Inside ICI A New Era of Collaboration – Off and Running!
By Joseph E. Fritz – Executive Director
facilitated by the ICI which marked the start of an era of collaboration between North
O
American trade associations serving the metal-casting community. Last month, INCAST published a number of articles and press releases addressing some of the resulting activities, and I feel it appropriate that I recap those for you at this time: 1) In response to the industry- wide need for attracting talent, the ICI, in collaboration with the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF), is hosting Mentorship Week on the ICI’s virtual Networking and Event
Platform (ref.
INCAST Magazine – July 2021 page 4).
All North American metal-casting
trade associations, their members and universities with curricula applicable to the industry are invited to exhibit in this event. High school and college students from all over North America will be invited to participate in the event in the hopes of sparking an interest in the industry.
Exhibitors should design their booths to be informative whether staffed or not. In fact, the only time that we request the booths be staffed is on Industry Day, September 16, from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. to address student questions. Who: North American Metal-casting trade associations, universities, foundries and suppliers
When: September 13-17, 2021 Where: ICI Networking and Event Campus
Cost: No charge
Information and Registration:
www.investmentcasting. org/mentorship
2) In the July issue on page 6,
INCAST published a press release addressing an event that is co- sponsored by the Institute, the American Foundry Society (AFS) and
6 ❘ August 2021 ®
n page 8 of the April issue of INCAST Magazine, I advised you of a Summit Meeting
the Steel Founders’ Society of America (SFSA).
This event, the Additive
Manufacturing for Investment Casting (AM4IC) symposium, will be hosted by the University of Northern Iowa, an ICI Allied Member.
AM4IC will include a tour of the
UNI Additive Manufacturing Center, six presentations by industry leaders and a joint meeting of the AFS and ICI committees addressing additive and pattern manufacture. As part of the joint committee meeting, Mr. Tom Dore, AFS Technical Director, will review the process by which research proposals are submitted to
those involving inter-association collaboration. Who: Foundries and suppliers serving the investment casting industry
When: October 5, 2021 Where: University of Northern Iowa Cost: No charge
Information and Registration:
www.investmentcasting. org/am4ic
3) On page 8 of last month’s issue, we announced a new inter-association agreement. The ICI and the Non Ferrous Founder’s Society (NFFS) have entered into a Joint Marketing Agreement which provides access to the Integrated Casting Order Network (ICON). ICON’s mission is to assist the Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency with the reestablishment of capable supply chains for defense and military related metal castings. The cloud based B2B portal
identifies sales opportunities available from the DOD/ DLA and other federal procurement agencies and directs them to foundries that either have existing tooling or the required material and process capabilities. ICI Members have access to ICON at no charge as a new Member Benefit. Mr. Jerrod Weaver, Executive Director – NFFS, will be the speaker at
our September webinar, where he will review ICON, its benefits and use for ICI Members. He will also be speaking at our 68th Technical Conference in November on the same topic, and demonstrating the use of the platform at the Expo. Who: ICI Members When: September 21, 2021, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Cost: No charge
Information and Registration:
www.investmentcasting. org/webinars
AFS, including
Who: Metal-casting industry When: November 7-10, 2021 Where: DeVos Place, Grand Rapids, MI Pricing and Registration:
www.investmentcasting.org
There are a number of other inter- association initiatives underway that we have yet to address. One of these is on the technical front. Dr. Victor Okhuysen, Cal Poly Pomona, is representing the ICI on the technical collaboration initiative, which is being led by Raymond Monroe, Executive Vice President – SFSA. Together, the two associations are
developing a proposal for government funding which addresses various aspects of the investment casting process. Key points of this proposal will address 1) burnout of 3D printed patterns, 2) casting simulation improvements and 3) alternative binder materials.
Project
value is estimated at $750,000, and if secured, participation will be open to members of all North American trade associations participating in the investment casting industry. Clearly, we have embarked on a
new era for the ICI and the entire metal- casting industry, as we have shared interests and needs. Working together, we will not only be more efficient, but we will be able to offer greater value to our members, which is our main objective.
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