Safety & Health Technology Committee (SHTC), Galvanizing Technology Committee (GTC) and Digitalization Applications Technology Committee (DATC) joint meeting - 13–14 September 2023, Memphis, Tenn., USA
The joint meeting centered around two themes: safety enhancements in and around galvanizing lines and the transformative applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in operations, quality control, and product disposition, as well as preventive maintenance for galvanizing lines.
During the meeting, attendees were treated to presentations which provided a rich exchange of insights and knowledge, as experts delved into the intricacies of ensuring safety within galvanizing processes while exploring the possibilities of AI and ML.
On the second day of the meeting, participants had the opportunity to tour the galvanizing line at Nucor Steel–Arkansas.

Jerald Gaines, Nucor Steel–Arkansas (center), accepted a plaque of appreciation for hosting a tour during the joint meeting of the Safety & Health Technology Committee, Galvanizing Technology Committee and Digitalization Applications Technology Committee on 14 September 2023.

The DATC met 10 May 2023, Detroit, MI, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Tyler Campbell - Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Columbus Division

• Vice Chair: Bryan Beard - TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Papers Chair: Matthew Smith - Commercial Metals Company

• Young Professional Chair: Bill McCormick - Global Gauge Corp.

The DATC met 6 March 2023, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA
The DATC held their spring meeting prior to the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA.
David Kober emphasized the topic of decarbonization as a topic of growing importance within AIST with a brief discussion affirming the opinion. He also passed along a request from the Young Professionals Steering Committee to organize a Digitalization 101 training program. A subcommittee was organized with the goal of scheduling a Digitalization 101 training program for the near future.
The Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry was discussed and the importance of differentiating the forum’s content from AISTech was emphasized. It was agreed that producer panel discussions with Q & A and producer use-case presentations are priorities.

Tyler Campbell presented a plaque of appreciation to Liz Abreu for hosting the DATC’s tour of Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Southwest-Sinton Division (left to right): David Kober, Jim Hendrickson, Brad Morgan, Michael Harazin, Max Werner (back row), Chalapathy Devarakonda, Abreu, Katie Behrendt and Campbell.

The DATC met 29–30 September 2022, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
The AISTech 2023 abstracts were reviewed, and Brad Morgan and Jim Hendrickson volunteered to be session chairs. The AISTech 2024 Call for Papers text was discussed and approved.
The Digitalization Applications Best Paper Award for 2023 was finalized and will be presented during the DATC’s meeting at AISTech 2023.
The next Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry will be held in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA, on 7–8 March 2023.
David Kober reported on the activities of the Decarbonization Subcommittee. He asked for feedback to a number of questions related to the technical challenges to improve the industry’s sustainability from a digital applications perspective.
Presentations:

• “Augmented Reality (AR): Empowering Steel Plant Workers,” by Eric Almquist, Star Tool & Die Works Inc.

• “Combining Process Data, Synchronized Video Capture, and Open-Source Machine Vision Tolls,” by David Kober, iba America.

• “Surface Cleanliness: Why Important and Non-Contact Evaluation,” by Eric Almquist.

Tyler Campbell (left) and Bryan Beard (right) presented  the DATC service plaque to Jim Hendrickson (center).

The DATC met 16 May 2022, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Tyler Campbell  /  Steel Dynamics Inc. – Structural and Rail Division

• Vice Chair: Bryan Beard  /  TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Papers Chair: Matthew Smith  /  Commercial Metals Company

• Young Professional Chair: Bill McCormick  /  Global Gauge Corp.

• Decarbonization Liaisons: Michael Peintinger  /  Smart Steel Technologies and David Kober  /  iba America

The DATC met 21–22 February 2022, Silicon Valley, Calif., USA
The DATC’s business meeting on 21 February began with a welcome by DATC chair Jim Hendrickson. The group held a brainstorming session on ways to increase attendance at committee meetings, particularly among Young Professionals.
Next, the DATC’s sessions for AISTech 2022 were reviewed by Bryan Beard, DATC papers chair.
On 22 February, the group met at Microsoft Silicon Valley. Several presentations were held.
Presentations:

• “Neural Network and Deep Learning Technologies on Vision Systems for a More Reliable Visual Billet Tracking,” by Gianluca Maccani, Polytec USA.

• “Identifying Humans Relative to Threats Using AI to Evaluate Video,” by Eric Almquist, Star Tool & Die Works.

• “Time Series AI for Plant Performance and Visibility,” by Crick Waters, Falkonry.

• “Quality, Productivity, Energy and CO₂ Efficiency,” by Michael Peintinger, Smart Steel Technologies.

• “Experience Center Strategy Overview,” by Pedro Rivera, Microsoft.

• “Hockey Bot Demo,” by Stefanie Jacobs, Microsoft.

• “Project Bonsai Team,” by Kence Anderson, Microsoft.

Jim Hendrickson (right), DATC chair, presented a plaque of appreciation to Hardik Mehta (left), Microsoft, for hosting the committee’s tour.

The DATC met 14 October 2021, Aurora, Ohio, USA.
The DATC meeting was hosted by RoviSys. DATC papers chair Bryan Beard gave the opening remarks.
The group discussed the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry, which will be held 14–16 March in Indianapolis, Ind., USA. AISTech 2022 was then discussed, with a reminder to submit abstracts for presentations.
The committee discussed how to increase attendance of producers at DATC events and meetings. The following ideas were considered: Reach out with a personal invite to the “head of digital” at some of the larger producers that are not regularly attending; focus more on safety since producers seem to be more open sharing safety improvements; and increase branding around how Young Professionals would benefit from participating.
The DATC then reviewed the Steel Industry Fatalities report and held a roundtable safety share.
Bryan Beard provided an overview of the DATC abstracts for AISTech 2022 that had been submitted so far. The committee has received 28 abstracts, which will be distributed over five or six sessions. Volunteers for session chair were solicited.
The committee then discussed the Electrical Engineering Basics course and how to integrate digital themes into other training courses.
The group then discussed its next meeting. Microsoft has given approval for the DATC to visit (barring COVID restrictions) on 22 February 2022 in Seattle, Wash., USA. The focus of visit will be on Microsoft AI’s Project Bonsai.
The committee then toured the RoviSys facility.
Presentations:

• “Cloud-Based Asset Monitoring and KPI,” by Bryan DeBois, RoviSys.

• “Overview of Project Bonsai,” by Bryan DeBois, RoviSys.

• “Site Automation Readiness for Smart Factory,” by Andy Sabo, RoviSys.

• “Rockwell Automation Twinsburg Circuit Board Plant Virtual Tour,” by Brian McCaffrey, RoviSys.

Bryan Beard (right) presented Christine Knuth (left) with a plaque of appreciation for hosting the DATC’s tour of RoviSys on 14 October 2021

Tyler Campbell (left) presented the DATC service plaque to Jim Hendrickson (right) at AISTech 2021.

The DATC met 29 June 2021, Nashville, TN USA.
The following officers were elected:

• Chair: Jim Hendrickson, Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor

• Vice Chair: Tyler Campbell, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Roll Group Columbus Division

• Papers Chair: Bryan Beard, TMEIC Corp. Americas

• Young Professional Chair: Michael Peintinger, SMS group Inc.

The DATC held a hybrid meeting, 17 May 2021, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA
The DATC spring meeting was organized as a hybrid virtual/in-person event on 17 May 2021, the day before the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry conference. DATC chair Jim Hendrickson led the meeting and gave the opening remarks.
The group began with a review of the latest AIST Steel Industry Fatalities report followed by a roundtable safety discussion.
Papers chair Bryan Beard gave an update on the committee’s five planned technical sessions for AISTech 2021, which will include a total of 32 papers. The group then nominated committee officers for the 2021–2022 term.
The DATC previewed the Digital Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry taking place the following day and other upcoming AIST Technology Training offerings. The Digitalization Applications Fundamentals training course is scheduled for 12–13 October 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The Digitalization Applications 101 online learning module, which consists of a series of introductory articles composed by various members of the DATC, is available on AIST.org. The articles are also being published in Iron & Steel Technology as an ongoing series.
Tyler Campbell, AIST Digital Transformation liaison, gave a report on the AIST Digital Transformation Subcommittee (DTS)’s quarterly meeting.
David Kober discussed recent AIST Young Professionals activities and encouraged committee members to actively recruit their Young Professional colleagues to become involved in AIST events. The Young Professionals group has put together several events over the past year, including a Mentor Mixer with members of the AIST Board of Directors and a soft skills webinar titled “Leading Change — Contributing and Helping to Lead a Culture of Engaged Teams.”
The meeting attendees then turned their attention to planning for the 2022 iteration of the Digital Transformation Forum. The group discussed possible locations for the conference and topics and themes to showcase. A dialogue transpired on possible additional activities for the DATC committee to plan.
Future locations for DATC meetings were proposed, with Rockwell and Tesla identified as possibilities.

The DATC held a virtual meeting 7 October 2020.
DATC chair Jim Hendrickson opened the meeting with a safety share and then talked about the year and how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted people and the steel industry.
David Kober talked briefly about AIST’s Young Professionals program since he is on the Young Professionals Steering Committee. The DATC Young Professionals representative is Michael Peintinger. 
The AISTech 2021 session structure and abstracts were discussed. Bryan Beard, DATC papers chair, reported that there were 35 abstracts submitted for the DATC. There are about 40 possible slots with the possibility of additional joint sessions with several other committees, such as Cold Sheet Rolling and Safety & Health. Several people volunteered to be session chairs.
The DATC discussed their best paper award nomination process.
The discussion then shifted to the DATC’s training opportunities, starting with the Digitalization Transformation Forum for the Steel Industry. Preparations for the forum, which will be held in March 2021, are underway.
Digitalization Applications: 101 Technology Training was discussed by Jim Hendrickson. At the time of the meeting, the digitalization articles that make up this training course were close to being completed.
Digitalization Applications: 201 Technology Training was also discussed. The approach for this seminar would be to tie it in with the Systems Automation Fundamentals training course. The 201-level Technology Training could be 1.5 days and would cover digitalization technologies and their applications.
The Digital Transformation Subcommittee (DTS) Survey was also discussed. The four-question survey was intended for the other Technology Committees to communicate the support they need from the DTS.
There was a suggestion made to create a one-page “use case” document by companies that have completed a digitalization project. This will be discussed with all of the Technology Committees as it would need their support. It was also suggested to coordinate roundtable discussions on digitalization technologies with the Member Chapters.
DTS roles were discussed. Tyler Campbell, the DATC vice chair, will be the chair of the DTS. As part of that role, Campbell will solicit volunteers to select papers for the monthly Digital Transformations column in Iron & Steel Technology.
The DATC then reviewed the webinars it has hosted since summer 2020.
Presentations: 

• “Safely Managing Remote Access to Process Automation Assets During a Global Pandemic,” by David Kober, iba, and Brent Bregar, Premier Automation.

• “AI Application on COVID-19 Environment to Reinforce the Use of Facial Masks and Social Distancing,” by Ed LaBruna, Janus Automation.

The DATC held a virtual meeting 29 April 2020.
The DATC kicked off their meeting with a discussion about the upcoming Maintenance Solutions technology training conference, which has been postponed to 24–26 February 2021. There are several Digitalization Applications–related presentations scheduled, including topics such as: autonomous maintenance at work, vibration analysis and monitoring, condition monitoring, industrial augmented reality for maintenance, and digital transformation of maintenance and reliability.
The DATC Best Paper Award winner was presented by the outgoing chair, Yufeng Wang. The award will be given at the AISTech 2020 in Cleveland.
The mission statement was reviewed and updated to incorporate the Digitalization Applications name change.
The new incoming chair Jim Hendrickson went over the committee objectives for the year. The DATC will focus efforts on organizing a new Digitalization Applications 101 Technology Training seminar. The course will cover the basics and overview of the Internet of Things (IoT) and digitalization technology. The format will be reference training material available for download.
It was suggested to hold the fall DATC meeting virtually after AISTech. Spring 2021 locations were brainstormed as well.
The new officers for the 2020–2021 term were elected:

• Chair: Jim Hendrickson, ArcelorMittal USA.

• Vice chair: Tyler Campbell, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Structural and Rail Division.

• Papers chair: Bryan M. Beard, TMEIC.

• Young Professional chair: Michael F. Peintinger, QuinLogic LLC.

The DATC and EATC jointly met 20–21 February 2020, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Presentations: 

• Scott Christensen, Graymatter, presented “Cyber­security and IIoT.”

• Osvaldo Bascur, OSB Digital, presented “Digital Transformation in the Steel Industry.”

• David Kober, iba America, presented “A Hybrid Approach to Industrial Analytics.”

• Michael Peintinger, QuinLogic, presented “Industry 4.0 — From Reactive to Proactive Quality Assurance.”

Meeting Highlights:
For AISTech 2020, session chairs were encouraged to contact/confirm authors assigned to their sessions.
Kober, outgoing DATC Young Professional chair, requested attendees consider candidates for the position within their Technology Committees.
Jim Hendrickson and Ramesh Khajjayam announced the plans for officer succession for the DATC and EATC, respectively, which will be approved during AISTech.
The last Systems Automation Fundamentals conference was held in September 2018, and while there are currently no plans to organize that training seminar again in the near future, the EATC is planning another training seminar called Electrical 101 to be held in 2021.
The committees reviewed the AIST Steel Industry Fatalities report and discussed a Young Professional Member Conference and the idea of virtual meetings.

José R. Favilla (holding plaque), worldwide director, industry solutions, industrial products, IBM, was presented with a plaque of appreciation for hosting the DATC and EATC’s tour of IBM.