Dr. Sam Ramrattan, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) professor specializing in metal casting, led a delegation of five IME students to the 61st Annual Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) College Industry Conference (CIC) held in Chicago late last fall.
The two-day conference celebrated the metal-casting industry and provided networking opportunities for 30 company reps and the faculty members and 98 students from 24 metalcasting-accredited colleges. Only five students from each college were invited to the conference.
WMU attendees were Michael Horvath, Jason Klein, Kirk Mrozek, Shane Sovia, and Brad Tudor, all technology majors interested in metal casting.
The conference offered information sessions and speakers on innovation, globalization, sustainability, and career opportunities.
Klein, who earned a BS in Manufacturing Technology last semester, won a $2,000 American Foundry Society (AFS) – Saginaw Valley Scholarship. He was one of only 15 students to win a CIC Student Delegate Scholarship.
Klein dined with representatives of MetalTek International, headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was impressed with the conference speakers, and especially a Caterpillar, Inc., rep who described the company’s efforts in restoring old equipment. “They take bulldozers that have been rusting in fields for 20 years and make them new,” he said.
The conference camaraderie added to the atmosphere of the conference. “It was definitely a rewarding experience,” Klein said. “Most of the company reps are former FEF students who keep giving back, and you realize that once you’re in metal-casting, it’s a lifelong membership.”
Klein came to WMU from Grand Rapids and is now a graduate assistant in WMU’s manufacturing master’s program. He attends classes, teaches a lab section of ME 2200 Processes and Materials in Manufacturing, and assists in Ramrattan’s research. He is also interviewing for a summer internship.
Having won at least five other metal-casting-related scholarships, Klein is more than enthusiastic about the topic, and he is eager to go to work in metal-casting.
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