Continued from pg 15
express my thanks to Ransom & Randolph, Imerys, Consarc, AMA Service, Blayson and the ESI Group for great support. The support was provided in various forms – sending out their experts to give lectures, material support for the production of models, shells and the material for the preparation of melts.
How relevant were those visits? Another
provided by local Czech companies included visits and excursions to the industrial facilities. At our university, we primarily focus on the production of prototypes and piece production, so the visit to the industrial facilities was certainly a very interesting experience for the participants. I must especially emphasize the LANIK, Alucast, PBS and MCAE companies, who devoted their time to us and provided their experts. In my opinion, the combination of the suppliers of ceramic filters, funnels, the 3D scanning + 3D print and reverse engineering company and the visit to foundries specializing in the production of superalloy castings, Al and Mg castings met with a very positive reaction.
Q A
hands-on experiences that the participants had the opportunity to engage in?
own bust. On the very first day, as part of the team building activities, they learned about 3D scanning and then made casting trees, shells, from a 3D printed model, and also participated in casting from a bronze alloy. In the seminars
Q A
they experience with
could the
get production
hands-on of
a hybrid casting system, where they tried sticking both wax models and 3D printed models. The manual dipping of the casting tree and manual stuccoing was more of an artistic attraction;
16 ❘ November 2023 ®
The practical application that we prepared for the course participants was making their
What were some of the practical
applications and form of
Did the course contemplate visits to local Investment Casting related industries?
support
however, the participants experienced that proper dipping, draining, stuccoing and drying is a non-trivial process in the creation of the different shell layers. Then, they learned about the rapid prototyping of a ceramic shell using the Cyclone device and about air and vacuum alloy melting.
positive takeaways and areas where participants felt the course excelled? First,
to learn something, which was obvious in the discussions after each lecture. We know from the feedback that the course organization was handled very well and the contents of the course were perceived very positively. We made extra effort to create a friendly atmosphere, where no question is silly, and thus opened the door to mutual sharing of experience. I think this is what encouraged the discussions we had during the course.
Q A
advancement of investment casting technology in Europe?
development of the IC technology in Europe. I would be happy if it was so. I definitely think it is a springboard for something that we were missing and that could become a tradition required and positively accepted by the industry.
Q A
courses that may be offered in collaboration with EICF?
potential for improvement on our part, for example, in the time structure of the course. All the 6 days of this course
Q A
We would like to continue with the courses in the coming years. We know there is
Can you share any plans for the future, such as potential improvements
or additional
It was our first course, so I cannot judge yet whether this course is a contribution to the
In your opinion, how does this course contribute to the broader development and
I must say that we
had an excellent group of participants who were eager
The feedback received through surveys was excellent. Could you highlight some of the key
were "packed". We believe that together with the EICF we can prepare and offer shorter dedicated courses focused for example on one or two topics that will be up-to-date and interesting for the industry.
Technology and industry associations like EICF evolving to support the invest- ment casting industry in the coming years?
the industry to provide development to their workers, to support new talents, new people coming into this technology from other fields, as the number of specialists who have studied foundry technology is rapidly falling. If the companies do not have experts with appropriate knowledge, sooner or later, they will lose their competitive ability. It is also necessary for the industry to invest in collaboration with universities and associations like EICF to help create a functional ecosystem that will be beneficial to all the parties.
Q A
About Dr. Krutis Dr. Krutis is a Senior Lecturer at Brno University of
Technology (BUT),
Institute of Manufacturing Technology, Department of Foundry Engineering. He graduated from the same university specializing in numerical simulation of foundry processes and foundry technology. From 2001-2018 he worked as a Business Development Manager and later as a Sales Director for Central and Eastern Europe at the ESI Group. Member of the Czech Foundryman Society and Chairman of the Technology Commission. Chairmen of working Group for Management at WFO. Since 2019, he has been responsible for the development of investment casting technology at the BUT workplace.
In my opinion, this type of collaboration
needs to be deepened and extended to help
How do you see the relation- ship between academic insti- tutions like Brno University of
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