IRON PRODUCING
Health and safety issues in the blast furnace; maintenance programs for ensuring manufacturing reliability; hearth management issues (i.e., monitoring and maintenance practices); blast furnace stoves, stove refractory and safe stove operation; alternate ironmaking raw materials; and blast furnace relines and repairs, stack refractory and cooling system maintenance.

ELECTRIC STEELMAKING
Special arcs, foundry operations and EAF refractories, with a focus on safety and workplace environment practices; radiation detection and remediation; associate development and training; environmental considerations; EAF maintenance, including primary, secondary and tertiary electrical components, lubrication and hydraulics and maintaining the meltshop facility; steelmaking process optimizations to attain the highest levels of efficiency for current processes; novel approaches to material logistics and movement in the meltshop; and resolving the multiple options of EAF arc regulation.

OXYGEN STEELMAKING
Environmental controls, vessel slopping, secondary emissions, tapping practices and yield improvement, end-point predictions, charge management, blast furnace/BOF strategies and coordination, plant culture, maintenance practices, and planning and energy conservation.

LADLE AND SECONDARY REFINING
The processes of heating/cooling, chemistry control, slag treatment, desulfurization/decarburization, degassing, stirring, shape control and inclusion modification; utilizing the support systems of ladles; refractories and refractory repair; electrodes; ladle transport; LAR/VAD/AOD; flow control; stirring systems; utilities; fume control; additions; and remelting/ESR.

CONTINUOUS CASTING
Thin and thick slab, bloom, beam blank and billet casting machines; new and emerging innovations and technology in continuous casting; and improvements in machine design, operation, quality, productivity, reliability, energy and maintenance.

SHEET ROLLING
Roll texturing; new hot or cold rolling and process line facilities and modernization; stainless steel processing; gauge measurement; edge drop control; hot rolling lubrication; ¼ standard gauge quality; processing new steel chemistries (T.R.I.P. and dual-phase steels); new materials for work rolls, backup rolls and roller hearth furnace rolls; steering and chamber control in rolling mills and other high-temperature applications; reheat furnace operation and maintenance; descaling and surface quality problems; and new technology in width, thickness, shape and thermal profile gauges.

PLATE ROLLING
New hot rolling and finishing installations, mill modernization, new equipment and technologies, automation upgrades, model developments in rolling and finishing, thickness and crown control, flatness control, measurement and correction, surface quality and inspection, scale removal, width and pattern control.

LONG PRODUCTS ROLLING
New equipment and technologies; new installations and revamp of existing facilities; process and auxiliary equipment including gauging systems; shearing and handling equipment, guide systems and control systems; process and product development; defect inspection and product quality.

COATING AND PROCESS LINES
Coating (metallic, organic and chemical) and processing lines (including annealing, pickling, slitting, leveling, etc.), facilities and modernizations, productivity improvement, coated product substrate quality, defect prevention and detection, and surface treatments free of hexavalent chromium.

ROLL TECHNOLOGY
Innovative roll manufacturing and roll testing, roll maintenance and inspection practices, roll use in the ferrous and nonferrous industries, roll performance improvements, the relationship between rolls and product attributes (profile, flatness, surface, etc.), and roll surface defects and their effect on sheet quality.

PROCESS AND PRODUCT METALLURGY
The implications of metallurgy on production practices, as well as the consequences of specific processes and practices on the properties of steel products. Topics of particular interest for AISTech 2007 include: high-strength steel production issues from casting through coating, the implementation of ferritic rolling practices, and thin-slab/strip cast processing and products.

PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
Use of any system, approach, methodology or equipment to improve product quality, production and/or costs.

PRODUCT QUALITY
Quality management systems; benchmarking quality; organizational structure for quality assurance; mistake proofing procedures; metallurgical innovations in product quality; physical and chemical properties; material behavior; modeling and design; quality defects; and case studies of defects and their solutions.

UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY RELATIONS
Students are encouraged to submit abstracts for any of the topic areas for this conference. Students are encouraged to present both research work in progress or completed research.

SENSORS AND INSTRUMENTATION
Application of sensors for process control; efficiency and cost-effective solutions; on-line and off-line shape and flatness measurement; mechanical properties testing; automated surface inspection; oil thickness measurement; surface cleanliness; soft sensors (i.e., modeling of a variable that cannot be measured directly); and other unique sensors that provide new and innovative uses to the primary and finishing sides of the steelmaking process.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Design, application and/or engineering of power quality and distribution; AC/DC motor/drive technology; HMI systems; open architectural systems and other networks; electrical maintenance and electrical safety applications; and electrical upgrades/retrofits.

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Latest technologies and techniques applied to new and existing systems within the steel industry; the application of new technologies to process line automation; the application of advanced process modeling and control (including artificial intelligence technologies); the use of Web-based and databased technology in process control; upgrades of legacy automation systems; thermal tracking models; and data warehousing and data mining systems.

MATERIAL HANDLING
Product tracking and identification; fleet management strategies; new material handling equipment; equipment/vehicle maintenance strategies; scrap handling; government regulations impacting material handling; communication technologies; infrastructure maintenance of roads, tracks, bridges, etc.; or outsourcing of services.

ELECTRIC OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANES
Case studies detailing specific experiences with reducing costs; maintenance statistical data; new technology and product applications resulting in productivity gains; better lubrication systems; and crane machinery replacements, modifications or improvements.

MILL BUILDINGS
Projects utilizing a unique design approach for mill buildings; recent developments in structural steel fabrication processes; retrofit or upgrade projects involving modifications to existing mill buildings; or applications for metal buildings in the steel industry.

MAINTENANCE PROCESSES
Reliability, planning and scheduling of maintenance activities, reliability management processes, maintenance leadership, human resource development and training, contractual support, maintenance outsourcing, maintenance improvement initiatives, CMMS, predictive and preventive maintenance technologies, or condition monitoring.

LUBRICATION AND HYDRAULICS
Bearing technology; lubrication systems; lubricant technology (greases, oils, solid lubricants); hydraulic fluids and systems; fluid filtration and filter media; condition monitoring; plant lubrication programs; lubricant life and testing methods; sealing technology or gearing technology; electric motors lubrication; coupling lubrication and auto luber technology.

PROJECT AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Capital effectiveness; project safety performance; project management approaches for new installations, retrofits and maintenance projects; project team alignment/teambuilding; new technologies to aid the project team; and preproject planning and risk assessment.

ENERGY AND UTILITIES
Developments and applications that promote increased productivity or energy efficiency of existing or new furnaces, processing lines or boilers; cogeneration; use of natural gas, manufactured gases (mixed gas, COG, BFG, etc.) or industrial gases (oxygen or hydrogen, etc.); new developments and applications for improved combustion safety and computer control systems; or new technologies for the reduction of environmental emissions generated from the combustion process.

SAFETY AND HEALTH
Contractor safety (drug testing, auditing, fall protection, hearing conservation, respiratory protection), railroad safety, NFPA 70E, confined space, lockout/isolation and best practices.

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
Environmental issues (water, air, solid waste) as they relate to the steel industry. Such topics could include: PM-2.5 and mercury issues, effluent limitation guidelines, recycle/reuse programs, NSPS for EAFs, ISO 14000 and life cycle assessment, CAM rules, RCRA corrective action or multimedia audits. Additional subjects would relate to MACT for iron and steel, new technology for recirculating water systems, stormwater pollution prevention, NOx and SOx, fugitive emissions, TMDL program, noise and odor control, or contaminated sites cleanup.