WELCOME to PITTSBURGH!
Bringing Investment Casting Technology to the Future- A 70 Year History of Technological
Advancement and Camaraderie by Joseph E. Fritz, ICI Executive Director
elcome to the ICI’s 70th Technical Conference and Expo. We have come a long way since our humble origins, where seventy years ago a small group of entrepreneurs met in New York City with a vision. They represented the interests of a relatively new industry, born out of the technical demands of a growing jet age. These technological demands were being met with an age- old process, first employed by some of the world’s most ancient civilizations, investment casting. On June 26th, 1953, recognizing the need for collaboration to meet the rapidly expanding needs for this technology, these 20 pioneers unanimously voted on the formation of the Investment Casting Institute. We have come a long way in seventy years, and this annual
W
event is testimony to the original dream of our founders. More than ever, the spirit of innovation and collaboration is alive today and is the fuel of continued growth in our industrial capabilities and product applications. Surely our founders would look favorably on where the industry is and the direction in which we are headed. A lot has changed since 1953. In fact, a lot has changed
over the past decade. For example, we have expanded our recognition program to include the Innovator of the Year award, the Executive Director’s Award for Volunteerism, and have established the ICI’s Hall of Honor as the highest honor that can be bestowed upon our industrial colleagues. We now conduct our annual award ceremony as part of our Sunday Welcome Reception, rather than during the conference. This
4 ❘ August 2023 ®
not only allows more time for technical papers, but it also affords us the opportunity to immediately congratulate award recipients in a social setting.
Another feature that has become a mainstay of the
Technical Conference was the addition of a keynote speaker. This had become so popular that we have opened the first session of the technical conference to all members and their guests.
This year, ICI Board President Nip Singh will be introducing Colonel Greg Gadson as our keynote. Colonel Gadson will be talking about organizational adversity, and how to overcome it. Also this year, we are trying something new that involves Instead of a panel of judges choosing the
every attendee.
winners of this year’s casting contest, we are making you the judge.
Every participant using the Whova App can vote for the best casting in a number of categories as well as voting for the best overall casting. You each get one vote per category, so use them wisely. I have highlighted just a few of the changes that I can personally recall from the past decade, but it would be very wrong for me to imply that all improvement is recent. Over the past 70 years, the ICI has witnessed an evolution of rapid change and industrial expansion. To learn more about our great history, I invite you to visit the ICI Booth, where you can walk through our timeline from that first meeting in 1953 to this event. There you can learn how you can be part of “Bringing Investment Casting Technology to the Future”.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
