Christina Somogye

40 Under 40 Members Highlighted in Heat Treat Today Throughout the Year

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

Less than one week remains in the nomination period for Heat Treat Today’s Class of 2019 40 Under 40! The nomination process closes at midnight (EDT) on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, so if you have been considering submitting the name of a colleague, a client, or an employee but just haven’t gotten around to it, now is the time!

Click here to link through to the nominations page.

What you may not realize is that the benefits to being selected as a member of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 are more than just a “one and done” recognition in the Heat Treat Show issue of Heat Treat Today’s print magazine. We will continue to point our audience to the 40 Under 40 landing page at our website, which will always feature the most current class of recipients. In addition, we request and publish interviews with 40 Under 40 members, highlighting their entry into the industry, what sparked their interest in heat treating, how their interest has grown, the remarkable projects they’ve enjoyed working on, and what words of wisdom they would share with other young professionals in the industry.

Michael Elmore, Heat Treat Engineer, with GKN Driveline
Michael Elmore, Heat Treat Engineer, with GKN Driveline

For example, Michael Elmore, Heat Treat Engineer, with GKN Driveline, remembered his early days in the industry this way: “When I came to GKN, I fell in love with heat treating,” said Elmore. “I expected this to be a puddle and it turned out to be more like jumping into an ocean. There’s so much more to it than I expected. . . . [Four years later,] I’m still finding out things I didn’t know. It goes deeper and deeper the longer I’m here, never hitting the bottom of what can be learned, done, or explored.”

Click here to learn more about Michael Elmore, GKN Driveline.

Christina Somogye, Akron Steel Treating Company's VP of Administration and Operations
Christina Somogye, Akron Steel Treating Company’s VP of Administration and Operations

Christina Somogye, Akron Steel Treating Company’s VP of Administration and Operations, grew up in the environment of metallurgy, steel treatment and manufacturing, and heat treating operations, so her thoughts on how companies can stay relevant in an industry that is changing rapidly due to technology, new materials, etc., are unique, and she offers this perspective: “There are many opportunities in large and small heat treating companies (commercial and captive) as well as the equipment, alloy, material suppliers and service industries that serve the heat treating companies. The knowledge of senior industry members is ready to be passed on to the next generation with tremendous opportunities for growth and technical expertise. Small, privately held businesses and large, multi-facility companies have the need to pass down this tribal knowledge for their continued success.”

Click here to learn more about Christina Somogye, Akron Steel Treating Company.

Wei Guo, Principal Materials Engineer for The Timken Company
Wei Guo, Principal Materials Engineer for The Timken Company

Wei Guo, Principal Materials Engineer for The Timken Company, reflected on his passion for this industry by drawing a parallel between a metallurgist crafting a heat treat recipe and “a famous cook developing a recipe for new cuisine.”

“One needs to control the ingredients, mixing sequence, baking time and cooking temperature combined with skill and expertise to obtain an optimized flavor and palate. The development of heat-treating process recipes is similar, relying on the metallurgist’s fundamental knowledge and experience of physical metallurgy. The most exciting aspect of thermal processing is the application of the knowledge and experience to create a heat treat process that produces the desired result and creates value to the company.”

How should a young professional find his or her way into the right niche in the industry? Wei gives this advice:

“Gain hands-on experience with practical heat treatment processes when trying to identify problems and challenges. . . . Determine an area of interest and drive . . . to learn/practice thermal processing skills. . . . Find a mentor; learning from a senior experienced metallurgist is always helpful. Many aspects of heat treatments cannot be learned from the textbook and might take a long time to figure them out on your own.”

“Heat treatment processing is a very dynamic world because many novel metallic materials are emerging every day,” says Wei. “We, not only young professionals, but everyone in this field need to keep abreast of the latest materials development and make ourselves ready for the new challenges.”

Click here to learn more about Wei Guo, The Timken Company.

Heat Treat Today looks forward to interviewing your nominee for upcoming Highlight stories in our newsletter and for the Heat Treat Today website.

Nominate someone today!

 

40 Under 40 Members Highlighted in Heat Treat Today Throughout the Year Read More »

40 Under 40 Highlight: Christina Somogye

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

In 2018, Heat Treat Today introduced one of its most popular features, the 40 Under 40 Awards for young, up-and-coming talent in the North American heat treat industry. Click here for the 2018 recipients. Heat Treat Today is posting occasional features of some of the 2018 recipients in anticipation of the 2019 40 Under 40 awardees to be presented in September (nominations are being accepted here). Today we feature Christina Somogye of Akron Steel Treating Company.

Christina Somogye

Akron Steel Treating Company

VP of Administration and Operations; Shareholder in ASTC

Christina Somogye was nominated from within Akron Steel Treating Company. The following was provided by the nominator:

Christina graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University and has also completed the MTI “Yes” Program. She has earned respect from her fellow employees, the customers and the vendors at Akron Steel Treating, being wise beyond her years. In January [2018], she purchased a 10% interest in ASTC and is an integral part of the succession plan. Christina balances her responsibilities at Akron Steel Treating Company with being wife to Aaron and mother to her 3-year-old daughter, Olivia. The family resides in Sarnia, Ontario.

Christina Somogye follows three generations of steel treaters at Akron Steel Treating Company, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2018. Her great-grandfather, Prosper P. Powell, founded the company in 1943, and her father, Joe Powell, is currently at the helm. In this way, Christina has grown up in the environment of metallurgy, steel treatment and manufacturing, and heat treating operations. Asked what interests her about the industry that compelled her to stay with the family business, she says, “I enjoy evaluating our racking procedures to optimize load size and ensure uniformity throughout the load with an ergonomic work set up for our employees.”

With the changes in the industry due to technology, new materials, etc., Christina is enthusiastic about the way ASTC is seeking innovative methods, equipment and processes to keep up.

“ASTC, especially our President, Joe Powell, has been very passionate about new heat treating process technology,” she says. “We are a licensee of the IntensiQuench® process.  We work with fabricators to build new and unique equipment for ourselves and to prove out new heat treatment processes.   Akron Steel Treating Company is the ‘skunk works’ for IHTS Akron, Joe’s heat treat and metallurgical consulting company.”

Heat treating is an industry that offers a unique path to invention, innovation, and discovery. Christina agrees that “there are many opportunities in large and small heat treating companies (commercial and captive) as well as the equipment, alloy, material suppliers and service industries that serve the heat treating companies. The knowledge of senior industry members is ready to be passed on to the next generation with tremendous opportunities for growth and technical expertise. Small, privately held businesses and large, multi-facility companies have the need to pass down this tribal knowledge for their continued success.”

 

Click here for the 2018 recipients. To nominate someone for the Class of 2019 40 Under 40, please click here.

40 Under 40 Highlight: Christina Somogye Read More »

15 Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

15 Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.

Personnel and Company Chatter

  • ThermTech of Waukesha, Wisconsin, celebrates the groundbreaking of a 10,500-square-foot manufacturing addition. Construction is expected to be completed in December 2018. 
  • An Ohio-based engineering firm, Dana Incorporated, announced a new series of Brevini™ heavy-duty winch drives for marine and offshore applications.  This new series of lightweight winch drives have been engineered with a sealing system designed to withstand harsh marine environments, and with improved power density, housing made from either cast iron or steel, and high-radial load bearings to deliver reliable lifting performance for heavy loads.
  • Brunel University London opened its Advanced Metal Processing Centre (AMPC) at the Brunel Center for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST), which will enable R&D activity to enable innovations, such as lightweight car parts, to make the leap from the lab to full-scale industrial trials. The 1,500 sq m AMPC facility includes industrial and pilot-scale equipment for processing and fabrication of extruded metals (novel bending processes, machining, and advanced joining); additional casting processes (gravity die casting and sand casting, etc.), and supporting materials characterization technologies (strength and fatigue testing and 3D x-ray tomography).
  • A global leader in manufacturing and overhauling aerospace structures, systems, and components, Triumph Group, Inc., based in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, recently announced that its Aerospace Structures business has been awarded a multi-year airframe component contract for Lockheed Martin’s C130J Super Hercules program. Under initial terms of the contract, Triumph Fabrications in San Diego, California will provide 108 different part numbers for the C130J program. The parts include fabricated sheet metal structures made from a combination of aluminum, steel and titanium materials that will be fitted to the nacelle, wing and fuselage sections of the aircraft.
  • Aerospace equipment manufacturer Liebherr Aerospace has been awarded another contract from Boeing Commercial Airplanes for their 777 and 777X programs. Liebherr-Aerospace will deliver two electronic components of the main gear steering system for the two wide-bodies: the main gear steering control unit and the nose gear steering position transducer.
  • Engineered bearings and power transmission manufacturer, The Timken Company, based in Canton, Ohio, recently completed the acquisition of Rollon Group, a leader in engineered linear motion products. Rollon specializes in the design and manufacture of engineered linear guides, telescopic rails and linear actuators used in a wide range of industries such as passenger rail, aerospace, packaging and logistics, medical and automation.
  • Gear Motions, which has divisional offices in central New York, recently appointed to executive positions: Dan Bartelli to Director of Operations of Nixon Gear, a division of Gear Motions, and Anna Pastore to Corporate Controller. Bartelli, who began his career as a machinist, also recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with Nixon Gear, a division of Gear Motions. He is responsible for all Nixon Gear Division Operations including Manufacturing, Quality, and Engineering. Pastore previously served as Director of Finance for Cascade & Maverik Lacrosse, and Vice President of Finance of the Produce and Technology Division at Agway.
  • Worthington Industries, a metals manufacturing firm based in Columbus, Ohio, announced today that Mark Russell, president and COO is retiring. Andy Rose has been named president and will continue as chief financial officer (CFO). Geoff Gilmore has been named vice president and chief operating officer (COO) and will also continue to lead the Pressure Cylinders business.

Equipment Chatter

  • An electric box furnace has been supplied to a plant located in Louisiana that is a global supplier of large industrial valves for various industries. L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc., shipped this furnace, which is the fifth supplied by the company to this facility. The furnace is used to both heat treat and temper various rings and seals deployed in the manufacturing of valves used in the power-generation field. It is also used for general heat treating of various steels prior to machining.
  • Two furnaces have recently been shipped to customers from Grieve Corporation. No. 1040 is a 2200°F (1204°C), inert atmosphere pit furnace, currently used for heat treating automotive parts in baskets at the customer’s facility. No. 989 is an electrically heated, 2,000°F (1,093°C) inert atmosphere furnace from Grieve, used to process fabricated parts at the customer’s facility.
  • A leader in the technology industry recently purchased an electrically heated enhanced duty walk-in oven from Wisconsin Oven Corporation to be used for composite curing small parts. The batch oven has the capability to heat 16,000 pounds of a composite material from 70° F to 350° F within 6-7 hours.

Kudos Chatter

  • Akron Steel Treating celebrated its 75th anniversary August 31, 2018, with guests, officials, employees, customers, and suppliers in attendance, as well as the deputy mayor for economic development, Samuel D. DeShazior, who presented AST president Joseph Powell with a letter of congratulations from Mayor Daniel Horrigan. Joe’s grandfather, Prosper P. Powell, founded the company in 1943, and his daughter, Christina Somogye, recently purchased a 10% interest in ASTC and is an integral part of the succession plan.
  • For the second year in a row, GKN Aerospace has received a supplier award from Spirit AeroSystems. Spirit recognized GKN Aerospace with a Collaboration Values Partner award for superior performance at the 2018 Spirit AeroSystems supplier recognition banquet in Wichita, Kansas. In addition, GKN Aerospace also recently announced via Stratasys that the company is improving production times and removing design constraints for multiple tooling applications since integrating additive manufacturing at its Filton manufacturing site in the UK.
  • Retech Systems, a SECO/WARWICK company based in Mendocino County, California, recently won North Bay Maker Award for “best manufacturing process innovation”.
  • Induction heating company Ambrell Corporation is the honoree for the Global Advancement Award and Ambrell President Tony Mazzullo is a finalist for CEO of the Year at the Technology and Manufacturing Awards, created by the Rochester Business Journal and Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association. The Global Advancement Award is given to a company that demonstrates dynamic growth through expansion of export opportunities and participation in new global markets. The CEO of the Year demonstrates leadership in the industry, commitment to staff development, and dedication to the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakes Region. Tony Mazzullo is one of two finalists and the winner will be announced on October 23rd.

Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com.

 

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