2 December 2020

The Regional Championship took place online for 24 hours on 25 November 2020. This year’s steelChallenge attracted over 1200 participants representing more than 50 companies and about 90 academic institutions from 27 countries. New this year, all participants successfully completing a simulation run receive a competition certificate.

There were over 10,700 attempts with the combined electric arc furnace steelmaking and secondary steelmaking simulation, with 6,119 successful runs completed.

The top-placed people in the ‘Industry’ and ‘Student’ categories will be invited to the World Championship in April 2021. Also qualifying for the World Championship are the first-placed people in each of the five regions.

All Finalists will be awarded certificates and cash prizes. The World Champions in both categories will also be awarded a World Champion certificate, an additional cash prize and the steelChallenge trophy.

steelChallenge-15 utilised steeluniversity’s secondary steelmaking and continuous casting courses in a combined simulation. Competitors were tasked to produce a grade of steel meeting technical requirements at the lowest cost per tonne. The simulation used a grade of steel specifically designed for steelChallenge-15.

Competitors could undertake unlimited ‘runs’ of the simulation during the 24-hour competition period. A ‘run’ was concluded when the simulation had completed the set time, the result had been registered in the competition database, and the competitor had received a confirmation of successful completion.

The best ‘run’ of each competitor was to determine their score and placement in the Regional Championship.

New this year, all registered participants received access to the Secondary Steelmaking and Continuous Casting courses, including e-learning, 3D interactive models and simulators. Registered participants completing the Secondary Steelmaking course and the Continuous Casting course received completion certificates for each course. Also, participants successfully completing a simulation run during steelChallenge-15 will received a competition certificate.

The World Championship Finalists are:

Student Category
Participant Affiliation Region/Country
Andre Massaccesi Guimaraes University of Westminster Europe and Africa / United Kingdom
Darley da Silva Lima Universidade Federal do Ceará Americas / Brazil
Abdelrahman Hosny Gomma Abu Dhabi Univeristy Asia – West / United Arab Emirates
Zhihao Zheng(志豪 郑) Wuhan University of Science and Technology Asia – North / China
Kwon Ik Hwan Dong-A University Asia – East and Oceania / South Korea
Industry Category
Participant Affiliation Region/Country
Alexander Nesmeev TMK Europe and Africa / Russia
Bruno Galdino Sousa Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém Americas / Brazil
Uday Kumar Bhakat Tata Steel Limited Asia – West / India
Xiaowei Shi (晓伟 石) HBIS Group Asia – North / China
Jungho Choi POSCO Asia – East and Oceania / South Korea

More information about steelChallenge-15 is available at steeluniversity.org.

# Ends #

Notes to Editors:

  • steeluniversity is the education and training programme of the World Steel Association, delivering education and training to current and future employees of steel companies and related businesses.
  • steelChallenge-15 is sponsored at the ‘Steel’ level by HBIS Group and POSCO. JSW Steel is a ‘Gold’ sponsor. Emirates Steel, Gerdau, Korean Iron and Steel Association, Tata Steel Limited, Tenaris, and Ternium are ‘Silver’ sponsors. JFE  Steel Corp and Materials Processing Institute are ‘Bronze’ sponsors.
  • The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.

 

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