The Regional Championship took place online for a 24-hour period on 28 November 2018. This year’s steelChallenge attracted 1,900 participants representing 48 countries. The 13th edition added more participants and countries than the previous year.
There were 370,000 attempts with the combined basic oxygen steelmaking and secondary steelmaking simulation with a total of 23,900 successful runs completed.
The top placed people in the ‘Industry’ and ‘Student’ categories will be invited with expenses paid to compete for the title of World Champion in Madrid, Spain, on 16 April 2019. Qualifying for the World Championship are the first placed people in each region plus the person with the next best result worldwide.
The award ceremony will be held in the presence of leaders of the global steel industry. All Finalists will be awarded certificates, cash prizes and an iPad in addition to their trip. The World Champions in both categories will also be awarded a World Champion certificate, an additional cash prize and the steelChallenge trophy.
steelChallenge-13 utilised steeluniversity’s basic oxygen steelmaking and secondary steelmaking in a combined simulation. Competitors were tasked to produce a grade of steel meeting technical requirements at the lowest cost per tonne. The simulation used a grade of steel specifically designed for steelChallenge-13.
Competitors could undertake unlimited ‘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.
The World Championship Finalists 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 |
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| 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 about steelChallenge-13 is available at steeluniversity.org.
# Ends #
Notes to Editors:
- steeluniversity, an initiative of worldsteel, 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.
- steelChallenge-13 is sponsored at the ‘Steel’ level by China Steel Corporation, Emirates Steel, and HBIS Group Co., Ltd (HBIS). Gerdau and JSW Steel are ‘Gold’ level sponsors. Tata Steel, Tenaris, Ternium and Korean Iron and Steel Association (KOSA) are ‘Silver’ level sponsors, and Nucor and JFE Steel Corporation are ‘Bronze’ level sponsors.
- The student and industry participants with the best global score in steelChallenge-13, but who are not Regional Champions, are also invited to the World Championship round.
- worldsteel is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world. worldsteel members represent approximately 85% of the world’s steel production, including over 160 steel producers with 9 of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes.