Schedule
6–8 October 2026 • Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Tuesday, 6 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Welcome, Introductions and Opening Remarks John Hill, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. |
| 8:15 a.m. | Introduction to Energy Management Relating to the Steel Industry Chris Price, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| 9:15 a.m. | Energy Systems Within Steel Mills Josh Davich, Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor This presentation will cover energy savings initiatives across the steel industry that result in impactful process improvements and tangible cost-savings to ensure a sustainable future. |
| 9:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10 a.m. | Nuclear Power — What Is It and What Can It Do for Steel? Herbert Lam, Hatch This training explores the fundamentals of nuclear power, its role in providing reliable baseload electricity, and how it can be utilized to support the steel industry. |
| 10:30 a.m. | Natural Gas From Rock to Mill |
| 11 a.m. | Renewable Energy Sources |
| 11:30 a.m. | Power Availability for Mills in the Age of Data Centers Raj Bazaj, Constellation Offsite Renewables |
| 12:15 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:15 p.m. | Understanding Your Electric Utility Bill Chris Price, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| 1:45 p.m. | Where Big River Steel’s Electric Power Comes From and the Quality Tim Burttram, Big River Steel – A U. S. Steel Co., and Matt Faries, Entergy Arkansas Generation sources on the utility side and potential problems at the mill due to PQ issues. |
| 2:30 p.m. | What You Don’t Know Can Kill You: Energy and Fuel Safety Lessons From the Steel Industry John Puskar, Prescient Technical Services LLC Steel facilities operate with high energy density, complex fuel systems and narrow operating margins. While reliability and cost often drive decisions, history shows that misunderstandings of fuel and energy system behavior — especially during abnormal or nonroutine conditions — have led to fires, explosions and serious injuries. This session uses real-world steel and heavy industrial incidents to show how assumptions, knowledge gaps or misunderstood safeguards allow events to escalate. The focus is practical: how systems actually behave when valves leak, interlocks are bypassed, purges are inadequate or conditions drift from normal. Topics include common fuel and energy hazards in steel operations, practical application of relevant codes and standards, and recurring human and organizational factors seen in investigations. The session closes with key warning signs and questions that operators, engineers and safety professionals should recognize before an incident occurs — because what you don’t understand can be fatal. |
| 3 p.m. | Break |
| 3:15 p.m. | Compressed Air Energy Savings and Reliability Opportunities Wendy DiMino, Universal Compressed Air Understand a few simple ways to immediately optimize a compressed air system’s efficiency and reliability, while recognizing cost savings. |
| 4 p.m. | Optimizing Compressed Air Usage Lou York, Case iZ Review opportunities to improve compressed air efficiency. Real-world examples will be reviewed along with discussions around both supply-side and demand-side improvements. |
| 4:45 p.m. | Day 1 Wrap-Up |
| 5–6 p.m. | Reception |
Wednesday, 7 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Understanding Electric Motor Standards, Ratings and Maintenance; What’s New in Motors |
| 8:45 a.m. | Getting the Most Out of Your Motor: Repairing and Rewinding |
| 9:15 a.m. | Achievable Pump System Optimization — Winning the Trifecta of Efficiency, Reliability and Sustainability Robert Jennings, Hydro Inc. This presentation goes beyond C-Suite buzzwords and talks about the practical and achievable steps for implementing pump system optimization. |
| 10 a.m. | Break |
| 10:15 a.m. | Variable Frequency Drives as a Component of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability James Sharp, Energy Drive Systems |
| 11 a.m. | Case Studies From Variable Frequency Drive Installations Sheldon Bode, Energy Drive Systems |
| 11:45 a.m. | Day 2 Wrap-Up and Briefing on Plant Tour |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1 p.m. | Rockwell Automation Introduction and Plant Tour |
| 4 p.m. | Return From Plant Tour and Post-Tour Discussion |
| 4:45 p.m. | Adjourn |
Thursday, 8 October 2026 | |
| 7 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8 a.m. | Boiler Basics and Technology Innovations Jeff Coale, RMB Engineered Products |
| 8:45 a.m. | Steam Traps Management and Maintenance for Energy Reduction |
| 9:15 a.m. | Best Practices for Industrial LED Lighting Javier Pina, Dialight |
| 9:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10:15 a.m. | Process Heating — State of the Art and Where the Industry Is Going Anup Sane, Air Products |
| 11 a.m. | Saving Energy Using Simulation and Visualization Chenn Zhou, Purdue University Northwest Advanced computer simulation and visualization technologies are increasingly playing a key role for saving energy in steel manufacturing. These technologies can provide coherent understandings of complex phenomena and processes, and enable faster and better decision-making for process design, optimization, troubleshooting, scale-up and training. The Steel Manufacturing Simulation and Visualization Consortium (SMSVC) was formed with the mission to develop and implement innovative technical solutions, through the integration of advanced computer simulation and visualization technologies, for the value chain of U.S. steel manufacturing. Energy saving is one of major focuses in SMSVC research. To-date research outcomes include improved energy efficiencies and energy reduction opportunities. This presentation will include an overview of the SMSVC, simulation and visualization technologies, and methodologies of integrating computer simulation, augmented reality/virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Examples of high-impact project examples in various ironmaking and steelmaking processes will be presented. |
| 11:30 a.m. | Research Advances in Energy Efficiency, Reduction and Technology Sandeep Alavandi, GTI Energy |
| Noon | Day 3 Wrap-Up and Prize Drawing |
| 12:30 p.m. | Conference Adjourn |