EPMA Newsletter March 2025

Dear Members,  

We are already at the end of the first trimester 2025, I’m delighted to share the latest highlights and updates from EPMA.  

EuroPM Congress in Glasgow co-chaired by Steven Moseley and Herbert Danninger is on track. The Euro PM2025 TPC, co-chaired by Raquel de Oro-Calderon and Gian Pietro De Gaudenzi, was held virtually in February. The Congress team is actively working on ensuring all full papers and posters will be received and reviewed in due time. The exhibition is almost fully booked, more than six months from the event; this is very promising for the event. There is still room for more stands, and sponsorship packages are still available; there are several ways to be actively present at the event. Two plenary speakers are confirmed: one speech on HIP for nuclear power plant by Rolls Royce, and another on sustainable energy by the “Centre for Sustainable Energy – Glasgow”. Industry corners and Camp Fire will run as usual, stay tuned on EPMA media to book your slot on time. Special Interest Seminars will focus on the future of the different technologies, sectoral group meetings will focus on business with statistics and trend surveys. An event will be dedicated to European Projects, including a specific area in the exhibition. Just after the congress, ISO TC207 will organize its annual meeting in the same location. New activities for the event are being prepared and will be revealed later. 

The General Assembly is 15 May in Brussels. This year we renew the Board and Council as every 3 years. 22 companies applied to join the Council, the vote will be from mid-April to end April, the results disclosed at the General Assembly. Only full members have voting right. The past president Ralf Carlström and past treasurer Adeline Riou will leave their seat after 6 years, as per EPMA rules. New president and new treasurer will be elected. All members are free to attend online or on site. The meeting will consist of the election, EPMA finances, budget 2025-2026 report from each sectoral group, overview of PM trends in Europe. It will be the place to be if you wish to be updated on the activities of your association. Register your attendance, onsite or online, here.

The sector-specific seminars are an aerospace event hosted by Sandvik in Sweden on May 20 and a medical event in October 15 in St Etienne France co-hosted by the CETIM and ENISE. The call for speakers for the medical event is open.  

Membership fees for 2025 have been increased by 3% and follow the inflation in Europe. Most members took the benefit to pay before end of January to be invoiced at the previous rate. 

Due to the increased activities with several EU projects, EPMA technical team was joined recently by Hamid Yousefi. We wish him all the best in his career at EPMA! 

We are all looking forward to seeing you at the latest in Glasgow mid-September, with our sincere thanks for your continued support. 

Lionel Aboussouan

EPMA Executive Director

Euro PM2025 Congress – Technical Programme Committee Meeting 

On 19 February 2025, the Technical Programme Committee (TPC) met online to set up the programme for the Euro PM2025 Congress. Over 70 PM experts from industry and academia from all over Europe reviewed the submitted abstracts.  

EPMA received a total of 235 abstracts for Euro PM2025 (208 Oral presentations and 27 Poster presentations) mostly from Europe (83%). The very high-quality of the submitted papers allowed the TPC members to create a high number of sessions (45 sessions on 3 days) covering a wide range of topics within powder metallurgy. Full details of the programme will be released in May 2025 with the registration opening in parallel at europm2025.com 

Join Us for the Euro PM2025 Plenary Session 

Kick off your Euro PM2025 experience with our Plenary Session on Monday, 15 September at 09:00. 

The session will open with a welcome address by The Rt Hon The Lord Provost of Glasgow, followed by an update on EPMA's latest activities presented by Mr. Lionel Aboussouan, EPMA Executive Director. The EPMA President will then provide an insightful overview of the status and trends in the European Powder Metallurgy (PM) industry. 

This year, we are honoured to welcome two distinguished keynote speakers, who will share their expertise on key industry challenges and future opportunities:
🔹 Prof. Gioia Falcone (University of Glasgow) – Sustainable Energy
🔹 Mr. David Stewart (Rolls-Royce) – HIP Technology for Nuclear Power Plant Applications 

Euro PM2025 Exhibition   

Almost 80% of this year's exhibition stands are already reserved, so if you are interested to meet our network in Glasgow, please enquire today.

New for 2025 is an EU Projects Area, where innovative work can be promoted to all Euro PM attendees.

Our new Sponsorship Brochure is now live – particularly useful for those who cannot be present in Glasgow this September, but are still seeking to promote their brand. Find our more here.

Further information on this year's event, including a current exhibition floor plan, and the Euro PM2025 Mailing List, can be found at https://europm2025.com/ 

Simucrack V 

The final meeting of Simucrack V was held on 10 December 2025 at NPL in London, UK together with the Winterev, the experts meeting of Hard Materials organized by the EuroHM group. SimuCRACK is the Club Project of EPMA that has been running since 2011, being the longest-term project and concluding its fifth stage. The partners of the project will discuss on a possible sixth stage to continue investigations on mechanisms and computer modelling of Fatigue Crack Growth in Hardmetals. 

AlloyHard

A new club project has been initiated by the EuroHM group of Hard Materials: AlloyHard with an online meeting on 11th of February. The project is aiming to investigate the influence of binder alloying in hardmetals on their properties. This will be realized by comparing the use of prealloyed (PA) metal binder powders with mixtures of elemental powders during processing of hardmetals with alternative binders using standard PM processing techniques. The project duration is 2 years and being contracted by CEIT (Spain) and Fraunhofer IKTS (Germany). 

START works on thermoelectric devices and disseminates 

Now in its 34th month, the Horizon Europe project START is progressing towards its 48-month goal of developing thermoelectric materials from mine waste sulphides, particularly tetrahedrites. The first devices are being built right now, with Alongside this, significant efforts in dissemination, communication, and stakeholder engagement, led by EPMA, are ongoing. 

In Brussels, a free workshop, ‘Supporting the Critical Raw Materials Act: Research Projects in the European Union,’ was held at the Marivaux Hotel, adjacent to Raw Materials Week, the yearly event organised by the EC’s DG Grow. Prepared within START’s clustering efforts, the workshop showcased eight EU projects, including REPTiS, focused on Critical Raw Materials. 45 participants took part at the Hitchcock auditorium, and at the end engaged in a productive roundtable discussion. 

45 convened in Brussels for the START Side Event of the Raw Materials Week, on 10th December 2024

Join our 6th free webinar, “Thermoelectric Devices and Applications,” on Tuesday, March 18th, from 14:00 to 15:50 CET. This session will showcase the latest developments in thermoelectric devices from the START and THERMOS consortia, with a focus on replacing tellurium-based materials. This webinar is for engineers and researchers interested in energy efficiency and thermoelectrics, professionals working with IoT sensors and low-grade heat environments, professionals in heavy industries dealing with waste heat, like powder makers and sintering companies, and anyone curious about clean energy solutions. The program includes three presentations from leading experts in the field, followed by a live Q&A session:  

• Hao Yin (TEGnology / START and THERMOS projects): “Thermoelectric energy harvesting, from Materials to Applications”;  

• Aniruddha Ray (RGS Development / START project): “Thermoelectric Modules and Applications: An Industrial Perspective”;  

• Kornelius Nielsch (IFW Dresden / THERMOS project): “Durable and sustainable thermoelectric devices made from magnesium-antimony alloys”. 

Register here for this free learning opportunity on thermoelectrics. 

For detailed project information, visit www.START-HEproject.com and follow us on X, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Subscribe to our mailing list for updates and newsletters. 

RESQTOOL moves into its second year 

The EPMA-coordinated Horizon Europe project RESQTOOL, launched in December 2023, is focused on hardmetal recycling, in order to enhance circularity for W and Co, two important Critical Raw Materials. In its first year, the project has classified scrap types, developed an optimized coding strategy, created a UNFC database, and is upscaling processing lines. 

The RESQTOOL consortium is actively working to overcome regulatory barriers that hinder the recycling of used tools, often misclassified as standard waste. For inquiries on this struggle towards a better Critical Raw Materials recycling, contact EPMA. 

The project also gained visibility at WinterEv in London and Raw Materials Week in Brussels (both in December), and project partners presented at various events, especially in Italy.

T. Karhumaa (Tikomet) will also be a lecturer in the EPMA Training Webinar “PM in the Green Transition, Session 2” on 20th March 2025, on the topic, quite central for RESQTOOL, “Recycling of Hardmetals”, as a part of the training efforts of the project.

A second RESQTOOL newsletter is underway.  

RESQTOOL is also planning activities on Critical Raw Materials, to happen during the congress in Glasgow, together with other projects. Stay informed by visiting www.resqtool.eu or following RESQTOOL on LinkedIn and X.

REPTiS joins forces with other projects

The EPMA-coordinated REPTiS project, which aims to scale up a chemical process for producing titanium alloy powders from Ukrainian ilmenite ore, bypassing traditional melting and atomization, began on September 1st, 2024. Consequently, it is now on month 7 out of its total 48-month duration. 

To foster synergies, numerous online meetings were held with other Horizon Europe-funded projects launched in 2023, namely XTRACT, AVANTIS, PERSEPHONE, REESOURCE, and Euro-Titan. These projects focus on enhancing Critical Raw Materials extraction and processing at lower Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). The EU anticipates REPTiS collaborating with these projects to evaluate how their solutions might improve REPTiS’s implementation. Furthermore, contacts were established with the BLOOM project, funded under the same call but scheduled to start in December 2024. All involved projects have been exchanging information and are enthusiastic about collaborating, including on dissemination activities. More news will come soon, especially for events to be held at Euro PM 2025. 

REPTiS also participated in the side event organized by the START project during the Raw Materials Week 2024 on December 10th (detailed in the START section of this report). A. Yarovinsky (Velta Mining, Ukraine) presented “REPTiS: sustainable Ti alloy powder supply chain from Ukraine to meet the EU demand for CRMs” and contributed to the round table discussion. 

A. Yqrovinsky (Velta / REPTiS project) in the round table during the workshop in Brussels on 10th December 2024. 

A REPTiS newsletter is currently being developed and is scheduled for publication later this month.

For updates on REPTiS, please visit the project website at www.REPTiS.eu. You can also follow REPTiS on LinkedIn and X. 

EPMA for new projects 

EPMA ‘s technical managers are always actively working for next rounds of calls for European projects, like Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, and others. If you are planning to organize proposals for funding on a topic, EPMA can surely be your partner for Dissemination, Coordination, and more. Do not hesitate to contact our technical managers Kenan Boz (kboz@epma.com) and Bruno Vicenzi (bv@epma.com). 

Take Part in the EPMA 2025 Surveys Here

EuroAM

Annual AM Trends Survey 2024 has been started by the 3rd of March 2025 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AMSurvey2025 . The aim of the survey is to collect and present information on the AM industry to track the general trends of the Additive Manufacturing Sector in terms of recent sales trends, business attitudes and effect of the new state of global economy. Specifically, the survey will examine adoption rates of various AM technologies and materials, key growth sectors, and the challenges businesses face, including supply chain issues and economic uncertainties. It will also explore R&D investments and strategic adaptations. The survey’s data will provide insights into the AM industry’s current health and future direction, aiding informed decisions. The results will be presented at the general assembly of EPMA, and the plenary session of EuroPM congress in Lisbon. Deadline for taking the survey is 29th of March. 

EuroFM  

The Functional Materials group is working during these months in the organisation of the Special Interest Seminar in Euro PM2025 and so support the organisation of the other SIS that are more directly related to its scope (Energy, etc.). In addition to this, EuroFM is also looking for case studies to include them in a second edition of the “Introduction to Functional Materials“ booklet to be published in 2025. If you are interested, please contact EPMA. 

Change of chairs in EuroFM: P. Kjeldsteen (left) leaves, M. Stolpe (right) enters. 

In February the founder and chair of EuroFM Peter Kjeldsteen, of Sintex (Denmark) has left the position, due to other work commitments, and the Steering Committee has elected in his place Dr Moritz Stolpe (Consultant, formerly with Heraeus, Germany), who will support the other co-chair Dr Sebastian Hein (Fraunhofer IFAM) from now on. Thanks, Peter, for all inputs in the past years, and thanks, Moritz, for the availability! 

EuroMIM 

EuroMIM’s activities at the beginning of the year are concentrated on the Trend and Statistics survey, that has just been launched, the work for the upcoming congress and on a new edition of the roadmap and of the brochure. 

The MIM survey, that runs since 2005, includes both trends and Statistics, plus a benchmarking section that is reserved to EPMA members (whereas all the rest can be contributed to by any MIM producer with business in Europe, be it production and sales or just sales). All European companies are called to give data! 

The MIM Roadmap to 2030 that had been developed in 2021 will be updated to reflect the present status (and give input for a more general PM roadmap. The brochure “Introduction to MIM“ also needs some review, in particular in the case study section (please contact us to propose parts to include). The group is also considering producing short videos about MIM as a new way to engage especially the younger colleagues. 

EuroPress&Sinter 

The EuroPress&Sinter Steering Committee wishes all the best to Caroline Larsson, who is leaving the chair, thanking her for the fruitful cooperation in the past years. The Group will soon select another chair to aid the other chair, Cesar Molins. 

Also in the Press&Sinter community the activity of the year is split between the preparation of the congress activities and the yearly surveys. The latter include the Trend and the Statistics for P&S parts makers, and the Statistics for powder makers. The Benchmarking exercise for the performance in 2024 will be launched later, whilst that for the performance of 2023, launched in summer 2024, was completed and distributed to participants before the end of 2024. 

In the congress, the Steering Committee of Euro Press&Sinter is preparing a Special Interest Seminar, and supporting others (like the one for Automotive, in particular). 

The Club Project on modelling of Induction Hardening, InducSim, proposed by RWTH Aachen, is still open to expressions of interest from part makers, powder makers and equipment makers, in order to reach a minimum number of partners to share the costs. This project tackles the complex challenge of predicting microstructure and properties from process parameters and geometry, alongside the critical issue of crack initiation. If you are interested, please contact Bruno Vicenzi at bv@epma.com. 

EHQS 

TC119 Committee of ISO organized a meeting on 9-11 October during WorldPM congress in Yokohama, Japan. EPMA joined the meeting as online, being the liaison office of TC119/SC5 (Specifications for powder metallurgical materials-excluding hardmetals) and TC 261. 

EPMA Young Engineers Days 2025 

 This two-day event aims to raise awareness and interest in careers in Powder Metallurgy among young engineers. EPMA Young Engineers Days 2025 will take place on 15 & 16 September 2025 at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, UK, during the Euro PM2025 Congress & Exhibition. 

The event includes: 

• Lectures on the fundamentals of Powder Metallurgy 

• Access to the Euro PM2025 exhibition area 

• Attendance at the plenary session on Monday morning 

• Coffee breaks and lunches 

• The Posters reception 

• A networking dinner on Monday, 15 September 

• One night's hotel accommodation (double-occupancy room) on Monday 
• Discounted fees for the rest of the Congress are also available

Registration opens on 16 April and is FREE OF CHARGE.
Deadline: 15 July 2025 

For more information, visit: www.youngengineers.epma.com