Mission of Center:

The Center was formed to conduct research important to industry that falls in any of the following areas of iron and steel production: Ironmaking, steelmaking, slag management, and feed preparation (grinding, separation, and pelletization). It promotes fundamental industry-sponsored research that is needed to make iron and steel production sustainable, and provides opportunities for education of the critically-needed students to work in this area. The team assembled for this Center believes that the common perception of the iron and steel industry as being “mature” technologies, with little room for improvement, is incorrect.The overwhelming need to develop an alternative to the use of fossil fuels, will force the industry to find novel approaches for producing the 130 million tons of iron and steel consumed in the U.S. annually. 

The issues with sustainability cannot simply be addressed with minor tinkering with current processes. Fundamental new science and technology derived from basic research is needed to create new approaches for metal production. The Center is fostering a research and technology base that will promote synergy between academic and industrial interests, leading to a new generation of sustainable, economical iron and steelmaking technologies.

The Center includes an Industrial Advisory Board that provides regular oversight and consultations to work with the Center participants to define the research agenda, ensuring that it focuses on shared research interests, needs, and opportunities. All intellectual property is shared equally among the Center members. Industry members of the Center will provide the primary financial resource for the Center’s activities, and have substantial interaction with the university
members. The extensive graduate and undergraduate student involvement ensures that students
have the opportunity to work with industrial personnel, and produces students that are
knowledgeable in industrially relevant research.