Bethany Leone

Our People

/ HEAT TREAT NEWS

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor. This letter is from the September 2025 Annual People of Heat Treat print edition. In today’s letter, Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares about the value of people in the heat treatment publication industry, highlighting individuals in the Heat Treat Today family.

We’re in business because people matter. Heat treating just happens to be our industry — which means we like making things hot (and then cold). But at our core, our business is people.

The Business of People

When I ask someone their favorite thing about the heat treating industry, most of the time, the answer is “the people.” Engineers, operations managers, sales reps, and operators all echo the theme.

Why is that? Maybe it’s the strong family values found in many family-founded, family-run operations. Or maybe the behind-the-scenes nature of the discipline draws a more people-focused crowd. It could be that the slower-paced, deliberate innovation attracts people motivated by collaboration more than competition. I’m not sure.

For whatever reason, it is a hallmark to our industry that those from various backgrounds and experiences can come to feel like family.

Welcome to the Family

Over the past year, we’ve welcomed several new individuals to the Heat Treat Today family. Each of them provides essential skills and abilities to making this publication helpful to you.

Jake Romano joined us in the summer of 2024. He embodies so many of our core values that it feels like he’s been here longer than just a year. Jake’s detailed eye for creative problem-solving has allowed our Heat Treat Radio podcast to reach new heights, funneling robust interviews to you seamlessly every month. He never fails to step up to the plate if time is of the essence and does so with the utmost professionalism and an ear for a good story: “My favorite thing that I’ve learned about the industry is just how diverse it is. There are so many people with fascinating backgrounds and reasons for joining the industry and I’ve been enjoying hearing their stories!”

Kelsha Wells has been the mastermind behind social media since fall of 2024 and recently coordinated the 40 Under 40 nomination process. The fruits of her labors are seen daily, connecting industry news and technical updates to you via social media. “From day one, I was struck by how incredible everyone is, not just in their talents, but in their willingness to support one another, celebrate wins, and work together seamlessly. That impression has only grown stronger over the past year.” This magazine edition is particularly special as she gets to see the many worthy young people featured on pages 36 to 71. She also supports various marketing campaigns for Heat Treat Today.

Michele Shaller found us through our legendary Laura Miller (now retired… we think). Michele assumed her position as editorial specialist in late-winter 2025. Every article you see in the print edition, every Heat Treat Radio transcript, and every, “hey, could you look at…?” piece of material gets an eagle-eye review by this whirlwind editor. Additionally, she is the editorial caretaker of several platforms, including the monthly e-newsletters.

Tiffany Ward connected with us in early spring 2025 and has been generating and formatting timely technical content for our website and Heat Treat Daily readers ever since. If you’ve ever had to scrap a heat treat plan and pivot fast under pressure, you have an idea of what Tiffany’s workday looks like every day. Can you say “pivot”?

Hamilton Pearman stumbled across the heat treat industry in 2014 and took a hiatus for a few years. Recently, he has returned, and in late-spring 2025, Hamilton assumed a sales role for Heat Treat Today’s European connections. Hamilton observed that the heat treat industry is like a large friendly family, “and that’s such a relief in the world we live today… Heat Treat Today is one the best examples of what I mean. Family, technical, focused, and yet still friendly.”

Mariah Roth, stepping into the critical role of administrative assistant as of this summer 2025, addresses the immediate challenges that our team faces. Fittingly, she commented the following: “Since joining the team, [I’ve been] realizing and affirming just how small the world is — this is something my grandpa had always said. The older I get, the more I understand this phrase. At the same time, I’m always learning how much I don’t know about the world. Coming from a metallurgy background to a heat treat industry, and now to a heat treat magazine company has really brought me full circle.”

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today
Contact: Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

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Message from the Editor: An Editorial Eye on AI

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor. This letter is from the August 2025 Annual Automotive Heat Treating print edition. In today’s letter, Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, describes the parameters, limitations, and benefits of using artificial intelligence in our heat treatment publication.

You have questions; AI has answers. But we have expert editorials.

Heat Treat Today delivers practical, accurate, and trustworthy information to a very niche and critical industry in North American manufacturing. With AI tools becoming more accessible and powerful, we want to be transparent about how we leverage them to maintain high editorial standards.

First, “The Don’ts”

Simply put, we don’t let AI replace our direct access to expert technical advice or content. Your heat treat efforts are too important for us to give you articles that have not been reviewed and cross-examined by our team, which is trained to review heat treat industry content.

Compose Technical Articles

We don’t use AI to generate technical articles for direct publication. Authenticity is at the heart of our editorial process, and our readers rely on us to deliver information straight from credible sources — directly from operators, engineers, and experts.

In our editorial department, technical content undergoes rigorous editorial review; we don’t rely on AI here. Our editors’ eyes are trained to catch and improve areas of technical confusion, so our readers receive help from the best practical heat treat information.

Learn Technical Concepts

I do not want to overstate this idea, because AI does generate helpful answers to common queries; you will note below that we appreciate this handy, interactive research assistant! But when it comes to learning a concept thoroughly, and especially for the first time, we prioritize validated sources:

  • Our in-house technical advisors
  • Reputable books and resources
  • Trusted websites from industry authorities

We do this to ensure accurate interpretation and traceability of knowledge.

Let me give an example: If I ask public AI for the most relevant quenching issues operators face, the answers it will give me will be based on material — often marketing material — that it can access online. While not incorrect, we always draw our material from resources with direct, on-the-floor experience to give you the benefit of more robust research and proven, hands-on expertise. (Furthermore, you can ask AI that question, too! We want to give you the benefit of more robust research and proven, hands-on expertise.)

And “The Dos”

AI can be an incredibly effective tool for supporting aspects of our editorial and communication processes. The following examples show how AI pushes us to actualize our creative juices, helps us think more clearly, and gives us time to hone more compelling and relevant content.

Hyperdrive the Early Draft

AI helps us create early drafts of editorials based on structured outlines. This accelerates the writing process, teasing out rough thoughts into a foundation that our editors will refine and often rewrite to enrich with targeted insights. Ever heard of writer’s block? Sometimes, AI is just what we need to get the ball moving!

Find Technical Gaps

Although we are not content experts, we often have a hunch when some technical aspect is missing or incorrect. AI can be helpful to scan sections where we have questions and provide suggested context for such sections — or simply tell us that we are being delusional. Once identified, our team collaborates with experts to address knowledge gaps or inconsistencies.

Research Tech Qs and News

AI helps us cut to the chase. Serving as a dialogue partner, AI conversations help editors refine research questions before consulting our technical experts and authors. This allows us to approach consultations with greater clarity, maximizing the value of expert input.

Additionally, AI scans our online lineup of industry news sources to find relevant stories, offering a more curated alternative to traditional RSS tools.

Refine Headlines & Article Summaries

Critical reader engagement calls for compelling and technically correct phrasing. For a niche trade publication, you might see how AI can help stimulate the creative iteration process to help us avoid the same wording. The headlines and introductions to articles in this magazine probably had an AI-hand help!

Revisit Technical Concepts

I’ll be frank: editors are not content experts! But as editors in this industry, we train ourselves on common concepts (and sometimes very marginal topics) enough to ensure we best assist expert authors and contributors. Therefore, we use AI to revisit technical concepts to refresh our understanding.

Since this is a “refresh,” we can discern when AI wants to do its own thing or emphasizes a concept a bit too much.

To summarize, AI is not an author nor an expert; it’s an editorial tool that spurs us on. We will continue to value people and their contributions in the ever-developing world of manufacturing.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today
Contact: Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

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1 Big Event vs. 7 Industry Events

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. In this installment, which first appeared in the March 2025 Aerospace Heat Treating print edition, Bethany gives a preview of important events ahead in 2025 for the heat treating industry.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

Just about now, the demands of one big event — welcoming a newborn into our family — will be monopolizing my time for the next few months. While I am more than happy to set aside work to get to know this little person, let’s not deny that I’m missing out on quite a few amazing industry events!

The late spring period of the year sees more people willing to travel, and so events abound for our industry. This editor’s page highlights just a few things that you can enjoy (and that I will be missing) between now and June.

March Highlights

The end of March kicks off the trade show season in Las Vegas, NV. At TMS 2025, metallurgists gather from March 23 to 27 to discuss industrial innovations. With more than 100 symposia on the docket, the sessions are divided into 11 tracks. These categories include additive manufacturing, advanced characterization methods, and light metals. The exhibition includes a poster presentation space. Suffice it to say, this event is intended for heat treat researchers and implementers who are looking to hear about practical innovations in the materials space.

April Highlights

Four years ago, I attended the International Conference on Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) in Ohio. This April 6 to 10, the city of Aachen, Germany, will be hosting the conference. Attend sessions and tour plants in the area over the course of several days. Additive manufacturing coupled with HIP as well
as heat treating with HIP vessels will be part of the discussion. The event page says, “Improvements in HIP technology … have the potential to strengthen the competitiveness of many companies which are active in emerging industrial areas.”

During that same week, heat treaters will be gathering in Detroit, MI, for RAPID + TCT from April 8 to 10. For those interested in staying at the top of industrial innovation in additive manufacturing and industrial 3D printing, this is the event to watch. Browse real-world solutions at the show and dig into the details at technical sessions. Being that this is the largest AM show in North America, it is worth a visit if this is a technology your operations are curious about or interested in understanding better.

The following week, CastExpo will be attracting suppliers, peers, and customers to the casting market. Happening in Atlanta, GA, from April 12 to 15, this is primarily a time once every three years to network and advance strategy. Among the different topics addressed through exhibits, presentations, and featured events, two are particularly noteworthy for the U.S. manufacturing industry in 2025: reshoring and supply chain & logistics. Of ever-growing importance are topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning and simulation.

If you are interested in any part of the ceramics supply chain — be it sourcing material or implementing new technologies, the Ceramics Expo USA in Novi, MI, will be the event to attend from April 28 to 30.  is annual event, like many, offers space to collaborate and new partners to create solutions.

May Highlights

Launch your May with AISTech 2025 returning to Nashville, TN. The annual iron and steel conference offers opportunities to connect and hear advances
happening in the industry. There are so many opportunities to connect with suppliers in the industry and advance one’s understanding of what is happening. From May 5 to 8, you can take the pulse of what direction this segment of American manufacturing is headed and how to prepare.

Bonus Event

While nominations are always open, Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 launch will be happening in May 2025. Jayna McGowan led the charge last year,
and the team already is excited to see what in-house heat treat professionals in North American manufacturing will be nominated and recognized this year. Visit www.heattreattoday.com/40under40 for more information about how to nominate.

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the industry folks later this summer. In the meantime, there are a few Heat Treat Kids onesies I’m needing to sort …

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

Contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

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Adapting Old Technology for the Future

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. In this installment, which first appeared in the February 2025 Air & Atmosphere Heat Treating print edition, Bethany looks at preservation planning on a brownfield through the eyes of a historian and asks the question, “Is it possible an old system can, with modifications, give heat treat operations added value that a newer system cannot?

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

Some readers may know my background is in historical research. In 2022, I found myself supporting a Pittsburgh architect as his team worked on preservation planning on a brownfield: The Carrie Blast Furnaces. Was Carrie a girlfriend? That’s one answer. I never got a good story on that, though.

Among existent structures at the site are the power house, the no. 6 cast house, a dust catcher, a blowing engine house, and two remaining blast furnaces, no. 6 and no. 7. Rusted, massive, and with evidence of guerrilla art everywhere, the “abandoned” site was never really forgotten by the locals who fought to preserve its legacy in the region.

View of the ore yard in front of blast furnaces no. 6 and no. 7 with a red ore bridge overtop

The Carrie Blast Furnaces site is located in the midst of what was a key iron producing region with plants all around the city of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania, parts of West Virginia, and Eastern Ohio. The Pittsburgh district was the largest iron and steel producing region in the world between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This industrial site supported U.S. pre-World War II integrated iron production along the Monongahela River. Andrew Carnegie integrated the Homestead Steel Works operations in 1898, the extensive industry marked by tangled railways to transport materials to plants across the landscape.

Various acquisitions and expansions to the space had made it a critical workhorse in America’s manufacturing, eventually becoming a part of U.S. Steel’s Homestead Works. Yet after the world wars, the demand for steel plummeted. Steel manufacturing was consolidated at other locations. Foreign imports increased. Alternative materials were adopted for domestic products. Blast furnaces no. 6 and no. 7, built in 1906–1907, ceased operations in 1978; the rest of the site closed in 1984.

View of six stoves with blast furnace no. 7 (left) and blast furnace no. 6 (right)

Today, Rivers of Steel operates the brownfield. Straddling both Swissvale and Rankin communities, the site has gone under preservation efforts so it can offer the public historic site tours, arts events, hands on education, and outdoor events. But while the technologies can no longer be used on the site, the remaining structures may still yield value to the community.

From an historic preservation perspective, architectural redesign plans intend to keep as many of the structures as is safe and functional for current and future use. Some of the obvious challenges that exist in brownfields are visible to the naked eye: How to insulate or redesign a blowing engine house building and what suppliers are able to fix and replace the broken windows? Can the dust blower have an alternative purpose or is it a hazard to keep on a site that hosts public events? These are relatively simple issues as compared to the subterranean challenges — toxins leaking from latent pipes is the big one. Paired with environmental preservation efforts of redeeming the landscape for safe public use and recreation, making an industrial brownfield something suitable for long-term public benefit requires a host of planning — and unplanning.

Yet the past investments infused into building Carrie Blast Furnaces give value to the future projects, tangible, and intangible.

The stock house where raw materials would be dropped off before carted up to the top of the blast furnaces

The conversation about abandoning older air/atmosphere furnace systems reminds me of this lesson. Is it possible an old system can, with modifications, give heat treat operations added value that a newer system cannot? What with improved furnace insulation, and especially with even advancing furnace monitoring and even technology that leverages carbon emissions within an operation, perhaps certain heat treat operations can create something better and more efficient, leveraging existing investments.

As is the case in historic preservation, an investment can’t always be salvaged or even remembered. We don’t just think about past values or present concerns but future value. I would think the same must be the case for heat treat operations. In navigating the demands of the present economic realities and standards, preparations for the future, while honoring the legacy of workers (and, perhaps, investments) that made it possible is tricky.

Currently, activity at Carrie Blast Furnaces is focused on rebuilding sluiceways for visitors and converting the blowing engine house into a visitor’s center. Hopefully, debate will continue about the rehabilitation investments to come. When it comes to heat treat operations, may we also have great debate in wrestling with old, not so-sexy technologies and whether to adapt or adopt new ones.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

Contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

 

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Heat Treat’s “7-Year Itch”

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. In this installment, which first appeared in the January 2025 Technologies To Watch print edition, Bethany reports on the changing landscape of the industry and the resulting challenges, according to a poll on LinkedIn. Respondents shared their views on uniformity and temperature control, residual stresses, managing downtime, and more, and our editor gives her summary of the feedback.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

January 2025 Magazine

Now granted, heat treating isn’t in a romantic relationship, but this 2025, there are many relationships that have vied for the industry’s attention over the past decade plus. 2025 seems to be the year to scratch the itch that heat treaters have: Is it time to try something new?

Recently, Heat Treat Today released a poll on LinkedIn. We asked what the number one challenge that heat treat experts faced in the North American manufacturing industry. There were several big-ticket items that we offered: Precise temperature control, uniformity across large parts, managing furnace downtime and controlling residual stresses. Unsurprisingly, temperature control was voted as the top challenge of the four choices, though it was surprising that few respondents piped in on the topic of residual stresses.

Yet perhaps the most important engagement came from a commenter who addressed using legacy materials in changing industry requirements. How closely are we thinking about the future that materials — use of legacy materials as well as different legacy materials — have on our work in heat treatment? (Ok, your work. We all know that I’m leaving the discovery and application to you!)

As the commenter noted, the choices in the poll are all critical characteristics, and therefore factors heat treatment practitioners should already be concerned with. If you are looking at your heat treat operation’s relationship with a variety of processes and technologies and think that the relationship is ideal as can be, great.

But if you are in the “seven-year itch” camp — that is, there is some relationship with a process or technology that is on the rocks — this new annual magazine we are releasing each January highlights the heat treat technologies to watch for in 2025. It’s time to reevaluate the relationship your heat treat operations have with current technologies.

Technological Relationships Under Consideration

The heat treat industry is navigating a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by new materials and technologies. Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, introduces unique material requirements that challenge traditional heat treating. Complex geometries and the use of non standard alloys in AM demand processes tailored for uniformity and precision at an unprecedented level. These disruptions, coupled with constant innovations by researchers in materials science, are prompting a reevaluation of whether conventional heat treating methods are needed as is, or even at all. Check out the AM quiz on page 24 to get up-to-speed on some of these developments.

Meanwhile, robotics and AI are revolutionizing how operations are managed. AI-powered predictive maintenance is becoming indispensable, helping to minimize furnace downtime by identifying potential failures before they occur. Machine learning enhances furnace control systems by refining temperature cycles and gas flow in real time, ensuring consistency and efficiency. How are these systems working for heat treaters? Read the case study article on page 10.

Digitalization technologies, such as smart sensors and IoT-enabled systems, are making it easier than ever to monitor and analyze heat treating operations. These tools, combined with advanced software, empower operators to make data driven decisions and reduce energy consumption. Several articles in last month’s magazine release focused heavily on these technologies, but the conversation persists in the commentaries found on pages 17 and 27.

The question for 2025 is clear: Are heat treaters ready to adopt these innovations and adjust their processes to align with the needs of tomorrow’s manufacturing? Have your operations found the perfect relationship with these new technologies? Tell me what you’re finding to be most difficult to address in 2025 so we can examine that relationship in future editions.

Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

Contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

 

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Autonomous Solution for Industry

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes twelve print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. In this installment, which first appeared in the December 2024 Medical & Energy Heat Treat print edition, Bethany addresses the ongoing discussion about automation in industry, the data on how it affects labor, and the way forward for manufacturing and the government.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

You can afford it.

Supervisors, you can afford to raise wages. Skilled laborers, you can afford to purchase a home.

Maybe you’ve heard these hopeful statements before? You can afford it, says economist Mark P. Mills, executive director of the National Center for Energy Analytics, by leaning on automation. Far from destroying jobs, tools like AI and robotics enhance productivity and require highly skilled laborers who, in turn, can and should be compensated. This editor’s page summarizes some of Mills’ main points and how these might be considered in the heat treat industry.

Labor Market Needs Automation

In a recent article released in City Journal, the economist draws attention to what he sees as a new norm for the labor market: the successful bargaining for higher wages by the Longshoremen’s Association. The result of the union’s strike means a starting salary of $80k and a mid-career salary of $150k. Mills terms this “The Great Inversion,” where we see salaries for the trades supersede 90% of salaries for college graduates.

His argument that this is the new norm rests on three points. The first is that population has been in decline; this is exacerbated in the trades by the fact that the average age for skilled tradesmen is older than the average age across U.S. manufacturing.

Secondly, though there is a trend of young workers choosing a career in the trades, not enough would fill the generational chasm that is opening as the older generation leaves the workplace. This means there is still a demand for skilled labor.

Thirdly, industrial manufacturing creates consumable goods, for which there is no end to want, unlike in food and agriculture where there is a limit of consumption. As people grow wealthier, they can afford more “wants” — even if it’s going out to eat at restaurants where iPads automate server-kitchen communications.

Even with the population decline, individuals continue to gain wealth and want to spend it, Mills explains. In this situation, particularly where we have efforts and interests in America restoring industrial productivity, the argument is that automation will allow companies to keep up with the demand for consumable goods while filling the labor gap. This result means a need for upskilling workers to work with robotics, automation software, and AI on the manufacturing floor.

Automation in Heat Treat

In the heat treat industry, I’ve heard several perspectives on this topic. Robotics and automation don’t take away jobs, some claim; they only improve labor market jobs that are there. At another’s operations, the installation of an automated piece of instrumentation didn’t result in any immediate layoff, but did result in the company not having to train an operator to fill a position since that position was no longer available.

The fact is that the pro-automation side relies on addressing situations where there is a lack in able workers in the labor market. This demonstrates that jobs are being filled by automation.

Turning to employment opportunity, it is hard to argue with Mills’ outlook that automation in jobs increases wages and profits. He supports this claim saying, “data show that, over the last half of the twentieth century, even as manufacturing productivity rose (that is, fewer labor-hours per output), the U.S. manufacturing workforce remained surprisingly unchanged and really started to shrink only when an increasing share of manufactured goods were imported — namely, when the production and labor were exported.” Interestingly, while he acknowledges the role of companies in offshoring goods in the last century, he puts focus on the difficult environment for businesses in meeting the government regulations in America. Therefore, he offers three steps forward addressed at government (in)action:

  1. The U.S. government must look for ways to make the country more amenable to industrial expansion that go beyond subsidies with caveated use.
  2. Policymakers must avoid intervening in the economy when a system isn’t broken. (Here, Mills addresses cost and reliability issues tied to state and federal energy policies.)
  3. The trifecta of policymakers, unions, and manufacturers need to welcome advances in automation.

Mills points out that in order for automation to be successful, skilled laborers need to welcome it and help it, emphasizing that, like the Longshoremen’s Union strike, automation allows for wage increase.

My question to you in the heat treat industry is: What is your job function in the industry? How have you benefited from automation (AI, robotics, digitalization) initiatives in the industry? What concerns — or hopes! — do you see that have yet to be addressed? Write to me. And if any article on digitalization in this magazine strikes you, I would love to hear that, too.

References

Mills, Mark P. “The Longshoremen’s Strike and the Great Inversion.” City Journal, October 8, 2024. https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-longshoremens-strike-and-the-great-inversion.

Contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

 

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The People of Heat Treat

/ PUBLISHER'S PAGE

Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in the September 2024 People of Heat Treat print edition.

Feel free to contact Doug at doug@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

Nearly every month, in the pages of this magazine, avid readers learn about the technologies and products of the North American heat treat industry that help them and their companies be more profitable. Rightly so. As the industry’s leading technical and trade journal, it is our mission to provide timely and helpful technical content. We believe people are happier and make better decisions when they are well informed — that’s what drives us. We like seeing people happier, so we do our little part each month to make sure our readers can make well-informed decisions.

But, as we discuss periodically at our monthly team meeting, the focus is not the technical and timely information; the focus is the people.

As with nearly every successful business in a free economy, the key to success is serving people. If we are successful at meeting the needs of the people we hope to help, they’ll continue to do business with us. We both benefit.

In this edition of Heat Treat Today, we’re going to focus in not so much on the technologies and products like we usually do; rather, we’re going to focus on a number of individuals who are rising leaders in the industry — individuals who are honing their skills so they can be more helpful to others in the industry.

This is the seventh year of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 initiative. As of this year, we will have honored and recognized 280 rising young leaders in the North American heat treat industry. Each successive year seems to be getting better and better. The quality of the candidates seeking recognition continues to rise, making the choosing of just 40 of them more and more difficult. Their stories vary widely. Some are owners of companies, some are accomplished managers or technicians, all are accomplished and have demonstrated their competence and leadership in the industry relatively early in their careers.

It is this group of people who are focusing their energies on developing the technologies and products that help the entire North American heat treat industry and those outside the industry as well. By and large, the people highlighted in this edition are “technical” people. A good and growing number of them are employed by manufacturers who have their own in-house heat treat operations (captive heat treaters). Others come from commercial heat treat facilities. And others come from industry suppliers. Nominees hale from Canada to Mexico. Both women and men are represented, which is so encouraging.

Most importantly, all these people have personal lives that are better or worse depending on how well they do their work. And how well they do their work is oftentimes dependent on how well informed they are. It’s our desire to make sure all these young people can live more enjoyable lives by staying well informed.

Being recognized as one of the top 40 rising young leaders in the North American heat treat industry has proven to be quite a boon to many past recipients of this honor. If you’d like to hear more about past recipients, please search our website for “Heat Treat NextGen” and listen to our recent interviews with several past honorees, like Brynna Keelin Kelly-McGrath.

Doug Glenn
Pubisher
Heat Treat Today

I’d like to say a special thank you to the team at Heat Treat Today who coordinates this effort each year. Headed by Bethany Leone for the past several years, herself an “under-40” person, Bethany was this year assisted by Jayna McGowan and again by Evelyn Thompson. This team of three, together with some significant help from Brandon Glenn, have worked hard on this effort and are bringing a lot of smiles to faces with the release of this edition. Great work, Heat Treat Today Team!

To all this year’s 40 Under 40 recipients, congratulations on the well-deserved recognition you are receiving.

Contact Doug Glenn at doug@heattreattoday.com.

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Message from the Editor: What Are the EPA Scopes?

/ EDITOR

Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in May 2024 Sustainability print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment. 

In a 2022 episode of Heat Treat Radio, Justin Dzik, a business development manager at Fives North American Combustion, Inc., forecasted a shift in our industry: “If you go down far enough in the [EPA] scopes, obviously that includes processes for heat treatments of steel. Who knows how long that will take, but for sure, that is probably the future path in the next quarter century or so.” As Michael Mouilleseaux’s column on page 12 of this magazine demonstrates. [Read Michael’s column here. – Editor] Dzik’s prediction about the need for understanding environmental regulations shaping our future is not far off.

Later in 2022, I attended a technical talk on environmental regulations and how to calculate emissions in heat treat operations. Much of the talk was spent defining terms, which I was surprised by; where were all of the interesting graphs and action items? The presenter knew something that I did not: heat treat industry experts still needed to build a foundation of definitions to understand this topic, before making decisions.

Who Needs To Understand EPA Scopes?

Not everyone has studied environmental regulations in depth. Basically, if you aren’t the one responsible for tracking emissions and cutting emissions in your operations, you do not need to know these scopes. (If that’s you, you may stop reading and continue to the next column!)

However, if you either are (a) obligated to report GHGE (greenhouse gas emissions) at your site or are (b) responsible for cutting GHGE, or you want to have a stake in these conversations, this column is for you. Given that this whole magazine is about sustainable technologies, this is your “back pocket” introduction to the EPA’s GHGE scopes for heat treaters.

EPA Scopes Defined

These three EPA greenhouse gas emissions classifications were originally created as part of the agency’s efforts to trace their own environmental impact and set goals to reduce these emissions. For in-house heat treat operations, knowing what these “scopes” mean will help you identify what carbon cutting initiatives apply to you and what is under your control.

The scopes classify GHGEs that occur from the operations of a business or agency. Each define where the emissions are produced and who is responsible for producing them; together, this is a way to assess the business’s overall “environmental impact.”

3 Scopes

Scope 1 are the direct emissions that the company owns or can control; this is descriptive of all emissions that are the direct result of burning fossil fuel on-site, including emissions from transportation vehicles.

Scope 2 describes indirect emissions that are produced from generating electricity.

And Scope 3 describes indirect emissions created from a company’s value chain; that is, emissions produced when another entity created or delivered a product the company uses.

Application

Understanding what can and cannot be controlled helps frame strategic environmental targets. For instance, while scope 2 emissions are indirect, the source of your electricity (whether it involves GHGE or not) affects your carbon footprint. Since it falls outside the direct scope “1,” it will require more strategic thinking when considering any operational transitions that use electricity, like adding an induction hardening line.

The more indirect, often the more secondary effects there may be when pursuing environmental impact reducing changes. For example, promoting remote work to reduce scope 3 emissions related to employee transportation is often desirable from an employee satisfaction standpoint. However, this introduces new variables: Do employees commute to coworking spaces? What is the GHGE impact of their work-from-home setups? Are there social well-being consequences of this shift, negative or positive?

To use these scopes to define environmental stewardship goals, we also need to ask the right questions about our context:

  • What areas need upgrades?
  • What are the economic and social outcomes of these actions?
  • Do we need to reassess technologies that our operations should invest in?

Sustainability Heat Treat Resources

That’s the “back-pocket” summary. There are more robust resources on epa.gov and plenty of videos on YouTube when you search “epa scopes about.” Here are additional heat treat-specific resources:

  • On December 6, 2023, Gasbarre’s Bryan Stern presented a webinar “Understanding Carbon Footprint and Costs of Atmosphere and Vacuum Processing.”
  • Locate IHEA’s Sustainability Terms & Definitions on their website, loaded with applicable notes on these terms and more. https://www.ihea.org/page/SustainabilityTerms. 
  • Attend FNA 2024. Technical Session topics will be released this month. https://www.furnacesnorthamerica.com/sessions
  • Search “scope” on www.heattreattoday.com to read these articles:
    • “Sustainability Insights: Vacuum Heat Treating in a Carbon-Conscious Market”
    • “Sustainability Insights: How Can We Work To Get the Carbon Out of Heating? Part 1”

Contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com.

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Message from the Editor: The Hard and the Smart of Learning

/ EDITOR, EDITORS PICK

Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year, and included in each is a letter from the editor, Bethany Leone. This letter first appeared in the January/February 2024 Air & Atmosphere Heat Treat print edition.

Feel free to contact Bethany at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question or comment.

Bethany Leone, Managing Editor, Heat Treat Today

Ever try to learn something that nobody seems to explain in clear English? While this is sometimes the reality in industries chock-full of competitive information, it can also be rooted in simply not knowing the limits of one’s knowledge.

It reminds me of June 2020, when I was entering the heat treat industry as an editor. I had a background in research, teaching, and writing, but certainly not materials science, manufacturing, or any type of engineering. There was an information gap I was keen on closing.

As a millennial, I went about this by supplementing my work hours with videos of iron ore being poured, reading blogs about specific temperature ranges involved in different heat treat processes, and scanning latest news in the four major Heat Treat Today industries (automotive, aerospace, medical, and energy) to learn what to ask about. The long and short of it was that I decided to “work smarter” by absorbing quick information bites that I could use as context for my work. And, at least to this young blood, the smart way means doing the job efficiently and effectively. (Notice how effectively follows efficiently.)

Now, there was absolutely nothing wrong with working smarter! The problem was that I was not getting any smarter. In fact, I was running into one problem a er another. Often, this was in the form of, “Does this equipment piece really matter to our readers?” or, “I understand time and temperature are important, but how do I write about them in this instance?” While I had absorbed information about the subject material, I
had not reconciled myself with the reality that arduous work was needed to learn information in a usable way.

My idea of working smarter at this stage, while helpful to an extent, was costing me the time and energy needed that could have been used to dedicate myself to learning one thing at a time, accepting the arduous nature of the process. Since then, I have taken opportunities to learn more
about equipment, processes, and heat treat resources through lectures, books, and richer knowledge sources. Now, because I have a richer understanding of industry information, I have the discernment needed to work smarter to be more effective.

As an example, this February issue is dedicated to annealing in roller hearth furnace systems. In preparation for this focus, I:

  1. consulted Dan Herring’s chapter about air/atmosphere furnaces and furnace classifications to identify why this equipment has such a name and some of the equipment highlights,
  2. talked with experts with a history in the heat treat industry about the equipment highlights,
  3. reviewed Heat Treat Radio’s episode on pusher versus continuous systems to better see how a pusher system functions,
  4. located technical articles written on annealing, and
  5. watched short videos of the system in action.

For a B2B editor, this list is sufficient . . . for now. But for heat treat decision makers working for manufacturers with in-house heat treat, more is needed. That is why we have assembled this magazine for you: to be better informed and so make better decisions. There are three features in the pages that follow to help give you greater insight into this one area of heat treat — roller hearth systems (see pages 10, 18, and 26 for these articles). Whether you are a veteran when it comes to using roller hearth furnace systems or a skeptical observer from the sidelines, I hope these articles are resources as you work hard to better learn this topic so you can work smarter when the need arises.

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Message from the Editor: Winter

/ EDITOR, EDITORS PICK
Bethany Leone
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

This message from Bethany Leone, managing editor at Heat Treat Today, shares some reflections on the season of winter and the opportunity this season provides to ponder the stories that inspire us towards the coming spring.

This article first appeared in December 2023’s Medical and Energy Heat Treat print edition. Feel free to contact Bethany Leone at bethany@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.

Do you feel the cold of the coming winter?

Beneath the surface of earth is a realm of darkness and death, ruled by Hades. By his throne, the ever-youthful Persephone soon will join him for these winter months, as she has pledged to do each year.

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Perhaps you know this Greek myth: Hades, enraptured by the sweetness of Persephone, stole Persephone down to his kingdom of darkness to be his queen. While Persephone was confined below ground for what would be eternity, her mother, Demeter, went into great mourning. Side note: Persephone is a goddess. So, when we say her mother went into mourning, we mean the goddess of the harvest caused drought in the lands, weeping for her daughter.

Clearly, this could not go on. Zeus, the head god of all gods and master of the sky, intercedes on behalf of all humanity for Persephone to return to her mother. Hades agrees, after all, he’s not an evil guy; just selfish through and through, like all anthropomorphic gods. . . But before the Maiden leaves, he offers her seeds from a refreshing pomegranate, which she takes. One, two, three, perhaps six seeds she ate. She is reunited with Demeter, and all is well.

Wrong.

For in eating these seeds from the Underworld, Hades may now claim his bride to dwell with him for several months in the year.

So, each year, while Persephone is confined below ground, the Greek goddess of the harvest roams the earth in mourning, withholding grain from the land. We know that precious Persephone returns to her mother by the telltale signs of spring (yes, she is known as being the goddess of spring).

Persephone and Hades. Tondo of an Attic red-figured kylix, ca. 440-430 BC. Said to be from Vulci. (Source: ©Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons)

As winter descends, this tale often breaks through my mind. Why? As a student of history, I do not believe it is true, neither does the myth cohere perfectly with my religious beliefs. But this story of six unassuming pomegranate seeds, the power of a mother’s will, and the cruel edge of mourning carries me through cold winter with thoughts of spring.

The myth, though untrue, is truer because it is not true. (For more on this tongue-in-cheek insight, read G. K. Chesterton’s chapter, “The Ethics of Elfland,” in Orthodoxy).

I enjoy telling variations of this myth to myself and turning over and over these subtle implications about life, as well as the humanizing and “just-so” element of why we may have a winter to begin with . . . well, why many of us have a true winter.

But it does not take time-tested myths to inspire. At the recent ASM Heat Treat show, I met a man who shared his passions for the industry, for serving others, for volunteering, and for making the most of 16-hour car drives to make calls to his family. While the details are a blur, the story I left with was that the reason to live was to give. While sales were important — that was his job! — this was just a part of his life story of giving.

What stories inspire you? Perhaps a successful installation of a new vacuum oil quench furnace that you supported brings to mind challenges of logistics, cooperation with culturally different people, or memories of near disasters. Were there themes of endurance, commitment to doing the hard thing so you could get smart enough to do the smart thing?

Whatever the story, remember it so whenever a “winter” in work or life comes, the themes may encourage you of a coming spring.

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