News from the IOB

Hindalco Industries visits the IOB

Gre­at mee­ting bet­ween Hind­al­co Indus­tries and the IOB, dis­cus­sing latest advance­ments in alu­mi­num pro­duc­tion, exci­ting pos­si­bi­li­ties for col­la­bo­ra­ti­on and inno­va­ti­on in the industry.

On 15 May 2023, a mee­ting was held bet­ween the IOB and the Indi­an alu­mi­ni­um and cop­per manu­fac­tu­rer Hind­al­co Indus­tries. A dele­ga­ti­on from Hind­al­co, con­sis­ting of Amar Ghat­ak (Lead Qua­li­ty Tech­ni­que, Cen­tral Tech­no­lo­gy), Dee­pu San­kar Chak­kum­chat­hu­pa­ram­bil (Pro­ject Lea­der Aero­space Qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on) and Mohan­raj Per­um­al (Mana­ger Qua­li­ty & Labo­ra­to­ry), made their way to the IOB. The dele­ga­ti­on was accom­pa­nied by Dirk Menz­ler from HTAix.

Hind­al­co Indus­tries is a glo­bal play­er in the alu­mi­ni­um and cop­per indus­try and has estab­lished its­elf as one of the lea­ding manu­fac­tu­r­ers world­wi­de. The com­pa­ny places gre­at empha­sis on qua­li­ty and tech­no­lo­gi­cal inno­va­ti­on, which is why a part­ner­ship with the RWTH Insti­tu­te IOB is of gre­at importance.

The Hind­al­co Indus­tries dele­ga­ti­on had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to get to know the IOB bet­ter and learn about the latest rese­arch pro­jects and deve­lo­p­ments in the field of mate­ri­als sci­ence and pro­cess model­ling. The IOB pre­sen­ted a com­pre­hen­si­ve intro­duc­tion to the uni­ver­si­ty and the insti­tu­te and put a spe­cial focus on its exper­ti­se in nume­ri­cal pro­cess model­ling. The dele­ga­ti­on was given a detail­ed insight into the simu­la­ti­on tech­ni­ques that the IOB uses to opti­mi­se pro­duc­tion pro­ces­ses and mate­ri­al behaviour.

Fur­ther­mo­re, a gui­ded tour of the depart­ment was given, during which the IOB’s test rigs were pre­sen­ted. The dele­ga­ti­on was impres­sed by the sta­te-of-the-art faci­li­ties and the tech­ni­cal exper­ti­se of the IOB in this field. In turn, the IOB was able to gain insights into the spe­ci­fic requi­re­ments and chal­lenges of the alu­mi­ni­um indus­try, which could be of gre­at inte­rest for future coope­ra­ti­on opportunities.

Par­ti­cu­lar atten­ti­on was paid to the envi­ron­men­tal impact of alu­mi­ni­um pro­duc­tion. Hind­al­co Indus­tries is com­mit­ted to sus­taina­bi­li­ty and envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion and is con­ti­nuous­ly loo­king for ways to make its pro­duc­tion pro­ces­ses more envi­ron­men­tal­ly fri­end­ly. The IOB has exten­si­ve expe­ri­ence in this area and was the­r­e­fo­re able to offer valuable insights and recom­men­da­ti­ons on how to mini­mi­se the envi­ron­men­tal foot­print of alu­mi­ni­um production.

Both par­ties were enthu­si­a­stic about the oppor­tu­ni­ties that could ari­se from a part­ner­ship and are con­fi­dent that they can make a signi­fi­cant con­tri­bu­ti­on to the fur­ther deve­lo­p­ment of the alu­mi­ni­um industry.

By sha­ring exper­ti­se, expe­ri­ence and resour­ces, Hind­al­co Indus­tries and the IOB will tog­e­ther help dri­ve inno­va­ti­on in the alu­mi­ni­um indus­try and find sus­tainable solu­ti­ons to the industry’s chal­lenges. The future of alu­mi­ni­um pro­duc­tion thus pro­mi­ses exci­ting deve­lo­p­ments and advan­ces that will be of gre­at importance both eco­no­mic­al­ly and environmentally.