Alacero – Santiago, Chile, March 04th, 2014. On February 19th in Brussels, Belgium, it took place the final phase of 8th Virtual Steelmaking Challenge organized by worldsteel, the association that represents steel companies worldwide.
Students Enzio Agustín Casalini and Francisco Brañas, from Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) won the contest, exceeding their opponents by a wide margin.
In the Professional category, the Latin American team -integrated by Franco Andrés Göttig and José Ignacio Petean from Ternium Siderar (Argentina)- reached the second position.
The Challenge is one of the major events hosted by worldsteel every year. The global competition simulates steel manufacturing on computer systems and provides young professionals and engineering students the opportunity to test those skills that will lead to a more competitive and innovative industry.
The first round of the Challenge -in November 2013- attracted more than 2,000 participants from 41 countries.
The five regional champions in two categories (professionals and students) selected in that phase arrived to Brussels last February to take part of the final round.
During the finals, the students were required to produce steel high strength billets at the lowest possible cost using Secondary Steelmaking Simulation. They were given a two and a half hour period and were asked to maintain the levels of impurities and inclusions within the required specifications.
Winners received their prize from Mr. Joon-Yang Chung , President of worldsteel and President and CEO of POSCO.
Alacero, the Latin American Steel Association, gave active support to this initiative by constantly promoting the competition in the region and facilitating the participation of Latin American students and professionals through the translation of the contest´s texts into Spanish and Portuguese.
About Alacero
Alacero –Latin American Steel Association- is the organization that brings together the Steel Value Chain of Latin America to promote the values of regional integration, technological innovation, corporate responsibility and social and environmental sustainability. Founded in 1959, Alacero is formed by 46 companies of 25 countries, whose production –of about 70 million annual tons- represents 95% of the steel manufactured in Latin America. Alacero is a Special Consulting Organization to the United Nations and is recognized as International Non-Government Organization by the Republic of Chile, host country of Alacero´s headquarters.