AK Steel Research and Innovation Employees Receive Prestigious Award for Work on Third Generation Advanced High Strength Steel

WEST CHESTER, Ohio, May 03, 2018 -- AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) said today that five of the company’s employees have been recognized by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) for distinguished research.  The award was presented by AK Steel Chief Executive Officer and AISI Chairman Roger K. Newport during the 2018 General Meeting in Washington, D.C. this week. 

AK Steel Research and Innovation employees Yu-Wei Wang, Feng Zhu, Wei Wu, Panagiotis Makrygiannis, and Grant A. Thomas, along with co-authors from Argonne National Laboratory, General Motors Corporation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, received the AISI 2018 Institute Medal, AISI’s highest technical award, for their paper titled “Deformation Mode and Strain Path Dependence of Martensite Phase Transformation in a Medium Manganese TRIP Steel.”  The paper highlighted work leading to an enhanced understanding of Third Generation Advanced High Strength Steel forming behavior, which is critical to automotive manufacturing operations.

“It is my honor to congratulate Yu-Wei, Feng, Wei, Panagiotis, Grant and all the co-authors, for receiving the Institute Medal from AISI,” said Mr. Newport.  “We are proud and thank them for their work to help the North American steel industry remain strong and competitive.”

The Institute Medal from AISI is awarded for technical papers having special merit and importance in connection with the activities and interests of the iron and steel industry.  Papers are judged on the potential value to future prosperity of the industry, technical excellence and originality, effective communication and breadth of interest to AISI members.

This award is a result of collaborative work with AISI, other companies and industry experts including AK Steel Research and Innovation team members.  Yu-Wei Wang is a Section Manager, Advanced Engineering and Applications Laboratory; Feng Zhu is a Senior Engineer, Advanced Engineering and Applications Laboratory; Wei Wu, is an Engineer, Advanced Engineering and Applications; Panagiotis Makrygiannis, is an Engineer, Advanced Engineering and Applications; and Grant Thomas, is a Senior Research Engineer, Metallurgical Research.

AK Steel
AK Steel is a leading producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, primarily for the automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, electrical power generation and distribution markets.  Through its subsidiaries, the company also provides customer solutions with carbon and stainless steel tubing products, die design and tooling, and hot- and cold-stamped components.  Headquartered in West Chester, Ohio (Greater Cincinnati), the company has approximately 9,200 employees at manufacturing operations in the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico.  Additional information about AK Steel is available at www.aksteel.com.

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