EPMA Newsletter November 2024

Dear Members,  

As we wrap up an eventful year, I’m delighted to share the latest highlights and updates from EPMA. Our recent Euro PM Congress in Malmö was a success, filled with insightful presentations, seamless organization, and the celebration of exceptional achievements. Alongside our Distinguished Service Award, fellowship recognitions, and KNP, we were thrilled to revive the Component Awards, and host the Sustainability Award for its third year—an inspiring tradition we look forward to continuing in 2025. And congratulations to the lucky survey participant who won a whisky tasting experience in Glasgow!  

Looking ahead, we’re already setting the stage for Euro PM2025 in Glasgow, scheduled for mid-September next year. The call for papers is open, and exhibition bookings have begun. Our technical team is actively coordinating sessions for the Special Interest Seminars (SIS), focusing for next year on automotive and energy. One speaker is already confirmed for the plenary session. Stay tuned to EPMA’s social media for more speaker announcements!  

In addition to Euro PM, we’re organizing sector-specific events throughout 2025, including an aerospace event hosted by Sandvik in Sweden on May 20 and a seminar focused on the medical field in October. We invite speakers eager to showcase their latest innovations to join us for these sector-focused events.  

A quick reminder regarding membership fees: to lock in the current rate, please complete payments by January 31, as fees will increase starting February 1. We also want to alert you to recent cases of fake invoices circulating under EPMA’s name. Please remember, any legitimate membership invoice will come directly from either Jackie or Lionel at a verifiable EPMA address. If in doubt, don’t hesitate to confirm with us directly. Importantly, EPMA’s president or treasurer will never request payments on behalf of EPMA without prior notice.  

As we move into 2025, it’s also election season for our board and council. With both our president and treasurer reaching the end of their six-year, non-renewable terms. Full member companies interested in joining the council are encouraged to contact Lionel Aboussouan with their nominations. Voting will take place electronically, and results will be announced at our General Assembly in Brussels on May 15.  

Although it may feel early, as this is our last newsletter of 2024, I want to extend warm wishes to you and your loved ones for a joyous and restful end to the year.  

With sincere appreciation for your continued engagement and support,

Lionel Aboussouan

For the second time in Sweden, the European Powder Metallurgy Congress & Exhibition, held at MalmöMässan, Malmö, Sweden, from 29 September to 02 October 2024 was a resounding success!

Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city, is a vibrant coastal hub known for its blend of modern architecture and historic charm. With its scenic waterfront, cutting-edge green initiatives, and cultural diversity, Malmö offers a rich mix of innovation and tradition. Its proximity to Copenhagen via the iconic Öresund Bridge makes it a dynamic gateway to both Scandinavia and Europe.

This event brought together leading experts, researchers, and professionals from the powder metallurgy (PM) industry for three days filled with cutting-edge insights, networking, and collaboration.

A large number of abstracts from across the Powder Metallurgy community enabled a positive number of technical sessions and attracted delegates and visitors from several key end-user sectors, resulting in an active three days of presentations, discussions and networking opportunities.

The fact that this event covers all subjects and represents all areas of powder metallurgy helped to attract an international audience from over 45 countries, including Europe, Asia, North and Sud Americas, with 708 participants.

The technical programme of the Euro PM2024 event attracted 249 Oral and Poster presentations, dispatched in 49 technical sessions by the TPC, chaired by Adj. Prof. Dr. PhD. Susanne Norgren (Sandvik and Lund University – Sweden) and Mr Alexander Angré (Linde Gas – Sweden)

EPMA thanked all the members of the Technical Programme Committee for their work in reviewing over 180 manuscripts by inviting them to a gastronomic dinner at the Årstiderna restaurant on Monday evening, in the historic city centre of Malmö.

The event started Sunday evening with a lively Welcome Reception, sponsored by Höganäs, where attendees mingled, networked, and enjoyed drinks, canapés and lounge music. It was a perfect opportunity to meet peers and kick off the congress in style.

On Monday morning, the Congress opened with Plenary session chaired by Mrs Caroline Larsson (Manager for Product management at Höganäs AB, Sweden) and Mr Jim Shipley (Manager for Business Development at Quintus Technologies AB, Sweden). They were then followed by Mr Lionel Aboussouan, EPMA Executive Director, who presented EPMA’s general and latest activities, and Mr Ralf Carlström, EPMA President, who presented an overview of the Status and Trends​ in the European PM industry​​.

Two Keynote speakers shared their expertise on current industry challenges and future opportunities in the PM sector: Dr Henrik Karlsson (Volvo Group) with presentation “The journey towards sustainability – how can powder technology support the green transformation?” and Mrs Annika Roos (Jernkontoret) with presentation “Steel and metal powder in the Swedish transition – past, present and future”

Following the presentations, the plenary session continued with the presentation of the 2024 awards with the following winners:

EPMA Thesis Competition, sponsored by HILTI, the winner in the PhD category was Dr Bruno Guimarães (University of Minho) for his thesis on ” Multi-Functional WC-Co cutting tool – a Multi-Material Engineering Design”; and, in the Masters category, Mr Alessandro De Nardi (Politecnico di Torino) for his work on “Development of CoNi-based High Entropy Superalloys”.

For its second edition, the sustainability trophy was awarded to hGears, Italy. Mr P. Tiberi accepted the award and addressed the audience with a short pitch on “hGears, the heart to your performance”.

This year’s Fellowship Award was presented to Prof. Dipl.Ing. Dr. Christian Gierl-Mayer, TU Wien, Austria and the Distinguished Service Award was delivered to Ms Caroline Larsson, Höganäs AB, Sweden.

The Keynote papers awards, presented this year to the six following winners:

• Dr Shandra Sainz (CEIT, Spain)​ – Sinterability Assessment And Microstructural Development In Metal Binder Jetting
• Dr Lars Wimbert (GKN Powder Metallurgy Engineering GmbH, Germany)​ – Optimizing The Production Process Of NdFeB Magnets
• Dr Solange Vivès (Aubert & Duval, France)​ – ABD®-1000AM: A Highly Processible Superalloy For Additive Manufacturing, Computationally Designed For 1000°C Applications
• Dr Damien Sicard (Sintermat, France)​ – Toward A Spark Plasma Sintering Digital Twin Using A Deep Learning-Based Approach
• Dr Gian Pietro De Gaudenzi  (F.I.L.M.S. S.p.A., Italy) – Functionally Graded Hardmetal Systems For Applications Requiring Corrosion And Abrasion Resistance
• Mr Aditya Gopaluni (VTT Finland, Finland)​ – A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Study Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Binder Jetting And CNC Machining Processes

2024 also saw the return of the prestigious EPMA Powder Metallurgy Component Awards, where innovations in PM are showcased to the entire industry. The 2024 winners are:

• Additive Manufacturing – HIPERFLOW – 3D printed Hydraulic Manifold for Landing Gear from Aidro, Ma Group, Chalmers University, Hoganas Ab
• Metal Injection Moulding – Tip Core from Parmaco Metal Injection Molding AG
• PM Structural (including Hard Materials and Diamond Tools parts) – Evans and Cotton wedges from AMES Group Sintering, S.A.

After the Opening Plenary session, the Euro PM2024 Exhibition opened with over 65 exhibiting companies, showcasing the newest technologies, materials, and services in powder metallurgy and representing all parts of the PM supply chain. New this year, the Exhibition Visitors had access to a technical session on Monday afternoon. 179 participants took advantage of the opportunity to visit the exhibition and talk to the exhibitors.

Open to all attendees during the technical session breaks, the successful Industry Corner in the Exhibition Hall, provided opportunities for exhibiting companies to showcase their skills and innovations.

On Monday evening, the Posters reception took place with the Peter Brewin Poster Award presented this year to Dr Farnoosh Forouzan from Höganas AB, for research on “Effect of ultrasonic tempering in comparison with thermal tempering on hardened high carbon PM samples”.

A returning feature was the “PM for Beginners”, held again after a few years. Dr Vladislav Kruzhanov (PM Consulting) gave a general overview of the history and features of powder metallurgy processes for less experienced participants gathered on Tuesday in the Industry Corner of the Exhibition.

The Annual Congress Gala dinner took place on Tuesday evening at the Slagthuset; an iconic building with more than 100 years of history in the heart of Malmö city centre. The pre-dinner entertainment was provided by a local band singing the best of Swedish music, including of course the hits of ABBA. This was followed by traditional Swedish fare and excellent networking between more than four hundred attendees.

Running in parallel of the Euro PM2024, the Young Engineers event welcomed 16 students during a two-days programme on Monday & Tuesday. Aimed at helping to foster and develop the next generation of PM academics and industrialists, the programme included lectures on PM, lunches and dinner networking, a tour of the exhibition and the visit of Max IV Laboratory in Lund.

EPMA would like to thank all attendees, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and event partners for making this yet another successful event.

View all Euro PM2024 Photos Here

We are pleased to announce that our next European Powder Metallurgy Congress and Exhibition will take place in Glasgow, UK from 14 to 17 September 2025. 

Glasgow is a vibrant city known for its rich industrial heritage, stunning Victorian and art nouveau architecture, and dynamic arts scene. Situated on the River Clyde, it’s Scotland’s largest city and a hub for innovation, culture, and education. Home to world-class museums, such as the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Riverside Museum, Glasgow also boasts a lively music and culinary scene. The city is famed for its friendly locals and warm hospitality, making it an inviting destination for visitors. 

Euro PM2025 will be held at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), a leading conference and events centre renowned for its state-of-the-art facilities and picturesque location on the banks of the River Clyde. With its versatile spaces and modern facilities, the SEC offers a dynamic setting for events, with an impressive mix of architecture, surrounded by numerous hotels. 

The Scottish Event Campus (SEC) is easily accessible via Glasgow International Airport (GLA), located just about 13 km from the venue. Glasgow is served by 2 other international airports: Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) and Edinburgh Airport (EDI). Find more information about travelling to Glasgow here. 

Euro PM2025 Congress – Call for papers 

The Call for Papers has been launched on 30 October 2024 for this all-strand event. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to promote your sector and the technology within it in the best way possible by submitting an abstract. Abstracts can be submitted online until Wednesday 15 January 2025 only.  

The programme of plenary, keynote, oral and poster presentations will focus on all aspects of PM:   

• Powder: Powder Production, Powder Characterisation and Properties
• Consolidation Technologies: Compaction and Sintering, MIM, HIP, Field Assisted Sintering Technologies, AM Beam Based Technologies, AM Sinter Based Technologies, Powder Deposition Technologies and other Consolidation Technologies
• Materials: Ferrous Materials, Non Ferrous Materials, Light Materials, High Temperature Materials, Functional Materials, Hardmetals and cermets, Ultrahard Materials and other PM Materials
• Applications: Biomedical, Aerospace, Automotive, Energy, Tooling and other PM Applications
• Tools for improving PM: Test & Evaluation, Secondary Operations, Design & Modelling, Sustainability & Circularity, Health & Safety, Digitalisation and other Tools for improving PM 

The full breakdown of these strands can be found on our website at: https://europm2025.com/topics/ 

Important Dates: 

• Abstract submission deadline: 15 January 2025 

• Technical Programme Committee meeting: 19 February 2025 

• Notification of acceptance: 05 March 2025 

• Full paper submission deadline: 30 April 2025 

All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, and selected Keynote papers will be considered for publication in the journal EDP Sciences. 

Find more information and submit your abstract at: https://europm2025.com/call-for-papers/ 

Euro PM2025 Exhibition   

The Euro PM2025 Exhibition, held Monday to Wednesday, will take place alongside the Congress. With exhibition sales already open, EPMA are welcoming enquiries to fill the remaining space in the 4000m2 Exhibition Hall. Those looking to join the Exhibition are encouraged to do so as soon as possible, as prices for stands will increase in January 2025 – reserve your space now to ensure your early discount is applied.  

Located within the conference centre, and with easy access to the Technical Sessions, delegate lunch and refreshment facilities, the Euro PM2025 Exhibition will be the ideal location for positive and profitable delegate and exhibitor integration.  

Further information on this year’s event, including a current exhibition floor plan, or to sign up to join the Euro PM2025 Mailing List, to receive Euro PM2025 Congress & Exhibition Updates can all be found at https://europm2025.com/ 

Simucrack V 

The final meeting of Simucrack V will be held on 10 December 2025 at NPL in London, UK. The meeting will be followed by 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. 

START seeks synergies and creates events 

The Horizon Europe project START, while continuing its work on creating thermoelectric materials from mine waste minerals, specifically sulphides like tetrahedrites (the project has reached month 30 of its 48-month span, and the consortium met in Oslo for its second-year general assembly), has been working a lot on the generation of synergies with all the relevant stakeholders in the last months. EPMA is strongly involved in these activities. The efforts led in particular to the preparation of two events.  

The first was an industrial workshop titled “Re-structuring of EU value chain on thermoelectrics – from supply chain to end user” held free of charge in Copenhagen on Thursday 26th September. More than 70 attendees from all over the world could take part, with the goal of effectively creating the sufficient momentum for thermoelectrics. The organisation was a joint effort with two other projects, the M-era.Net project THERMOS and the Eurostars project FLEX-TEG, and based on the local efforts of our partner TEGnology. 

The second is yet to happen: it is a side event of the well-known Raw Materials Week, hosted in Brussels every year by the EU services linked to the DG Grow directorate. The event, again free of charge for participants, is titled “Supporting the Critical Raw Materials Act: Research Projects in the European Union”, and will happen on 10th December 2024 at the Marivaux Hotel, in Brussels, in the afternoon (14:00-17:30). Originated by START’s “clustering” activities with other research projects, it will include presentation from 8 EU projects related to Critical Raw Materials, including START and another project that EPMA coordinates, REPTiS. If you wish to know more, please visit the relevant page on the START website. To take part, you will need to register (the link can be found on the mentioned page); please note that after the deadline of 25th November we might not be able to give you access. 

A new issue of the “RECOVER-REFORM-REUSE” newsletter, the 5th issue, is upcoming. By following the START website and its social media you will be able to download it for free. If you have missed any previous issues, you can find them all there as well. 

Our 5th free webinar, held on 7th June, was discussing TE devices and their applications. The presenters were Maarten Den Heijer (RGS Development), Hao Yin (TEGnology) and Jean-Yves Escabasse (CEA-Liten and STARTS’ Scientific Advisory Board). The footage of the webinar is available on START’s YouTube channel. 

If you are interested in the project, check out its website www.START-HEproject.com, and find out more; you can follow also on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Subscribing to the mailing list on the website will allow to directly receive news about the project, and in particular the newsletter. 

RESQTOOL ends its first year

RESQTOOL Partners came together for the second Transnational (TM2) meeting of the project. The meeting was hosted by FILMS in Domodossola, Italy. The project progress and the next steps have been discussed in detail for two days on 28-29 May. The next presential Transnational meeting (TM3) of the project will be held in San Sebastian, Spain on the dates of 8-9 January 2025, hosted by CEIT.

EPMA coordinates this Horizon Europe project, that is related to recycling of hardmetals to improve EU’s independence for the supply of Co and W (or better WC). The first year has elapsed, and many activities have been accomplished: classification of the different kinds of used scrap available, definition of the best coding strategy for efficient separation (both in terms of category and of ease of automatic sorting, improving the readability of the codes), and a UNFC format database of these CRMs in Europe. Partners are also upscaling their processing lines to achieve higher capacities. 

In addition to this, the project’s image has been generated by EPMA and its approach, and the first results, have been the subject of numerous presentations; including at the Euro PM2024, where A. Serpe (University of Cagliari) reported on the innovative recycling techniques being developed in the Special Interest Seminar on “Sustainability in Hard Materials”, held on 1st October. In the exhibition, a booth was prepared, and the partners also had the chance of explaining the project to the Young Engineers touring the stands on Tuesday 1st October. 

The project also issued its first newsletter! Download it from the project website to get some more information about its activities and the topics related to recycling of hardmetals: in this first issue, the main recycling processes, the zinc reclaim process and the chemical method with bioderived acids are briefly introduced. 

RESQTOOL will also be present at the WinterEv in December and in other events in 2025. 

You can follow the project on its website www.resqtool.eu, or on its LinkedIn and X accounts. 

REPTiS starting strong with synergies

Our REPTiS project, coordinated by EPMA and dedicated to the upscaling of a fully chemical process to produce titanium alloy powders from Ukranian ilmenite ore (avoiding melting and atomisation), started on 1st September. Its Kick-off meeting happened in Chantilly on 13th September and a big group actively worked to lay the foundation for the technical work in the next four years. 

REPTiS’ technical work is just starting, but a few weeks after the dissemination already began, with the activities in the Euro PM2024 Congress and Exhibition. A booth was equipped, with posters and a showcase illustrating the various steps of the process under study, with Dr. A. Yarovinski (Velta Mining) available to discuss with visitors and in particular with the Young Engineers.

There was also a presentation about the Velta Ti Process, the core of the REPTiS project, given by Dr. V. Kruzhanov (PM Consulting) during the Metal Injection Moulding SIS “Advances in MIM Materials and Processes” on Tuesday 1st October, that attracted interested delegates.

Furthermore, there were many online meetings with other projects, also funded by the Horizon Europe framework, in order to establish synergies. These projects (XTRACT, AVANTIS, PERSEPHONE, REESOURCE, Euro-Titan) have been funded in 2023 to cover the topic of improvements in extraction and processing of Critical Raw Materials, but at lower TRLs: the EU expects REPTiS to liaise with them and understand if some of the solutions they are working on could help the implementation of REPTiS. All projects contacted have been exchanging information and are happy to join forces, also on the dissemination effort. 

REPTiS will also take part in the Side Event organised by START in the Raw Materials Week 2024 (see the relevant chapter in this newsletter) on 10th December: A. Yarovinski will present on “REPTiS: sustainable Ti alloy powder supply chain from Ukraine to meet the EU demand for CRMs”. Please register to the event if you are in Brussels and are interested! 

How can you follow REPTiS? The website www.REPTiS.eu is still under construction, but you can look for it on LinkedIn and X! 

ADDress Project

The closing ceremony of ADDress project has been held at Gazi University facilities in Ankara, Turkey. Kenan Boz from EPMA has made a keynote presentation on “EU wide Academy-Industry-NGO Collaboration Opportunities” during the ceremony. ADDress is an Erasmus+ EU funded project coordinated by Coskunoz Education Foundation based in Ankara, Turkey. 

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). 

EuroAM

A Special Interest Seminar and a sectoral group meeting has been held by EuroAM at the EuroPM in Malmö. The SIS session was on “Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing”. The first speaker was Maximilian Schniedenharn from Nikon SLM Solutions with a presentation title of “Large scale Laser Powder Bed Fusion: From experiment to series production”. The second presentation has been given by Enis Jost from Eplus3D. He presented “Powder Handling and Requirements for Large Size Additive Manufacturing”. The last speaker was Stefan Ritt from AM-3D who has given a kind of reporting about “Large Scale Additive Manufacturing in Chinese Market”, based on his observations during his visit to China lately. 

In the sectoral group meeting, the activities of EuroAM were presented by the chairs Adeline Riou and Claus Aumund-Kopp, followed by a keynote presentation on “AM development in Nordic Countries” by Mikael Schuisky from Sandvik Additive.

EuroFM  

The Functional Materials group has run two Special Interest Seminars in Euro PM2024 in Malmö, one to update on what is happening in the supply chain for hard magnets in Europe, that is one of the most critical issues to secure the availability of materials and devices for the electrical transition, and the other on biomedical FMs, that are crucial in upgrading quality of life for EU citizens in the future. In the “Initiatives on Hard Magnets for the Future” session, held on Wednesday 2nd October, there were presentations by Dr B. Grieb (PPM Materials) on Rare-Earth-containing bonded magnets, by Dr-Ing. M. Schneider (GKN Powder Metallurgy Engineering) on magnets production in Europe, and by Dr. J. Maisonneuve (CEA, Magnolia project) and Mr. A. Damiens (Orano, Magnolia project) about recycling of Nd-Fe-B magnets.

In the “Biomedical Functional Materials” SIS, also held on Wednesday, the speakers were Prof. Dr. E. Carreño-Morelli (HEVS, on shape memory and superelastic materials), Dr. G. Harakály (Incus, on lithography-based additively produced medical parts) and Dr. G. Schlick (Fraunhofer IGCV, on Multimaterial LPBF dental parts). 

The magnets supply chain was also the main topic discussed during the Sectoral Group meeting that followed, with a discussion moderated by Dr P. Kjeldsteen (Sintex) on the availability of Rare Earth in Scandinavia and the possible ways to stimulate extraction and use of these Critical Raw Materials, possibly generating a much bigger hard magnets production in EU. There was a very lively exchange with interesting ideas that might lead to concrete initiatives.

EuroFM is 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 to propose parts for that section of the document. 

EuroHIP

EuroHIP organized a Special Interest Seminar at the EuroPM in addition to a collaborative SIS with the EuroAM group. The title of the HIP SIS session was “PM-HIP and Near Net Shape”. Antonio Perillo Marcone (CERN) made a presentation on “Heat sinks based on cuprous materials for beam intercepting devices at CERN” followed by a presentation by Dr Rohan Holmes (ANSTO) on the subject of “Synthetic rock produced using HIP” to immobilise radioactive waste and prevent it entering the water table. In the collaborative session on AM&HIP, the subject of “Post Processing Using HIP” has been covered by three speakers: Prof. Lars Nyborg (Chalmers University), Mahesh Mani (GKN Aerospace) and Max Rommerskirchen (RWTH Aachen University).

There was also a sectoral group meeting of EuroHIP during the congress chaired by James Shipley (Quintus) and Anke Kaletsch (RWTH Aachen) where the activities of EuroHIP group and the results of HIP trends survey of 2024 have been presented. A keynote presentation by James Shipley has also been given on “Sustainability and the use of HIP”

EuroMIM 

EuroMIM’s Steering Committee had organised two Special Interest Seminar sessions for the Euro PM2024 Congress in Malmö, both on the general topic “Advances in MIM Materials and Processes”. The sessions ran on Tuesday 1st October: 5 speakers covered most of the supply chain for MIM, ranging from production of powders to feedstocks, to examples of part production end quality issues related to dimensional control. EuroMIM would like to thank the speakers: Dr. P. Davies (Indo-MIM), Mr. L. Donoho (Advanced Metalworking Practices), Dr. V. Kruzhanov (PM Consulting), who spoke about the Horizon Europe REPTiS project for Ti powders that is coordinated by EPMA, Dr-Ing. M. Knap (Gevorkyan), Mr. P. Søgaard (Sintex), and Mr. R. Moberg (AB Ninolab) that had to decline lastminute. 

The Trend and Statistics survey results have been shown to the audience by B. Vicenzi (EPMA) during the Sectoral Group meeting on the same day. In that meeting, F. Petzoldt (Petzoldt Ingenieurbüro and co-chair of the EuroMIM group) proposed an activity to update the MIM Roadmap to 2030 that had been developed in 2021 (volunteers are welcome to get in touch); and together with the other session chair, O. Yilmaz (Parmaco) launched the idea of a new edition of the Introduction to MIM booklet (case studies on MIM parts are welcome) but also integrating it with short videos that are a more modern way to convey information, more suited to the younger colleagues approaching MIM. 

EuroPress&Sinter 

The EuroPress&Sinter Steering Committee prepared only one SIS session for Euro PM2024, focused on the topic

“Challenges and Advantages of Uniaxially Pressed Parts”. The session was held in the afternoon of Monday 30th September, and was unfortunately limited to 2 speakers: Dr. C. Molins (AMES) who reviewed the NDT techniques used in the common practice for quality of parts, and Mr. C. Jönsson (Höganäs AB) and Mr. L. Sjöberg (Alvier Mechatronics) who presented on Soft Magnetic composites for high performance motors. 

In the Sectoral Group meeting held the same day, the idea of a Club Project among EPMA members on modelling of Induction Hardening, InducSim, was presented (after a first presentation the year before) by Dr. O. Schenk (RWTH Aachen). The project is ambitious, hoping to address not only the forecast of the microstructure and properties as a function of process parameters and geometry of the parts, but also investigate the insurgence of cracks. The proposal is 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. If you are also interested, please contact Bruno Vicenzi at bv@epma.com. 

Other possible topics of Club Projects were also discussed. 

The Statistics surveys on powders and parts, and the Trend survey for parts were also summarised in the introduction by B. Vicenzi (EPMA). 

Young Engineers Day

Euro PM2024 hosted the Young Engineers Days programme on 30 September and 1st October 2024 at Malmömässan, in Malmö, Sweden. Introduced in 2014, this programme is run every year as a part of EPMA’s commitment to help foster and develop the next generation of PM academics and industrialists. This year’s edition, sponsored by the Hilti Group, was attended by 16 young engineers coming from Sweden, Spain, France, Brazil, Italy and Estonia.  

The students benefited from lectures on the PM process and Q&A sessions with industry experts on the first day, ending with a networking dinner in a restaurant in the city centre.  

On the second day, they visited several stands at the Euro PM2024 Exhibition in order to have a better understanding of the PM industry and the opportunity to interact with Industry professionals to whom they could ask many questions. The program concluded with a visit to the MAX IV laboratory in Lund, a world-leading synchrotron radiation facility. 

Next year, the Young Engineers days event will take place in Glasgow, UK on 15 & 16 September 2025. Registration will open in April 2025. 

EPMA Summer School 2o25

EPMA is pleased to already announce that the Summer School 2025 edition will be held in Lund, Sweden, from 22 to 27 June 2025 in collaboration with the university of Lund. The five-day programme is coordinated by Dr Christian Gierl-Mayer, TU Wien, Austria, and Dr Marco Actis-Grande, Politecnico di Torino, Italy.  It will be delivered by a range of specialists from both industry and academia, whose expertise reflect many key topics currently being employed in today’s Powder Metallurgy industry. The course includes group problem solving sessions and laboratory work, as well as some networking and social events. 

Applications will open on 13 January 2025.