Steel Mills
September 12, 2018
First Steel 201 Workshop Spotlights AK Steel's R&D
Written by Tim Triplett
AK Steel co-hosted Steel Market Update’s first Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop this week at the $36 million AK Research and Innovation Center opened last year in Middletown, Ohio. The beautiful 135,000-square-foot facility made AK Steel’s commitment to R&D readily apparent to the 40+ students and staff assembled there for the workshop.
AK General Manager of Products J.B. Chronister described the company’s philosophy as its staff of research scientists challenge the laws of physics to create new advanced high-strength steels. “It’s OK to fail, but fail fast, then move on,” he said. It’s not enough to simply develop new products; they must be both profitable for the company and cost-effective for the customer. New steels must also be economical versus competitive materials, most notably aluminum, whose own research establishment is hard at work developing products to win market share from steel in various automotive applications.
