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November 18, 2025
On November 5, CIVS was honored to host a dinner keynote speech by U. S. Steel Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Christian Gianni at the SMSVC Annual Meeting. He addressed a very important topic on “The Value of Partnerships” to more than 90 steel industry professionals, CIVS students, staff, faculty, and university leaders. The keynote was very well-received by all attendees and concluded with a lively and productive Q&A session.
November 13, 2025
PNW Leadership Gains Insights at SMSVC Member Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor Plant
Thanks to Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor for hosting a plant tour for PNW Provost Marie Mora and other leaders and CIVS staff on October 10th. The visit started with a presentation, featuring an overview of the Company and the plant, followed by a virtual plant tour developed in collaboration between Indiana Harbor and CIVS.
November 11, 2025
CIVS Researchers Visit Steel Plants for Collaborative Projects
On October 17th, CIVS research staff visited Gerdau at Monroe, MI as part of efforts for the Reheating Furnace project funded by DOE in collaboration with SMSVC member companies.
November 7, 2025
AIST Presentation to Connect Students with Industry Opportunities at CIVS
On Wednesday, October 29, over 40 students had a wonderful opportunity to learn exciting AIST programs in the CIVS Immersive Theater. Courtney Young (AIST Student Program Administrator) talked about AIST scholarships, AIST Foundation Real Steel Video Contest, AISTech 2026, and available travel and training reimbursements — all designed to support and inspire the next generation of steel professionals. The presentation also included insight from Nate Kelly, Midwest Region Manager at Virginia Crane and Young Professional member of AIST.
October 31, 2025
CIVS & MCE Host Distinguished Speaker Seminar – Sumedh Sharma
CIVS had the pleasure of co-sponsoring a Distinguished Speaker Seminar with the PNW MCE department on October 17. Sumedh Sharma, PNW Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, presented “Printing the Future: Structural Design and Visualization in Additive Construction” to CIVS and PNW students, staff, and faculty.
October 21, 2025
Students from Hobart Middle School Enjoyed Tour at CIVS
Over 20 students from Hobart Middle School’s Computer Science class enjoyed touring CIVS on October 14. CIVS Sr. Research Scientist John "Jack" Moreland discussed how computer science ties into simulation & visualization, and real-world applications like steel industry simulations and developing VR and virtual training.
October 16, 2025
CIVS Virtual Die Casting Simulator Showcased at Die Casting Congress & Tabletop
CIVS Sr. Research Scientist John "Jack" Moreland attended the 2025 Die Casting Congress and Tabletop that was held in Milwaukee, WI October 7-9. He hosted hands-on demonstrations of the virtual die casting simulator for operator training and the fire safety training simulator.
October 8, 2025
AIST Rolls Technology Committee Meeting Held at CIVS
Over 60 industry leaders, engineers, and researchers attended the AIST Rolls Committee Meeting held at CIVS on September 30. CIVS Director Chenn Zhou presented an overview of CIVS and CIVS graduate students Qingyun Pu, Jay Polra, and CIVS Ph.D. student Dianzhi Meng presented research in topics of digital twin software for caster, AI hazard recognition for an SMSVC project, and casting, The meeting was organized by AIST Staff Engineer Ken Landau and led by Committee Chair Mike Reidy from Nucor CSI, and Committee Vice Chair Dan Grenough from Cleveland Cliffs.
October 2, 2025
CIVS Research Presented at MS&T Conference
On September 28-29, CIVS presented two research topics at the MS&T Conference in Columbus, OH. Prof. Zhou also took part in the University-Industry Relations Round Table.
September 29, 2025
On Friday, September 26, CIVS welcomed Rudolf Moravec of U.S. Steel, to give a seminar to CIVS students and staff and PNW College of Engineering students. Rudolf’s presentation was very well received and was followed by a productive Q&A. His presentation was titled “Theory & Application of Continuous Casting Process at U.S. Steel”.