1 December 2021 Brussels, Belgium

The Regional Championship of steelChallenge-16 took place online for 24 hours on 24 November 2021. This year’s steelChallenge attracted 1,480 participants representing more than 50 companies and 90 academic institutions from 33 countries. New this year, carbon footprint requirements were introduced for the steel grade.

Scott Chubbs, Director steeluniversity said, “This year’s competition added new features, including our journey to add carbon emissions to the steeluniversity simulators, a masterclass webinar for all participants, an online community, and a webinar to open the Regional Championship, allowing participants to ask questions of the steeluniversity team. The positive reception of these efforts continues to build steelChallenge for engaging current and future steel makers.”

The first place people in both the ‘industry’ and ‘student’ categories from each of the five regions will be invited to the World Championship in April 2022. In addition, the top five people in each region will receive a certificate of accomplishment.

Mr Chubbs added, “We intend to hold the World Championship in London, UK. We continue to monitor the global health and travel situation and will make a decision whether to be in person or online in January 2022.”

steelChallenge-16 utilised steeluniversity’s electric arc furnace steelmaking and secondary steelmaking in a combined simulation. Participants were tasked to produce a grade of steel meeting technical requirements at the lowest cost per tonne with carbon footprint requirements. The simulation used a grade of steel specifically designed for steelChallenge-16.

Competitors could undertake ‘runs’ of the simulation during the 24-hour competition period. A ‘run’ was concluded when the simulation had completed the set time, the result had been registered in the competition database, and the competitor had received a confirmation of successful completion.

The best ‘run’ of each competitor was to determine their score and placement in the Regional Championship.

All registered participants for steelChallenge-16 received access to the Electric Arc Furnace and Secondary Steelmaking courses, including e-learning, 3D interactive models and simulators. Registered participants completing the Electric Arc Furnace and Secondary Steelmaking courses course received completion certificates for each course. All participants successfully completing a simulation run during steelChallenge-16 will receive a competition certificate.

Student Category
Participant Affiliation Region/Country
Blaž žerjav Jereb University of Ljubljana Europe and Africa / Slovenia
Dong-Hyun Kim Polytechnique Montréal Americas / Canada
Amit Kumar Bhuyan Shavak Nanavati Technical Institute Asia – West / India
Qichen Li (绮琛 李) TangShan Vocational College of Science and Technology Asia – North / China
Jongdoeck Lim Pukyong National University Asia – East and Oceania / South Korea
Industry Category
Participant Affiliation Region/Country
Timur Sabirovich Gaisin TMK Group Europe and Africa / Russia
Paula Renée de Macedo Costa Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém Americas / Brazil
Krutidipta Sahu Tata Steel Limited Asia – West / India
Ruibin Wang (瑞宾 王) HBIS Group Asia – North / China
Jingi Pyeon POSCO Asia – East and Oceania / South Korea

# Ends #

Notes to Editors:

  • steeluniversity is the education and training programme of the World Steel Association, delivering education and training to current and future employees of steel companies and related businesses.
  • More communication resources such as images, videos, posters, and logos can be found on the steelChallenge communication kit page.
  • steelChallenge-16 is sponsored at the ‘Steel’ level by HBIS Group and POSCO. Gerdau and JSW are ‘Gold’ level sponsors. Emirates Steel, KOSA, Tata Steel Limited, Ternium and Tenaris are ‘Silver’ level sponsors. JFE Steel and TMK 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.
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