The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced today the promotion of Deanna S. Lorincz to director, automotive communications. In her role, Ms. Lorincz will manage strategic marketing, public /media relations and advertising for AISI’s Automotive Applications Committee and the Bar and Rod Market Development Group, as well as the Strategic Alliance for Steel Fuel Tanks (SASFT) and the newly formed Tailored Steel Product Alliance (TSPA).

In addition to her responsibilities with AISI, Ms. Lorincz will manage marketing and technology transfer efforts for the Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP). The A/SP is an association that includes the Big Three automakers and the North American automotive sheet steel producers.

"Under Deanna’s direction, several marketing plans to increase customer awareness of new steel technologies were successfully crafted and implemented throughout North America," Ron Krupitzer, vice president of automotive applications, AISI said. "One example was the transfer of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies associated with the broad application of high-strength and advanced high-strength steels in the automotive marketplace. Her leadership in guiding the technical transfer efforts of our ULSAB-Advanced Vehicle Concepts (ULSAB-AVC) project has given North American carmakers the benefit of $44 million worth of research by the global steel industry. Because of her efforts, AISI has become a well-recognized source for technical information on steel-intensive designs for future cars and trucks.”

"Deanna’s background in marketing, business management and strategic planning, as well as her expertise in both writing and graphic design, have been invaluable in helping AISI achieve its communications and awareness objectives in all of our marketing programs.

She helped us launch our annual showcase of new steel applications through the Great Designs in Steel Seminars," Krupitzer said.

"Having Ms. Lorincz as part of the management team has been a key factor in the Institute's efforts to establish recognition for its investment in the continued success of the automotive market. We are continuously looking for new and exciting ways to get our messages to our customers,” he said.

Ms. Lorincz joined AISI in April 2001 as assistant manager, Communications. She most recently served as AISI’s manager of communications, automotive market. Prior to that, she held positions in the metropolitan Detroit area, most notably as Corporate Marketing Communication Specialist for Computerized Facility Integration, Marketing Specialist for AON Consulting, and Marketing Director for Future Benefits Corporation.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 33 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 118 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent approximately 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its applications,

In its continuing quest to provide materials and processes that help automakers produce safe, affordable, lightweight and environmentally efficient vehicles, the manufacturers of tailored steel products (such as laser-welded and tailored blanks and tubes) are joining with the North American steel industry to focus on expanding the applications of tailored steel products.

Globally, the market for tailored blanks has grown from about 120 million in 2001 to nearly 250 million in 2005. With new and innovative steels, and forming and welding processes, vehicle manufacturers are increasingly looking at using tailored steel products. "Automakers have told us that tailored products are enablers to improving crashworthiness while offering opportunities to reduce weight and cost compared to conventional stamped assemblies," said Ron Krupitzer, vice president automotive applications, American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). "The purpose of the Alliance is to assist automakers in their application of tailored products by optimizing the performance of the products and thereby expanding applications and the markets for the products."

To encourage further development of technologies and performance of tailored steel products, AISI is organizing the multi-functional group of tailored steel product manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and material suppliers. The group, called the Tailored Steel Product Alliance, has received initial interest and participation from:

· Noble Metal Processing, Inc. · Powerlasers · ProCoil Company, L.L.C. · Shiloh Industries Inc. · Soudronic Automotive NAFTA Ltd. · Tailor Steel America, LLC · TWB Company, LLC · VIL/Wayne Trail Technologies

· AK Steel Corporation · Dofasco Inc. · Mittal Steel USA · Nucor Corporation · Severstal North America Inc. · Stelco Inc. · United States Steel Corporation

The mission of the Alliance is to expand the applications and markets for tailored steel products. This will be accomplished by leveraging the resources of its stakeholder members to:

• Develop and optimize the applications of tailored products, and
• Communicate information on the applications and benefits of tailored products.

Although the primary focus of the Alliance will be on automotive applications, other markets will also be addressed.

Peter Mould, program manager, AISI, will coordinate the Alliance’s activities. "We are encouraged by the positive response that the formation of the Alliance has generated among tailored product manufacturers, their suppliers, and steelmakers,” he said. “Although we are still in the formative stages, we anticipate making a great deal of progress in a short amount of time by raising the awareness of the benefits of tailored products.” Mould said that initial projects under investigation are the development of a cost-benefit model and updating the guidelines for tailored blanks issued by the Auto/Steel Partnership in recent years.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 33 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 118 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to our customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent approximately 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity.

The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been key to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation and the member companies of the AAC.

The Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) announced Todd Link and Jeff Grimm, employees at the U. S. Steel Research and Technology Center in Monroeville, PA, as the recipients of the 2005 SAE International/American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Sydney H. Melbourne Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Automotive Sheet Steel.

Link and Grimm received the award for co-authoring a paper presented at the 2005 SAE World Congress titled, “Axial Crash Testing of Advanced High Strength Steel Tubes (SAE paper No. 2005-01-0836).

The authors, using a drop tower test and a cylindrical tube specimen, evaluated the axial crash performance of five conventional steels and seven advanced high strength steels. Both dual phase and transformation-induced plasticity steels with tensile strengths of 600 MPa and 800 MPa were tested, as were the effects of tensile strength and sheet thickness on crash performance.

The results show that substituting higher strength steels of the same thickness can reduce crash deformation, or existing crashworthiness can be maintained and weight reduction achieved by substituting higher strength steels with reduced thickness.

Ronald Krupitzer, vice president, automotive applications, AISI, noted, “Todd Link and Jeff Grimm are furthering the knowledge base of the automotive industry by providing data related to crash safety utilizing steel, the material of choice by the automotive community.”

“Through this lab experiment on crash testing, the steel industry is able to demonstrate that steel can absorb enormous energy in simulated crash and still contribute to mass reduction.”

Don Pether, president and CEO of Dofasco Inc, augmented Krupitzer’s remarks. “Sydney Melbourne promoted the advancement of steel applications through improvement in automobile production with steel. This award encourages engineers in our industry to reach beyond current standards to achieve steel technological advancements that benefit the automotive industry, the steel industry and the consumer. The research of Todd Link and Jeff Grimm is a timely contributor to our knowledge base as the demand for automotive safety increases.”

The authors will be honored at 5:00 p.m. today during the SAE Awards Ceremony at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan.

About the Authors:
Todd Link is a Senior Research Engineer with U. S. Steel, since 1998, focusing on automotive product applications. In 2002, he received the Sydney H. Melbourne Award and the AISI Medal for his papers on fatigue performance, crash behavior, and formability of advanced high-strength steels. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.

Jeff Grimm is a Senior Technician with U. S. Steel, since 2002 and focuses on product technology in sheet products including static testing, dynamic testing, and fracture mechanics. He holds two associate degrees in metrology and electrical engineering technology from Butler County Community.

About SAE:
SAE is a nonprofit engineering and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity. Nearly 84,000 engineers and scientists who are SAE members develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles, including automobiles, aircrafts, aerospace crafts, trucks, buses, marine, rail and transit machinery. This information is disseminated through SAE meetings, books, electronic products and databases, technical papers, standards, reports and professional development programs.

About AISI:
AISI established this award through the SAE Foundation to honor the memory and accomplishments of the late Sydney H. Melbourne. Melbourne, who was director of market development and product applications with Dofasco Inc., was actively involved in enhancing relationships between the steel and automotive industries and participated in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership.

During his distinguished career, Melbourne served as director of DNN Galvanizing Corporation, chairman of the board at Forming Technologies, Inc., and as a past president of the Metallurgical Society of the Canadian Institute of Mining. He was a member of the Zinc Aluminum Coaters Association and the International Iron and Steel Institute.

Melbourne also actively participated on numerous committees within the AISI Automotive Applications Committee, the Auto/Steel Partnership and the UltraLight Steel Auto Body project.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 33 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 118 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to our customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent approximately 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity.

The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been key to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation and the member companies of the AAC.