Released on April 17, 2008

The American Foundry Society (AFS), Schaumburg, Ill., has announced the winners of its 2008 metalcasting industry awards. The winners of the AFS Gold Medal, Service Citation, Scientific Merit, Howard F. Taylor and Ray H. Witt awards will be honored at special events held in conjunction with CastExpo’08 in Atlanta, May 17-20.

The John H. Whiting Gold Medal will be presented to George M. Goodrich, Stork Climax Research Services, Wixom, Mich., for his efforts to improve the metalcasting industry through research, publication of articles and books, leading and serving on committees in the AFS Cast Iron and Steel Divisions, and teaching for the Cast Metals Institute (CMI).

Thomas W. Stark, Badger Mining Corp., Berlin, Wis., will receive the William H. McFadden Gold Medal award for his leadership and service to AFS as a national director and CMI instructor and service to the AFS Cast Iron and Steel Divisions to ensure the growth of the metalcasting industry. Both Gold Medals will be presented at the AFS Annual Banquet on May 18.

The AFS Awards of Scientific Merit are presented to individuals in the industry for outstanding technical papers, meritorious technical contributions or services, and/or the development of a new process, production method or engineering advancement having “future possibilities.” This year’s recipients are Dr. Von. L. Richards II, Missouri Univ. of Science & Technology, Rolla, Mo., and Theodore J. Schorn, Enkei Corp., Columbus, Ind.

AFS Service Citations are awarded annually to individuals who show outstanding general service to AFS, its chapters and the metalcasting industry. The 2008 winners of the AFS Service Citations are Lawrence E. Helm, Blackhawk Foundry, Davenport, Iowa, and Ronald A. Pomeroy, Kansas Castings, Belle Plaine, Kan. Both the AFS Scientific Merit Awards and Service Citations will be presented at the AFS President’s Luncheon on May 20.

The Ray H. Witt Award is presented annually to recognize the authors of an AFS management or marketing-oriented paper that exhibits the greatest probability of favorably impacting the metalcasting industry. This year’s Witt award winner is Schorn, for his technical paper, “Competence Development for Improved Visual Inspection Effectiveness.”

The Howard F. Taylor Award is presented to the technical paper with the longest lasting impact on the metalcasting industry. This year, two papers will receive the award. The first, “Ultrasonic Cavitation Based Solidification Processing of Bulk Magnesium Matrix Nanocomposite,” was authored by Xiaochun Li, Zhicao Duan, Guoping Cao and Alvaro Roure, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis. The second Taylor award-winning paper, “Ultrasonic Cavitation Based Dispersion of Nanoparticles in Aluminum Melts for Solidification Processing of Bulk Aluminum Matrix Nanocomposite: Theoretical Study, Fabrication and Characterization,” was written by Li and Yong Yang, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, and David Weiss, Eck Industries Inc., Manitowoc, Wis. Both the Ray Witt and Howard Taylor Awards will be presented at the AFS Recognition Luncheon on May 18.