The fund was created to commemorate the life and industry service of Don B. Daily, a compassionate man who truly cared about the safety of all employees working in the steel industry. His enduring mark on the steel industry of North America has been the establishment of numerous safety and health initiatives that have significantly improved the workplace.
 
Phil Bell, president, Steel Manufacturers Association, said, "AIST and the SMA are very appreciative of the strong involvement of our members in the mill-university initiatives to promote a safer workplace." Ron Ashburn, executive director of AIST and secretary of the AIST Foundation added, "The Daily Fund directly connects students with the steel industry to leverage new and different perspectives to provide our companies with a safer work environment. The Fund benefits everyone working in steel manufacturing."
 
The 2013–2014 recipients are as follows:

• Purdue University – Calumet, Hammond, Ind., USA, John Moreland, Ph.D., mentored by Daniel J. Brisson, melt/cast manager, Nucor Steel–Indiana, "Enhancement of Steel Industry Safety Training Through Incident Visualization Development"
• University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala., USA, Amber Genau, Ph.D., mentored by George P. Miljus Jr., plant metallurgist, Nucor Steel Birmingham Inc., "Enhancing the Safety of Vertical Tensile Machines by Reducing Pinch Points"
• Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio, USA, Larry Waller, mentored by James Hardy, plant manager — steelmaking & casting, Republic Steel, "A Student-Based Research Project to Address Safety Prevention in a Steel Plant"
• West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va., USA, Xiaopeng Ning, Ph.D., mentored by Robin E. Birk, department manager — safety & IH, U. S. Steel – Mon Valley Works, "Ergonomic Assessment of High Risk Tasks in the Steel Manufacturing Industry to Prevent Back Injury"

The Don B. Daily Memorial Fund challenges North American university teams (students and professors) to submit proposals for grant funding in the theme area of safety and health awareness within the steel manufacturing industry. The dual objective of the fund is to promote a safe workplace for the steel manufacturing industry and to increase the number of students studying health and safety awareness relative to the manufacturing environment.
 

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The AIST Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation organized for charitable, education and scientific purposes. The AIST Foundation seeks to attract technology-oriented professionals to the steel industry by educating the public about the high-tech, diverse and rewarding nature of careers in modern steelmaking. Through industry support, the AIST Foundation awards in excess of US$600,000 annually in scholarships and grants. The AIST Foundation is part of AIST, an international technical association of more than 16,000 professional and student members from 70 countries. For more information about the AIST Foundation, visit www.AISTFoundation.org.
 
The Steel Manufacturers Association consists of 35 North American companies that operate 130 steel plants and employ approximately 60,000 people. The SMA is the primary trade association for scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers and rerollers, representing approximately 80% of domestic steelmaking capacity. The SMA also has 129 associate member companies who provide goods and services to the steel industry. SMA members are widely dispersed across North America, with 30 located in the United States, three in Canada and two in Mexico. The U.S. companies are represented in the United States Congress by 125 Congressional Districts in 37 states. For more information, please visit www.steelnet.org.