2020 Innovators Awards Inductee Profile: ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal Global Research and Development, working in cooperation with U.S. safety barrier manufacturer Gregory Industries, has brought to market a proprietary, high-containment steel center median safety barrier for use in North America. This all-steel MASH TL-5 longitudinal barrier, marketed as the Guardian 5 (G5) by Gregory, is a safer and more economical alternative to concrete barriers.
The new G5 barrier can safely contain and redirect a fully loaded 80,000-pound tractor trailer truck – as well as a 5,000-pound pickup truck and 2,500-pound car. It is the only Test Level-5 (TL-5) rated steel center median safety barrier available in the US market, based on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation (AASHTO) Official’s Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) criteria.
ArcelorMittal Global R&D along with US Safety Barrier Manufacturer Gregory Industries (Canton, OH) and European lab partner (CRM) worked together to develop the new barrier. The Guardian 5 (G5) safety barrier is commercially available through Gregory Industries and numerous patents have been awarded for the innovation.
Richard Clausius was ArcelorMittal’s team lead on the project. A self-described “jack of all trades,” Richard is a project manager at the ArcelorMittal Global R&D facility in East Chicago, Indiana. He is involved with the construction market where he co-engineers safety barriers and building products with their customers.
Who made up the team behind this innovation?
Richard Clausius, ArcelorMittal – I am really happy for ArcelorMittal R&D to be able to do this project. We worked with Gregory Industry, a family owned company out of Canton, Ohio. They’re one of the largest safety manufacturers in the U.S. Gregory was there to keep us us sane so we didn’t over-design it, because they’re going to actually build and market it.
We also worked with our European colleagues at CRM, Michaël Gremling and his team. They have the modeling expertise since Europe is ahead of us for high containment, high shrink barriers. It really was a collaborative effort and without everybody, we couldn’t have done this and we couldn’t have brought it to market.
What does it mean to have your team’s work recognized by the Society of Innovators?
Richard Clausius – It’s a great honor. A lot of times we do work and it gets put up on a shelf. We don’t know when it’s ever going to be used. To have something recognized that really contributes to society, our whole team feels very privileged. And recognition just promotes more innovation. It gets us excited about doing more things for society, industry and our neighbors.
What is a workforce trend you see in your industry?
Richard Clausius – I’ve been in the steel industry for 35 years so I’ve seen quite a bit of evolution. It used to be, “this is just the way we do it.” That’s not true anymore. There are a lot of multi-discipline teams. You’re working with shop people on the floor, R&D, new vendors, and new equipment. Now it’s really more of a team approach. It’s no longer about saying “what did we do,” but instead saying “what can we do?”
What does innovation mean to you?
Richard Clausius – A lot of people think there is only one way to do things. To get to somebody’s house, there’s only one direct path. That’s just not true. There are multiple ways to get there that are just as good. And it’s the same thing with innovation and technology. There are new ways of doing things. It can’t always be, this is how we did it before. And I couldn’t do this by myself. It’s not one person’s problem, it’s everybody’s problem. Everybody has a chance to make the solution and make it better.
ArcelorMittal was a 2020 team inductee into the Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest. Team members include Richard Clausius, Project Manager, Construction and Manufacturing Products, ArcelorMittal Global Research and Development; Michaël Gremling, Unit Manager “IDEAS”, CRM Group; Rick Mauer, Special Project Manager, Gregory Industries. A full list of 2020 inductees can be found here.