OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. Severstal North America, one of the largest U.S.-based steel producers specializing in the full range of the high quality, flat-rolled carbon steel products, has partnered with Mississippi State University (MSU) to create a Steel Research Center (SRC). Located in the center of the MSU campus, this newly established 5,000 sq. ft. laboratory will be equipped with lab-scalealloy melting, casting and rolling facilities.

“We plan to deploy enhanced capabilities in multi-scale modeling and characterization developed at Mississippi State, and utilize steelmaking expertise from industrial partners, like Severstal, to guide current and future research and development activities at the new lab,” said Roger King, CAVS (“Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems”) director and Giles Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The knowledge generated from the center will impact the growth of the regional economic force as well as draw regional, national, and international participation in education, services and research for ferrous alloys.

Chris Kristock, Vice President, Quality and Product Development, Severstal North America, said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with such a prestigious university to further educate young people on the advanced technologies in steelmaking process. Through this association, Severstal hopes to participate in the development of metallurgical and material engineers at MSU and receive the benefit of laboratory scale product and process improvement trials.”

The commission of this lab-scale melt furnace is set for early this year to produce 25−kilogram heats to precise alloy design requirements for further testing. In 2013, SRC plans to form an advisory board comprised of industrial and MSU leaders with the focus on developing action plans to achieve the SRC vision.