Alumni Spotlight: 40 Under 40 Leaders Continue to Inspire

Each year, the 40 Under 40 initiative at Heat Treat Today recognizes 40 rising young leaders (ages 40 and younger) in heat treat who are going above and beyond in the industry.

To learn more about what makes someone a quality candidate for this honor, read below to hear from the individuals themselves — alumni of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 — as they share personal updates and industry insights.

Click this link to nominate yourself, or someone you know, by June 27, 2025.

Larissa Costa

When she was nominated for Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 in 2024, Larissa Costa was a metallurgist with Nucor Steel Brandenburg, she had a PhD, and had already served in her industry for ten years. Now she shares an encouraging update about milestones since her nomination and the role mentorships play in the industry.

“The most exciting milestone I recently reached was developing all the quenching recipes for the continuous heat treatment line at Nucor Steel Brandenburg. Developing the heat treatment process, especially the quenching recipes from scratch in a green steel mill is not something usual. Therefore, having the opportunity of developing recipes for quenching in a continuous line is very rewarding and it was an important milestone for both Nucor Steel Brandenburg and my career itself. At the continuous heat treatment line we heat treat steel plates with grades varying from structural to abrasion resistant, with a large range of thicknesses that varies from 3/16” – 4.”

Sharing about the role mentors played in her success, Larissa said, “Yes, I had some good mentors in my career and they definitely had an impact in how I develop my work. Two things I learned with respect to technical abilities that I use on a daily basis are:

Make sure that you’re expressing yourself in a way that everyone can understand, independent of their background or technical knowledge.

Always support your discussions, ideas, plans, and projects by data and technical information.”

When asked what advice she would give to young professionals entering the heat treating industry, she replied: “Keep your mind sharp. Discuss technical aspects with your peers and teammates, explore, investigate, study, review things that you learned, keep yourself updated. Understanding how your material was processed before the heat treatment can be the key to mitigate issues you might face after the heat treatment. The previous steps in production can impact in the mechanical and metallurgical properties, residual stresses, distortion, and consequently the lifetime of your final product.”

Trevor Gibson

Trevor Gibson was a Heat Treat Today 40 Under 40 Class of 2023 honoree. He had been in his field for 11 years, and was the lead materials engineer at Dana Incorporated. Trevor shared more about his recent achievements, and how he has grown over the past five years as a heat treater.

“Recently, I have remained steadily busy. With higher demands for power density through various parts, continuing to educate others in regards to various heat treat and materials has been at the forefront of my responsibilities. I would say that it has driven more creativity in how we look at conventional processes.

“Over the past five years I have gone from a simple engineer to a lead engineer at Dana. I have been working with the global teams in everything from materials selection and design all the way to helping troubleshoot heat treating issues at our various plants globally.”

When asked what the most enjoyable part of heat treating is, Trevor responded, “Definitely the people. There is always someone willing to help out when you have issues. Whether it is from furnace, controls, induction, or commercial heat treaters, you can always message or call people up when you are having an issue, and they are more than willing to take time out of their day to support.”