BOARD MEMBER PARTICIPANTS
Andrew S. Bissot
Vice President of Engineering, Manufacturing Excellence and Reliability
Metallus Inc.
Andrew Bissot is vice president of engineering, manufacturing excellence and reliability for Metallus Inc., a role he has held since May 2021. Before joining the company, Bissot served in a variety of roles at Outokumpu Stainless. He spent time in the commercial organization managing the responsibilities of pricing, innovation and customer solutions for the Americas.
Siddhartha Biswas
Senior Plant Metallurgist
Big River Steel – A U. S. Steel Co.
Siddhartha Biswas is a senior plant metallurgist at Big River Steel – A U. S. Steel Co. and is responsible for product development and process improvement of cold-rolled coated and uncoated sheet steels. He is leading the successful development of high-strength and high-formable sheet steel with lean alloying and innovative process design specifically pertaining to thin-slab casting mini-mills. He is an integral part of a core group on developing advanced high-strength, superformable sheet steels with nanoprecipitates in a single-phase ferritic matrix for automotive as well as structural applications. He is the author and co-author of several publications in premium peer-reviewed journals and proceedings and is proud recipient of AIST Awards such as the Gilbert R. Speich Award (2023) and Richard R. Fruehan Award (2020). He holds a bachelor’s degree in materials and metallurgical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and received a master’s degree in materials science and engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. Biswas has obtained his Ph.D. degree in materials engineering from University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dirk Francis
Chief Operating Officer, Primary, Cluster Dunkerque
ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P.
Dirk Francis was appointed to ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P.’s executive team in April 2022. He previously served as chief operating officer, primary, ArcelorMittal Germany, and deputy site manager of ArcelorMittal Europe Flat Products since 2018. Prior to joining ArcelorMittal Germany, he was head of blast furnaces and sinter plants at ArcelorMittal Ghent from 2015 to 2018. He joined ArcelorMittal Ghent in 1998 in cokemaking, where he held several positions as project manager, line manager and support manager. in 2008, he was appointed head of cokemaking and in 2012 his responsibilities expanded to include raw materials, the Harbour, Recycling and Internal Transport. Francis started his career in 1995 at Philips Lighting in the Netherlands, in charge of development and assembly of energy-saving lamps. He holds a master of civil engineering degree in mechatronics from the University of Leuven, Belgium, as well as a master of industrial engineering degree in electromechanics from the Industrial High School of Ghent, Belgium.
Daniel Keown
Senior Vice President, Flat Rolled Steel Production
Steel Dynamics, Inc
Dan Keown is currently senior vice president of Flat Rolled Steel Production for Steel Dynamics Inc. He is responsible for the company’s flat-rolled steel production operations in Indiana, Mississippi and Texas. Keown served as the vice president and general manager of the Columbus Flat Roll Division since 2021 and general manager, Engineered Bar Products Division, from 2014 until 2021, with responsibility for the overall operation of the divisions. Keown served as meltshop manager, Engineered Bar Products Division, from 2008 until 2014. Prior, he was a casting supervisor from 2003 until 2008, assisting in the meltshop redesign and start-up of the brownfield acquisition. From 1998 through 2003, Keown held various positions within Iron Dynamics, including process engineer and shift supervisor. He was part of the team that designed, constructed and commissioned the Iron Dynamics Division. He started his career with National Starch and Chemical in 1991 in varying roles of increasing responsibility, including process engineer, shift supervisor, byproducts department manager, and treating and drying department manager. Keown earned both a B.S. degree in chemical engineering (1991) and an M.S. degree in engineering management (2011) from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Francesco Memoli
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tenova Inc.
Francesco Memoli is the president and chief executive officer of Tenova Inc., a leading original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier of sustainable processes and technologies in the metals sector, part of the Tenova Group. He started his professional career in Spain with the automaker Nissan in 1996, but quickly moved to the steel industry, joining the Techint group of companies in 1998. His steelmaking experience begun as a metallurgical engineer in the Tenaris steel plants in Argentina and in Italy, where he was involved with steel scrap and direct reduced iron melting operations. He then moved to the sister company Tenova in Italy covering various roles, from process design to plant commissioning, from technology service to plant sales, before moving to Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, in 2008, with the task of promoting green technologies for the metalmaking sector of North America. Originally from Naples, Italy, Memoli holds an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Universidad Pontificia Comillas of Madrid (Spain). He is the inventor of seven active patents about ironmaking, electric arc furnace, powder metallurgy, steel slag recycling, and safety. He has published more than 100 articles and papers and has been one of the contributors to the October 2020 “Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap” of the International Energy Agency.
Hiranya Pathak
Principal Business Developer, Engineer, and Strategist
Primetels Technologies
Hiranya Pathak has worked in the electrical and steel industries for two decades. In his current role at Primetals Technologies, he designs and develops power systems and power quality solutions for the steel producers. During last decade, he was instrumental in design and execution of power system solutions for new steel mills and development of power quality solutions for electric arc furnaces for all major steel producers in the U.S. Over the years, he authored and co-authored several technical papers for AIST’s Electrical Applications and Electric Steelmaking Technology Committees. He was the recipient of AIST’s James Farrington Award in 2021 and 2022. He served as a reviewer of AIST’s “Roadmap for Iron and Steel Manufacturing: Revolutionizing U.S. Global Leadership for a Sustainable Industrial Supply Chain” for the U.S Department of Commerce and National Institute of Standards and Technology. He continues to contribute as a session chair at AISTech, and he is among the AIST members working to develop IEEE standard for AC Electrical Arc Furnace Transformer. Pathak holds an M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Emory University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Senior IEEE member.
April Pitts-Baggett
Senior Quality Engineer
Nucor Business Technology
April Pitts-Baggett graduated from the University of Alabama in 2004 (B.S.) and 2006 (M.S.) with degrees in metallurgical engineering. She began her career at Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. in 2006, holding multiple metallurgist and supervisor positions while concurrently completing her Ph.D., also in metallurgical engineering. In 2019, she moved to Italy to serve as the chief metallurgist of Duferdofin-Nucor. She returned to the states in 2020 to serve as a process metallurgist at Nucor Steel–Decatur LLC until 2022. Pitts-Baggett is currently the senior quality engineer with Nucor Business Technology, designing Nucor’s flat mill system upgrade. Additionally, she serves as the chair of the advisory board for the University of Alabama’s Metallurgical Engineering department and is a committee member for the Annual Nucor Children’s Charity Classic. She currently serves on AIST’s board of directors and is the awards chair for the AIST Women in Steel Membership Committee, and she is a past chair of AIST’s Ladle & Secondary Refining Technology Committee.
Rachel Schmidt
Technical Sales Manager
Berry Metal Co. - EAF Mill Services Group
Rachel Schmidt currently serves as a technical sales manager for Berry Metal Co.’s EAF Mill Services group. Prior to entering the steel industry, she worked in commercial construction. Her career in the steel industry began with a manufacturer of water hydraulic valves and continued at Hydro Inc., where she served as sales manager for the Midwest region before joining Berry Metal in 2023. Throughout her career, Schmidt has held roles in applications engineering, sales and quality management. She studied mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University. Schmidt has been actively involved in AIST through Women in Steel, Young Professionals and numerous Technology Training Conferences. She currently serves on the Midwest Member Chapter board, is a member of the Women in Steel Programming Committee and serves as Roundup co-chair for the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee. She previously served as chair of the Maintenance & Reliability Technology Committee (MRTC). In recognition of her contributions to the MRTC, Schmidt received an AIST Presidential Citation in 2023.
Andrew Seibel
Electrical Supervisor
Nucor Steel–Hertford County
Andy Seibel is an electrical supervisor at Nucor Steel–Hertford County. He started his career with Nucor in 2015 as an electrical supervisor in the heat treat department. He then joined the rolling and finishing team in 2017. Prior to Nucor, he spent more than eight years at U. S. Steel – Gary Works as a management associate, electrical shift manager, and maintenance coordinator at #1 Caster and #1 BOP, then an area manager at Midwest Sheet and Gary Tin. Seibel holds a B.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering technology from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University. He has been a member of AIST since 2012.
john speer
American Bureau of Shipping Chaired Professor, Colorado School of Mines
2026–2027 AIST President
John G. Speer is the American Bureau of Shipping Chaired Professor at Colorado School of Mines, and director of the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center. He received a B.S. degree from Lehigh University in metallurgy and materials engineering, and a doctorate in physical metallurgy from the University of Oxford, U.K. He was affiliated with the Homer Research Laboratories of Bethlehem Steel Corp. from 1983 to 1997, where he was involved in product research, customer and operations support, and research management. He became a professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Colorado School of Mines in 1997, where he teaches metallurgy at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and participates in research activities with the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center. Speer also served as Mines’ associate vice president for research from 2008 to 2013. He is a Distinguished Member and Fellow of AIST, member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of ASM International, an Iron & Steel Society Professor, past chairman of the Ferrous Metals Committee of SAE, and served as AIME president in 2017–2018. His background is in physical metallurgy and solid-state phase transformations, and steel product development, including alloy design/processing response/ application and performance.
Kyle Vanover
Hot Mill Product Metallurgist
Steel Dynamics Inc.
Kyle Vanover is the hot mill product metallurgist at Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) – Flat Roll Group Butler Division, a role he has held since 2020. He joined SDI in 2009 as a meltshop metallurgist, advancing through critical metallurgical positions including LMF/caster metallurgist and hot mill metallurgist. Over his 15-year tenure, Vanover has focused on safety, optimizing steel production processes, enhancing product quality, and implementing innovative solutions across melting, casting and hot rolling operations. He holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Trine University and an M.S. degree in engineering from Purdue University. He is deeply engaged with AIST, having served as chair of the Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee, where he continues to contribute. He also supports AIST’s educational initiatives as a trainer at the annual AIST Electric Steelmaking Training Seminar, sharing his experiences to train and mentor emerging professionals in the field.