Dr. Sridhar Seetharaman, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Vice Dean for Research and Innovation at Arizona State University will give a seminar titled "Pathways for Steel Decarbonization - A Comparative Study and A Few Case Studies" to the interested faculty and students at Discovery Park.

Abstract

It is an exciting, yet challenging time for steel as environmental legislation, new energy sources and government support for manufacturing are creating the opportunities to revolutionize the metals sector to produce low carbon, high value added products. The benefits of a modernized energy – and raw material flexible industry producing high-value products are obvious but can only be enabled through a joint commitment from the entire industry sector, government and the academic community. Using the case as steel as an example, we seek to explore new technologies to reduce the environmental and financial cost of production. We will investigate innovative blast furnace/melting technology and downstream processes and disruptive technologies to replace traditional routes. Success will mean remaining competitive in an era of high-energy costs and exploiting alternative and indigenous energy. We also seek to develop effective processing routes for value added steel products and look for solutions that enable differentiation and flexibility at the latest possible stage of steel manufacturing. This talk will highlight the unique industry-university research environments in which I have worked in, and the broad range of technology readiness levels in which we engaged in. Examples of currently ongoing activities will be given from research engaged in metal recycling and raw material and energy flexibility.

Biography

Sridhar received his undergraduate degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and his PHD from MIT. He spent most of his faculty career at Carnegie Mellon as the POSCO Chair of Steelmaking with a joint appointment at NETL (DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory), followed by a period in UK as the TATA-Royal Academy Chair of Low Carbon Technologies. He then served at DOE as a Senior Advisor at EERE. He is currently at Arizona State University and holds a Joint Faculty Appointment at NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), he is an international member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and a MERCATOR Fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG). He, is the PI of EPIXC, Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon, DOE’s 7th Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

Throughout his 23-year career, Sridhar have successfully built strategic partnerships and executed key initiatives across industry, government, and the academic community. He has maintained a consistent focus on the expansion and enrichment of transdisciplinary collaborations by capitalizing on existing research capabilities, regional and national strengths, and matching those to mission-driven needs of heavy industry to become more energy efficient and decarbonized.