The World Steel Association (worldsteel) today announced the new world champions of the 13th steelChallenge. Shao-Wei LOU from National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan, China won in the student category and Yongtae KIM from POSCO, South Korea won in the industry category.

The world championship of the 13th steelChallenge took place in Madrid, Spain on 16 April 2019. The 5 winners of the regional championship from each of the industry and student categories competed for the global title. The task was to produce a specific engineering steel grade at the lowest cost using steeluniversity’s Basic Oxygen Steelmaking and Secondary Steelmaking simulators.
Scott Chubbs, Director, steeluniversity, said, “the steel industry is only as good as the people who work in it. With 1,900 participants in the whole competition, the finalists can be really proud of themselves. They are and will be great assets to our industry.”
Shao-Wei LOU, the World Champion in the student category for 2019 said, “I am an iron man and wanted to become World Champion. I am so happy I did.”
Yongtae KIM, the World Champion in the industry category, said, “steelChallenge can help us to find the optimum point between convertor and second refinery. It allows us to study productivity and costs. It’s very helpful for real steelmaking.”
Photos of the event are available on Flickr.
The World Champions are:
Student Category |
Name |
Affiliation |
Country |
Shao-Wei LOU |
National Ching Hsing University |
Taiwan, China |
|
|
|
Industry Category |
Name |
Affiliation |
Country |
Yongtae KIM |
POSCO |
South Korea |
The Regional Champions are:
Regional Champions – Student category |
|
Name |
Affiliation |
Country |
|
Vid Vengust (Europe, CIS, Middle East, Africa) |
University of Ljubljana |
Slovenia |
|
Dylan Da Silva Santos (North and South America) |
Universidade Federal do Ceará |
Brazil |
|
Yu-En Chang (Asia and Oceania) |
National Chung Hsing University |
Taiwan, China |
|
Wei Zhang (伟张) (China) |
Chongqing University of Science and Technology |
China |
|
Shao-Wei Lou (紹緯樓) (Best runner-up) |
National Chung Hsing University |
Taiwan, China |
|
|
|
|
|
Regional Champions – Industry category |
|
Name |
Affiliation |
Country |
|
Tom Neuvel (Europe, CIS, Middle East, Africa) |
Tata Steel Europe |
Netherlands |
|
Marcelo Ricardo de Souza Angelotto (North and South America) |
Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecem |
Brazil |
|
Kim Yongtae (Asia and Oceania) |
POSCO |
South Korea |
|
Sanfeng Jin (三峰靳) (China) |
HBIS Group Co., Ltd. |
China |
|
Yijie Han (韩 一杰) (Best runner-up) |
HBIS Group Co., Ltd. |
China |
|
More information is available on the steeluniversity website.
# Ends #
Notes to Editors:
- steeluniversity, an initiative of the World Steel Association, is an industry university, delivering education and training to current and future employees of steel companies and related businesses. The goal of steeluniversity is to inspire and motivate students and steel industry people about the value of working in the steel industry to lead change for realising a more sustainable industry that serves a more sustainable world.
- China Steel Corporation (CSC), Emirates Steel Industries Company PJC and HBIS Group Co., Ltd. are ‘Steel’ level sponsors of steelChallenge-13. Gerdau S.A. and JSW Steel Limited are ‘Gold’ level sponsors. The Korea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA), Tata Steel Limited, Tenaris and Ternium are ‘Silver’ level sponsors. Nucor Corporation and JFE Steel Corporation are ‘Bronze’ level sponsors.
- The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country. worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.