CIVS Students Recognized at AIST Midwest Chapter March Meeting
![Promotional image for AIST Dinner meeting keynote speaker](https://www.pnw.edu/civs/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2022/03/unnamed-4.jpg)
Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Midwest Chapter Dinner meeting was held on March 8th, 2022 at the Avalon Manor in Merrillville, Indiana with around 300 attendees from local industry. CIVS Director, Dr. Chenn Zhou, and 18 CIVS staff and students, together with Mechanical Engineering Professor Kamia Mortezaei and Mr. John Hruska attended the event. The event started with the speech by Mr. Ron Ashburn, the executive director of AIST, on the technical and social networking opportunities provided by AIST. He highlighted the exciting opportunities for the steel industry to work together on decolonization. The keynote speaker was Mr. Steven J. Henderson, The AIST President and the Vice President of the Western Region Commercial Metal Company (CMC) in Arizona, who delivered a presentation on the overview of AIST, the introduction of CMS, and its technologies, as well as the future of steelmaking.
The meeting and chapter activities provided students with the chance to network with industry leaders and employees, learn about the steel industry, job opportunities as well as get information about academic research. During the event, words of praise and acknowledgment were given to CIVS students, who were called to stand up by the speakers twice. One of the students received the job interview invitation. Dr. Chenn Zhou was also commended for her achievements and contributions to the steel industry and education.
The Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) is a non-profit organization with 15,500 members from more than 70 countries. With 30 Technology Committees and 22 Local Members Chapters, AIST represents an incomparable network of steel industry knowledge and expertise. Their mission is to advance the technical development, production, processing, and application of iron and steel. The Midwest Member Chapter is the largest AIST member chapter with more than 1,600 members and includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, and a small portion of Northwestern Illinois.