Congratulations to doctoral student Swaroop Kumar Behera who received the George J. Barker Memorial Scholarship at the annual American Foundry Society, Wisconsin Chapter Regional Conference, on Feb 8. in Milwaukee. The scholarship, awarded annually, supports graduate-level education beneficial to the cast metal industry, particularly within the membership areas for the American Foundry Society chapters in Wisconsin.
Behera teaches the Engineering Materials lab, which is a prerequisite for all engineering students, and has managed the UWM Foundry since Fall of 2021. His dissertation is focused on exploring the effect of micro-structure on wetting and corrosion behaviors of various alloy systems.
UWM students from the Foundry Lab also showcased their work in the Casting Competition at the conference. The students made piston heads using a new high-temperature aluminum alloy and an investment casting method. They also volunteered at the “Foundry in a Box” demonstration hosted by the AFS WI Chapter and REGS Sheeler at the conference, helping numerous conference participants, both students and industry personnel, make personalized tin castings.