Brian Began is VP of Metalcasting Technical Services at AFS. Prior to AFS, Brian worked at ASM International, Foseco, Climax Research Services, and Ford Motor Company – Cleveland Casting Plant. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a BS in Materials Science & Engineering and from Ashland University with an MBA. AFS is the largest North American, metalcasting-centric professional society and trade organization and in his role, Brian leads the AFS technical team, technical publications & conferences, and research activity initiatives. He has over 30 years of experience supporting the aluminum and greater metalcasting community.
Josh Yee is a Principal Systems Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories leading multiple high impact projects for Nuclear Deterrence modernization programs. Josh obtained his B.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. Subsequently, he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Davis studying process-structure-property relationships for hydrogen absorbing metal powders. At Sandia, Josh led a cross-organization team to drive the realization of Additive Manufacturing Technology insertion into the Nuclear Stockpile, in addition to providing other materials/metallurgical engineering support for a modernization program. Josh currently serves as the lead integrator for Modeling and Simulation Analysis for the same modernization program, which provides engineering staff with timely and relevant analyses to support decision-making while utilizing some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.
Larry Godlewski is a Technical Specialist – Casting in the Manufacturing and Materials Department at Ford Motor Company located in Dearborn, Michigan. Larry received an MS degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan. Since he joined Ford in 1997, his work has focused on aluminum solidification, gravity, low pressure and high-pressure casting technologies. He is a specialist in alloy development including aluminum alloys, austenitic steels, nodular cast iron to support powertrain and body structures. Throughout the years at Ford, Larry has earned several achievements including 2 Henry Ford Technology awards and has been awarded 3 patents in high temperature alloys.
Dr. Kevin Anderson is Senior Technical Fellow for Brunswick Corporation, Mercury Marine Division, located in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. He is responsible for both materials research and applications across the corporation. Previously, he was leader of aircraft materials and physical metallurgy at Reynolds Aluminum Research. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. He is a fellow of ASM and a member of The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his work on sustainable aluminum alloy design. He is also inventor of high damage tolerant diecasting alloys that are made from 100% recycled aluminum and are registered with the Aluminum Association. In addition to receiving several important industrial awards, Dr. Anderson holds over 30 United States patents with the vast majority successfully in production. He has taught aluminum metallurgy on an international level since 1999, is a member of the U.S. National Materials and Manufacturing Board, a member of the Aluminum Association Technical Committee on Product Standards and Subcommittee on Alloy and Temper Registration, vice chairman of the peer committee of the materials section of the NAE, and is a member of the Grainger Institute for Engineering Advisory Board at the University of Wisconsin. He is past chairman of both the Advanced Casting Research Consortium and TMS’ Materials Innovation Committee. Locally, Dr. Anderson is the founding president of the Fond Du Lac STEM Academy and Fond Du Lac STEM Institute, which are public charter schools for students in grades 3-5 and 6-12, respectively.
Jason T. Sebastian, Ph.D. is QuesTek’s President focusing on overall company growth and management, and on the entire spectrum of commercial- and government-sponsored alloy modeling, development, and deployment activities. He is a specialist in the fields of alloy development and commercialization, computational materials design, and nanostructural materials characterization. Since joining QuesTek in 2006, his work has focused on: the development of high strength steels for structural and power transmission applications; precipitation-strengthened cobalt-based alloys; alloys for additive manufacturing; non-toxic, high-strength/low-friction copper-based alloys to replace lead-containing bronzes; a low-cost, castable titanium alloy; a highly-processable nickel-based superalloy; advanced soft magnetic alloys; and other computationally-designed alloys.
Ryan Breneman, Ph.D. is Discipline Chief for Castings at Pratt & Whitney’s development single-crystal foundry. In this role he works to develop new casting technologies for emerging applications and produce development castings for experimental test engines. Ryan has been awarded 20 US patents at Pratt & Whitney and authored several publications in his former life as a ceramist. While primary focus is on single-crystal, nickel-superalloy, he also works in aluminum and other light alloys. Research interests include incorporating additive and digital tools to push the limits of casting technology.
Victor Khristov is the CEO / Owner of CPC Europe. He received his degree in International Business from Boston University in 1999. Since then he has worked strictly in the Automotive Aluminum casting Field. His focus is on brining the Counter-Pressure Casting Technology to new frontiers of light weight automotive parts. Including chassis, knuckles, control arms, hybrid brake disc’s, furl cells, calipers, RUB, torque boxes, and subframes both hollow and solid.
Rodney Wirtz is a Mechanical Engineer with over 20 years at Almex and has previously worked for Alcoa and Kaiser Aluminum. He has a Mechanical Engineering Master’s degree from Long Beach State University and has significantly contributed to Almex’s mission as the Engineering Manager. He oversees the development of Almex’s systems, including melting furnaces, casting systems, homogenization furnaces, control and SCADA systems. He is a registered Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.
AlmexUSA, Inc. is an industry leader in wrought aluminum alloy casting systems and produces many aluminum alloys.
Matthew Gavin is the Senior Metallurgist at Audubon Metals. Working with suppliers, customers, research consortia and academia, Matthew is leading Audubon’s efforts in developing and commercializing new products and improving manufacturing processes. Prior to Audubon Metals, Matthew spent 15 years in primary aluminum specializing in extrusion billet and sheet casting in a variety of technical and manufacturing roles.