The field of the TMS is very broad, but at the same time also very specific.”, Messer characterizes the conference. “The 'world' of materials science meets here und exchanges information about partly extermely complex research areas. At the same time, many new technologies, which still have to establish themselves internationally, are presented."