Past AIST Committee Activities

Current Activities

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met on 26 January 2012. The committee  joined the Plate Rolling Technology Committee on a tour of ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor’s 110-inch and 160-inch plate mills in the morning. The afternoon started with Tom Szkut of ArcelorMittal Dofasco welcoming everyone. Jeff Mason of Integrated Mill Systems volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Antitrust Guidelines were reviewed and everyone in attendance agreed to abide by them. The minutes from the 27–28 September 2011 EATC meeting in Evansville, Ind., were reviewed and approved as written. The 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities Report was reviewed in detail, which led to a group discussion on safety in the mills from an electrical viewpoint. The committee proposed that its leadership stay the same for next year. The final consensus will take place during the next meeting at AISTech 2012. The AISTech Electrical Applications sessions were reviewed, and all of the empty slots were filled. Szkut gave a presentation on fire safety in pulpits and motor rooms, which led to a discussion of how others protect their pulpits and motor rooms. Al Hruskoci of AIM gave a presentation on an arc flash door-mounted control system, which is a device that displays via LEDs if a voltage is present in the cabinet. Mason reviewed the nominations for the 2012 AIST Farrington Best Paper Award, and the winner was confirmed. Ron Tessendorf updated the committee on the status of the 2013 Process Systems Specialty Training Conference, which is planned to be tied to the 2013 Cold Sheet Roll Fundamentals Course in February. The next EATC meeting will be 8 May 2012 at AISTech in Atlanta, Ga.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met in Evansville, Ind., on 27–28 September 2011 at Flanders Electric.  There were 12 committee members in attendance. Tom Szkut of ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc. opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and asking the attendees to introduce themselves. Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Antitrust Guidelines were reviewed and all in attendance agreed to abide by them. The minutes from the 3 May 2011 EATC meeting were reviewed and approved as written. The 2011 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics were reviewed, which led to a safety discussion. It was noted that there were no electrical accidents on the list, and that the statistics may be impacted by the emphasis on arc flash and personal protective equipment compliance. Jeff Mason of Integrated Mill Services led a review of the abstracts that have been submitted for AISTech 2012. The committee then organized the abstracts into sessions, and several members volunteered to be session chairs. Nominations for the AIST Farrington Award were distributed for evaluation. The award will be presented during the EATC meeting at AISTech 2012 in May. David Withrow showed a slide presentation, helping all in attendance to better understand standards that exist within the industry in the United States and abroad. Flanders Electric hosted a tour of its facility. The following day, Alcoa Warrick Operations hosted a tour of its facility.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee met on 7 September 2011 in Toledo, Ohio. Henryk Tomala of ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc. opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for attending. The AIST Antitrust Guidelines were reviewed and everyone agreed to abide by them. Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific agreed to take the meeting minutes. The previous meeting minutes were reviewed and approved as written. The available abstracts for AISTech 2012 were reviewed, and a number of them were chosen for a “Sensors in Various Steel Processes” session. The next subcommittee meeting was a conference call on 17 October 2011 to review the session status and to finalize the spring 2012 meeting date and location.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee met on 2 May 2011 at AISTech in Indianapolis, Ind. Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific opened the meeting as the subcommittee chair and thanked everyone for participating in the meeting. Carvel Hoffman of KDV Consulting volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Antitrust Guidelines were reviewed and agreed to. Formal minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed and approved as written. The subcommittee elected their officers for the 2011–2012 term to be: Henryk Tomala from ArcelorMittal Dofasco, chair; Rob Ricciatti from Kelk, vice chair; and Chris Burnett, papers chair. The subcommittee mission statement was read and reviewed with no changes: “To foster the awareness of sensor needs for the improvement of metals manufacturing processes or product quality, and the availability of existing and emerging sensor technologies that may meet such needs. To this end, the committee provides the forums for the AIST constituency to discover, understand, and evaluate the various sensors, instrumentation and measurement systems and their applications.” A couple of fall meeting locations and topics were discussed, including a joint meeting with the Galvanizing Technology Committee focused on sensors.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met on 3 May 2011 at AISTech in Indianapolis, Ind. Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions Inc. welcomed everyone to the meeting and had the attendees introduce themselves. Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc. volunteered to take the meeting minutes. Magee reminded everyone that the meeting would be conducted following the Antitrust Guidelines set forth by AIST. There was a review of the previous meeting minutes and they were approved as written. Ron Tessendorf of TM GE Automation reviewed the joint Process Systems Specialty Conference, which took place in Orlando, Fla., in February 2011 and was held with the Cold Rolling Training Course. The course was a success with 90 attendees. The EATC elected their officers for the 2011–2012 term: Tom Szkut from ArcelorMittal Dofasco, chair; Chris Beltran of USS-POSCO, vice chair; and Jeff Mason of Integrated Mill Systems, papers chair. The committee mission statement was reviewed and approved without changes to read: “To advance the design, application, maintenance, and safety of electrical systems, by providing opportunities for publication, training, technology exchange and networking.” The committee objectives were reviewed; it was decided to hold the Process Systems seminar again in 2012. Mason presented the Farrington Award to Michael Rourke of Schweitzer Engineer Laboratories Inc. for his paper entitled, “Innovative Methods for Integrating Utility and Production Automation Systems.” Kevin Bort presented the outgoing chair plaque to Dave Magee for his outstanding service to the committee as chair this past year. The fall 2011 EATC meeting is scheduled for 27–28 September 2011 in Evansville, Ind., and will include a tour of the Alcoa Warrick Operations.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) had a joint meeting with the Sensor Systems Subcommittee on 24 February 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Jeff Mason of Integrated Mill Systems called the meeting to order and thanked all for taking the time to meet. Mr. Mason welcomed the newest EATC member, Chris Beltran from USS-POSCO, to his first meeting. Chris Burnett from Thermo Fisher Scientific volunteered to take the meeting minutes. Mr. Mason reviewed the AIST Antitrust Guidelines and all the participants agreed to abide by them. Minutes from the previous meeting on 22 September 2010 in Columbia City were reviewed and accepted. The committee had a safety discussion, which included reviewing the 2010 Steel Mill Fatality report. The EATC sessions for AISTech 2011 were reviewed and finalized. The Call for Papers topic for AISTech 2012 was reviewed with no changes from the previous year. The committee reviewed the nominations for Best Paper Award and the ratings for each paper were tabulated. The committee successfully selected the Best Paper and the award was presented at AISTech 2011. A general discussion of the just-concluded Process Systems Specialty Training Conference took place and all agreed that the conference was a success. The group had a joint tour, along with the Electrical Applications Technology Committee, of the University of Central Florida and the Siemens Energy Center on campus. The tour included a review of the selective laser technology used to repair alloy turbine parts. Both committees appreciated the hospitality of the University of Central Florida. Please visit AIST.org for additional information on EATC activities.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met 21–22 Oct 2010, in Toronto and Hamilton, Ont., Canada. Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific opened the meeting by thanking everyone for traveling to Toronto and attending the subcommittee meeting. He also volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines were reviewed, and all agreed to abide by them. The previous meeting minutes were reviewed and approved with one minor change. The 2010 Mill Fatality Report was reviewed, and a discussion about safety followed. The committee reviewed abstracts from some 30 papers, and five were selected for a joint session with the Continuous Casting Technology Committee on Monday afternoon at AISTech 2011. A second session on Tuesday morning is being held open for the Sensors Subcommittee as a possible roundtable with the tentative topic, “What Sensors Do You Need?” Several possible formats of this session were discussed, and it was decided that a sensor questionnaire will be passed to the chairs of other Technology Committees in order to garner questions for the “Sensor Expert Panel.” Henryk Tomala, Carvel Hoffman and Chris Burnett offered to be session chairs. Richard Gagg of Amatek Land provided a thorough review of all the temperature measurements made in steel production: from the steelmaking process to the annealing furnace and process lines.  Mr. Gagg included a technical review of black body radiation and the solid-state materials used in pyrometers. The meeting concluded with a tour of the ArcelorMittal hot strip mill and DSG galvanizing line. The EATC held a Webinar/conference call on 14 Dec 2010. The next Sensor Systems Subcommittee meeting will take place following the Process Systems Training Seminar in Orlando, Fla., in February 2011.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met in Fort Wayne, Ind., on 22 Sep. Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees. Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) agreed to take the meeting minutes. Mr. Magee reviewed the AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines, and everyone in attendance agreed to abide by them. The previous meeting minutes were reviewed and approved with minor changes. Mr. Bort led the discussion on safety by stressing the need to make safety personal, and he reminded everyone that it’s their job to be safe. He also reviewed what SDI and his department do to reinforce safety at their mill. The EATC reviewed the available abstracts for AISTech 2011 and organized them into three sessions, including Monday afternoon and both sessions on Tuesday. The session chairs were also determined. The committee agreed to have all EATC members vote on the Farrington Award nominations. It was also brought up that the AC/DC and Power Distribution Specialty Training Conferences were to be reviewed, to see if it were possible to put together a “canned program.” Ron Tessendorf of TM GE Automation reviewed the plans for the Process Systems Specialty Training Conference (STC) scheduled for 21–24 Feb 2011, in Orlando, Fla. Steel Dynamics hosted a tour of their new medium section mill. The next physical EATC meeting will take place immediately following the Process Systems STC in Orlando, Fla. on 24–25 Feb 2011. In the meantime, a conference call is scheduled for 14 Dec 2010, at 10 a.m. to finalize the Process Systems STC and the AISTech 2011 sessions.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee met on 3 May 2010, at AISTech in Pittsburgh, Pa. Carvel Hoffman opened the meeting as the Subcommittee chair and thanked everyone for participating in the meeting. Chris Burnett of Thermo Scientific volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines were reviewed and agreed to. Formal minutes from the previous meeting on March 4 were not available, but were read from the raw notes taken by the minute taker at that meeting; no changes were made. The subcommittee elected their officers for the 2010–2011 term as: Chris Burnett, chair; Henryk Tomala from ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc., vice chair; and Rob Ricciatti from Kelk, papers chair. The Subcommittee mission statement was read and reviewed by all. No changes need to be made, so it will remain as follows: “To foster the awareness of sensor needs for the improvement of metals manufacturing processes or product quality, and the availability of existing and emerging sensor technologies that may meet such needs. To this end, the committee provides the forums for the AIST constituency to discover, understand, and evaluate the various sensors, instrumentation and measurement systems and their applications.” A couple of fall meeting locations and topics were discussed, including a “sensors day” at a mill site or a topic of “temperature measurements throughout the mill,” with the final decision to be made during a July conference call. The spring 2011 meeting will be co-located with the Process Systems Specialty Training Conference on Feb. 25, 2011, in Orlando, Fla.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met on 4 May 2010, at AISTech in Pittsburgh, Pa. Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc. welcomed everyone to the meeting, and the attendees introduced themselves. Mr. Bort reminded everyone that the meeting would be conducted following the AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines. There was a review of the previous EATC meeting minutes, and they were approved as written. Ron Tessendorf of TM GE Automation reviewed the Process Systems Specialty Conference, which will be held in Orlando, Fla., 21–24 Feb 2011, and will be co-located with the Cold Rolling Training Course. The committee elected Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions to be its chair. The EATC mission statement was reviewed and approved without changes as: “To advance the design, application, maintenance, and safety of electrical systems, by providing opportunities for publication, training, technology exchange, and networking.” Committee objectives were reviewed, it was decided, in addition to the Specialty Conference, there would be at least one meeting, several Webinars and a review of the previous conferences to see what could be developed into a standing or “canned” program. Jeff Mason of Avtron presented the Farrington Award to Ljubomir Kojovic, Martin T. Bishop and Dharam Sharma for their paper entitled, “New Fault Detection Technology for Electric Arc Furnace Electrical Systems.” Dave Magee presented the outgoing chair plaque to Kevin Bort for his outstanding service to the EATC as chair this past year. The fall 2010 meeting is tentatively scheduled for 21–22 Sep 2010, in Columbia City, Ind. The meeting will include a tour of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s new medium section mill, second caster and rail welding facility. The EATC also held a Webinar on 12 Jul 2010.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) had a conference call meeting on 19 Mar 2010. The committee chair, Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc., opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their time. Mr. Bort reviewed the AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines, and everyone agreed to abide by them. Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions agreed to take the meeting minutes. The minutes from the 21 Jan WebEx meeting were reviewed and approved without correction. The AISTech 2010 EATC sessions were reviewed in detail, and the session chairs were advised of possible problems in the programming so they could take appropriate action. The EATC 2010 Farrington Award voting was reviewed. The AIST Farrington Award was established by the former AIST Electrical Engineering Operating Committee in 2005 to honor James Farrington, founder and first president of AISEE. The Farrington Award recognizes an exceptional technical paper in an EATC-sponsored technical session or specialty conference. The committee agreed to award the Farrington Award to Ljubomir Kojovic of Cooper Power Systems, Martin Bishop of Cooper Power Systems, and Dharam Sharma of Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. for their submission entitled, “New Fault Detection Technology for Electric Arc Furnace Electrical Systems.” The committee then discussed nominations for the EATC leadership positions for the coming year. The elections took place during the committee meeting at AISTech 2010 in May. The next EATC meeting will take place in the fall of 2010.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) had a meeting 4 Mar 2010, in Independence, Ohio. Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific, vice chair of the committee, welcomed everyone to the meeting. The AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines were reviewed and agreed to. Mr. Burnett also agreed to take the meeting minutes. The minutes from the 18–19 Nov 2009, meeting in Baltimore, Md., were reviewed and approved as written. The status of the AISTech sensor session was reviewed, and Henryk Tomala of ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc. was added as a session chair. The EATC 2011 Call for Abstracts text was reviewed and agreed to as: “Design, application and/or engineering of power quality and distribution; AC/DC motor/drive technology; HMI systems; open architectural systems and other networks; electrical maintenance and electrical safety applications; and electrical upgrades/retrofits. Application of sensors for process control; efficiency and cost-effective solutions; on-line and off-line shape and flatness measurement; mechanical properties testing; automated surface inspection; oil thickness measurement; surface cleanliness; soft sensors (i.e., modeling of a variable that cannot be measured directly); and other unique sensors that provide new and innovative uses to the primary and finishing sides of the steelmaking process.” The committee joined the Computer Applications Technology Committee for presentations by systems and automation specialists from ArcelorMittal Cleveland about the upgraded hot-dip galvanizing line and a subsequent tour of the facility. The Sensor Systems Subcommittee wishes to thank the mill personnel for their time and hospitality. The next meeting will be at AISTech on 3 May 2010.

The Sensor Systems Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met 18 Nov 2009, in Towson, Md. The committee chair, Carvel Hoffman, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone, and he asked the attendees to introduce themselves. The AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines were reviewed and agreed to. Christopher Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The Sensor Systems Subcommittee currently has 34 members, and 10 attended this meeting. The previous meeting minutes were reviewed and approved as written. Three presentations around the theme of profile gauges were given: Mr. Burnett presented “Profile Gauging Overview,” Brian Smith of Siemens presented “Shape Control,” and Mr. Hoffman presented “Process Improvements Without Actuators.” Cal Keeney of Severstal Sparrows Point offered a number of ideas on how to get young steel professionals involved, including holding a meeting focused on “How the AIST Sensor Systems Subcommittee Can Help Your Operations” and arranging a bus to take mill personnel to the AISTech exhibition in Pittsburgh in May. The next Sensor Systems Subcommittee meeting is tentatively scheduled in conjunction with the AIST Hot Flat Rolling Fundamentals Seminar in Orlando, Fla., 21–25 Feb 2010.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met 14 Oct 2009, in Merrillville, Ind. The committee chair, Kevin Bort of Steel Dynamics Inc. – Columbia City, opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting and asked all the attendees to introduce themselves. Steve Sontag of Reliacheck Mfg. volunteered to take the meeting minutes. Mr. Bort reviewed the AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines. The 2009 Steel Mill Fatality Report was reviewed. The EATC chose abstracts for AISTech 2010 and arranged them into sessions. Plans for the next Process Control Specialty Training Conference, which is preliminarily scheduled for February 2011, were then reviewed. The EATC then had a joint tour, with the Computer Applications Technology Committee, of Purdue Calumet’s Visualization Lab and ArcelorMittal Research and Development Center. The EATC thanks Professor Chenn Zhou for hosting the committee at Purdue Calumet and Mike Masleid of ArcelorMittal for hosting the committee at the R&D Center. The next EATC meeting is scheduled as a Webinar for 21 Jan 2010.

The Sensors Subcommittee of the Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met on 6 May during AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo. Dan Cunningham of Consero opened the meeting and asked the attendees to introduce themselves with a brief description of what their company does. Members stated that the quality of papers was good, and the networking with fellow vendors and producers was good. Many members remarked that, while the attendance was down, the proportion of vendors to steel producers was significantly up. Chris Burnett of Thermo Fisher Scientific volunteered to take the meeting minutes. Mr. Cunningham reminded all EATC members to promote not only AIST, but also committee membership, even by inviting those in other metals production (aluminum, for example) to join AIST and this committee. The next Process Control Specialty Conference will be pushed to the spring of 2011, at which time the economy should be better and allow more people to attend the conference. The details of the conference are still to be worked out, but the suggestion was to hold it in Atlanta, which most travelers could reach in just one flight. The committee elected Carvel Hoffman of ArcelorMittal as chair, Mr. Burnett as vice chair and Robert Ricciatti of Kelk as papers chair. The Sensor Subcommittee mission statement was reviewed and approved without change. It reads, “To foster the awareness of sensor needs for the improvement of metals manufacturing processes or product quality, and the availability of existing and emerging sensor technologies that may meet such needs. To this end, the committee provides the forums for the AIST constituency to discover, understand, and evaluate the various sensors, instrumentation, and measurement systems and their applications.” Brian Smith of Siemens Energy and Automation offered to prepare a presentation on flatness measurement and control. After some discussion, it was decided that the length of the Webinar would be 45 minutes, where the presentation would last 30 minutes and allow for 15 minutes of questions. If additional questions were posed, those interested could stay on the line. If the subject could not be condensed to 30 minutes, it was suggested that the committee could host a series of these Webinars. The next Sensor Systems Subcommittee meeting would take place either before or after the Electrical Applications Technology Committee meeting, which is tentatively scheduled to take place at Purdue in the fall.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met at AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo., on Tuesday, 5 May. Ron Tessendorf of TMEIC GE thanked everyone for attending and asked the attendees to introduce themselves. Dave Magee of MagTech Solutions volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines were reviewed, and the past meeting minutes were approved without change. The attendance at the Process Controls Specialty Training Conference held in February 2009 was half to a third of the expected attendance due to the downturn in the economy. The EATC believes the content was very good and proposed having the conference again the third week of February 2011 in a city that is easily reached by most participants with only one flight. The EATC officers for 2009–2010 are: Kevin Bort of SDI as chair, Mr. Magee as vice chair, and Jeff Mason of Avtron Manufacturing as papers chair. The committee members reviewed the EATC mission statement and accepted the statement without change. The mission statement reads, “To advance the design, application, maintenance, and safety of electrical systems, by providing opportunities for publication, training, technology exchange, and networking.” Dave Woodward of Avtron Industrial Automation presented the Farrington Award to Michael A. DeCarli and Richard M. Baker of TM GE Automation Systems for their paper entitled, “Medium Voltage Drive Application at U. S. Steel – Lorain Tubular Operations No. 3 Seamless Mill.” A plaque was presented to Mr. Tessendorf to thank him for serving as chair of the EATC. The next meeting was a Webinar on 21 Jul 2009.

The Electrical Applications Technology Committee (EATC) met on 2 Feb, prior to the start of the Process Systems Specialty Training Conference (STC) in Jacksonville, Fla. Ron Tessendorf of TM GE Automation opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. After introductions and a review of the AIST Antitrust Guidelines, the Process Systems STC was discussed. The committee would like to have a similar conference in the fall of 2010, once the business climate improves. The EATC’s AISTech 2009 sessions were then discussed. The EATC will sponsor three sessions at AISTech 2009, with 16 technical presentations. The paper order and session chairs were reviewed and adjusted as needed. The session chairs were encouraged to contact the authors within their sessions and discuss with them their responsibilities and upcoming deadlines for participation. Nominations for EATC officers were discussed. The general consensus is for the position of committee chair to alternate between a producer and a supplier. The EATC topic for the AISTech 2010 Call for Papers was reviewed and updated to include topics for the Sensor Systems Subcommittee. The EATC plans to present the Farrington Award (for best paper presented at an EATC session) during the next EATC meeting, which will take place at AISTech 2009 on 5 May.