LEO Researchers Deliver Masterclass on the Environmental Impacts of Iron and Steel

This year's Summer Academy for Math and Science (SAMS) program featured a dynamic College of Engineering master class and lab tour called Into the fire: How to make iron and steel, understanding its environmental impacts.

Students learned about how the steel industry affects climate change, local air pollution, and health, as well as technologies that could reduce these impacts, and brainstormed potential solutions involving policy and neighboring communities. They examined and visualized the environmental impact of two of today's steelmaking technologies, and then explored iron and steelmaking materials, furnaces, and experiments firsthand in the CMU Center for Iron and Steelmaking Research.

"It was exciting to see the students so engaged in the interactive exercises, lab tour, and discussion," said Valerie Karplus, a professor of Engineering and Public Policy and associate director of the CMU Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. "We've really valued the opportunity to develop this master class with the strong support of the SAMS program."

The class was led by Karplus, Chris Pistorius (Department of Materials Science and Engineering at CMU faculty), Elina Hoffmann (EPP post-doctoral researcher), and Annabel Hu (Heinz College PhD candidate). Rafaela Rapalo and Meraj Ansari (MSE PhD candidates) led the tour of the Center for Iron and Steelmaking Research.

This class is part of the activities of the Industrial Decarbonization Analysis, Benchmarking, and Action (INDABA) Partnership, a CMU-led initiative focused on the future of heavy industries, and is supported by a National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education grant.

A LinkedIn version of this post can be found here.