worldsteel announces the 7th steeluniversity.org Challenge launch dates.

 Brussels, 19 October 2012 – The 7th steeluniversity.org Challenge will begin with the Round 1 Regional Championship in November 2012 and will finish with the Round 2 World Championship in February 2013. There are two categories: ‘Student’ and ‘Industry’. Entrants in both categories will compete online from their own countries in the first round and the winners of the first round will come together in Belgium for the Grand Final.

The Regional Championship will take place online and will run for 24 hours each on two separate dates at 12:00 GMT, 13 and 21 November 2012: The task is to produce a given steel grade at a minimum overall cost using the Electric Arc Furnace simulation at steeluniversity.org and will be the same for both days. Participants can choose to take part on either or both of these days as individuals or in teams of a maximum of two people. They can make an unlimited number of attempts to achieve the given specification at the lowest total cost.

At the end of this round Regional Champions from the ‘Student’ and ‘Industry’ categories will be identified for each of the following regions: North America, Latin America, Europe-CIS, Middle East-India- Africa, and East Asia-Oceania. They will be invited to take part in the grand final in Brussels with full sponsorship provided for their trip.

The regional champions from each of the categories will compete for the title of World Champion at the World Steel Association in Brussels in February 2013. Leaders of the global steel industry will be present to watch the event unfold.

World Champions in each category will be awarded cash prizes and a trophy.

Round One: Regional Champions

Notes:

• The steeluniversity.org website is a free and innovative e-learning resource focused on all aspects of steel, including steelmaking technology and the multitude of steel applications. It provides highly interactive, game-like simulations of the major steelmaking processes in real-time. This award-winning, on-line initiative is developed and sponsored by the World Steel Association.
• steeluniversity.org resources are used by more than 100 steel companies and 200 universities worldwide. Many of its modules have been translated into other languages, including Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Korean, Spanish, Russian, German and Japanese.
• steeluniversity.org won the European Academic Software Awards (EASA) in 2004 and the steeluniversity project team was recognised with the AIST’s Benjamin F. Fairless Award in 2008.
• The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world. worldsteel represents approximately 170 steel producers (including 17 of the world’s 20 largest steel companies), national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. worldsteel members represent around 85% of world steel production.