Future foundry professionals gathered earlier this summer at the Summer Institute in Metal Casting 2005, held at the Parkview Campus at Western Michigan University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Dr. Sam Ramrattan (seated, right) directed the Summer Institute in Metal Casting, a five-day event that attracted high school students from the Midwest to WMU’s CEAS Parkview Campus
IME’s Dr. Sam Ramrattan led 13 high school students through a five-day program designed to help the students learn about the application of math and science in the metal casting profession.
WMU senior Scott Seckel (right), WMU-FEF scholar, and Dr. Sam Ramrattan demonstrate pouring aluminum into sand molds as high school students watch from behind protective barriers
The students learned about molding, melting, and filling, as well as metal properties and the use of computer simulation in the metal casting process. In the lab, they worked with Ramrattan and WMU students on a variety of metal casting processes.
In addition to their lab and course work, the students met with WMU administrators to discuss university entrance requirements and expectations and met with professionals from the foundry industry to review career opportunities in metal casting
“I try to show them why this is a rewarding career,” Ramrattan said.
Students designed their own patterns and poured their own castings in the Metal Casting Lab located on the Parkview Campus.
Dr. Sam Ramrattan (standing, third from the left) observes high school students as they prepare a mold for lost foam casting.
The attendees toured Howmet Casting in LaPorte, IN, and Metal Technologies’ Three Rivers Gray Iron Plant. They also enjoyed a number of activities in the Kalamazoo / Portage metro area
Ramrattan has offered the summer metal casting program for the last six years. Students who attend the program are sponsored by various chapters of the American Foundry Society (AFS) and the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA). There is no cost to the students who stay in WMU dormitories and enjoy campus life.
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