Students are allowed hands-on experience in all processes involved in metalcasting at Joyworks.
the university did not have casting capabilities on campus, Keough orga- nized field trips that took students to facilities where they could see metal casting production.
Te tours led Keough to the idea of building such a place himself, which ended in the construction of Joyworks, a 1,000-sq.-ft. metalcasting facility that was built right in Keough’s back- yard. Te primary purpose was to host educational and mentoring programs. But that wasn’t its only purpose. “It started as my way of giving
back,” said Keough. “If I can share my passion for metalcasting, then I think I would be accomplishing something good. But it’s not all altruism. I like making stuff and fiddling around, so it began as something of a hobby too.” Te studio—dubbed “Joyworks”
because it sits on Joy Road—features two self-contained induction tipping furnaces capable of 200-lb. ferrous heats and 70-lb. heats of aluminum. Castings from 1 to 150 lbs. can be produced using nobake sand and lost foam processes.
In the past nine years, Joyworks
has developed into a valuable resource for the Univ. of Michigan’s MSE department. Keough, who is the school’s FEF Key Professor, hosts an annual metalcasting module associ- ated with a junior-level processes course. Te studio hosted 75 students in the course’s latest iteration in 2013. Each left with an aluminum lost foam casting. “We’re doing our little bit here to
positively affect as many kids as we can,” Keough said. “All the students that come through MSE at the University of Michigan have to come by me now, and they have to make
a casting. Tat may not sound like much, but it’s a huge development. For decades, they weren’t directly exposed to metal castings.”
Specialized Customer Support
In May 2012, Applied Process held a customer advisory board, where it invited representatives from 10 companies to offer feedback, critiques and suggestions for how the company could better meet its cus- tomers’ needs. A number of attendees, including those from larger firms with extensive engineering depart- ments, voiced a need for assistance in identifying potential candidates for
“We built Joyworks to focus on conversion
opportunities and to provide end-users with sample parts quickly.”—John Keough
May 2014 MODERN CASTING | 31
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