Editor

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

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U.S. Steel: An Uncertain Future Turned $4 Billion Steel Mill

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

In today’s editor’s page, Heat Treat Today‘s Daily Editor, Tiffany Ward, provides a history of U.S. Steel and the recent Nippon Steel merger.

What is U.S. Steel’s history and what does the future look like for this company after a new merger? This short, informative post fills in the gap.

U.S. Steel Yesterday 

If you walk along a Pittsburgh street, the phrase “Steel City” will likely appear on a wall mural or passerby’s hoodie. In 1901 four men (J.P. Morgan, Charles Schwab, Andrew Carnegie, and Elbert H. Gary), formed the United States Steel Corporation (known simply as U.S. Steel). Its global headquarters are still located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where it has a huge local impact. 

From its inception, U.S. Steel has made an impact across the country in producing steel for famous structures such as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the United Nations Building in New York City, the “Three Sisters” Bridges in Pittsburgh, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and many others. During the Great Depression, the company suffered an all-time low in sales, but recovered, and by 2003 became the fifth largest steel producer in the world. 

“Three Sisters” Bridges in Pittsburgh. Source: Bridges and Tunnels

U.S. Steel Today 

Almost twenty years later, in 2022, U.S. Steel produced less steel than it had in its founding year, over a century earlier. This was the culmination of a long-standing decline in steel production in the United States, which affected many U.S. producers. On December 18, 2023, Nippon Steel Corporation, a Japanese company, made a $14.9 billion acquisition offer for U.S. Steel and the two companies entered into an official merger conversation. The potential merger agreement between Nippon and U.S. Steel included Nippon’s pledge to invest $2.7 billion to modernize U.S. Steel’s facilities in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and to keep U.S. Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, making the agreement a locally invested issue.

The merger was met with political and economic controversy, facing direct executive orders and review interventions. Both former President Joe Biden, and current President Donald Trump made efforts to block the deal. On January 3, 2025, former President Joe Biden prohibited the acquisition through executive order, reserving executive powers to issue further orders on this matter if needed. According to a statement from The White House, the motivation for such a move was “a strong domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority and is critical for resilient supply chains.” The Biden administration delayed, however, in enforcing that initial order. On April 7, 2025, President Donald Trump made use of those previously reserved powers to direct the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the acquisition deal to see if further action may be appropriate. President Trump’s rationale mirrored that of former President Biden. He stated to reporters on April 13, 2025, “I don’t think a foreign company should control U.S. Steel.”

Despite this opposition, U.S. Steel affirmed in a press release on April 17 that the two companies were still in a “definite merger agreement,” and referred to the deal as a “pending transaction.”

In a recent development, President Donald Trump changed his tone of opposition to the deal. On May 23, the President made a social media post in support of the merger, which was met with deep appreciation by U.S. Steel in a corresponding press release.

U.S. Steel Tomorrow 

U.S. Steel’s Website Logo
Source: U.S. Steel Corporation

On June 13, 2025 President Donald Trump signed an executive order permitting the deal to commence, contingent upon an agreement with the Treasury Department to address national security concerns. With White House support being the most significant component to the merger’s conclusion, spirits have now buoyed around its development.

The impending deal brings with it a multi-billion dollar infusion into U.S. Steel’s infrastructure. Nippon now plans to invest $4 billion in a U.S. based steel mill, with the intention of investing $11 billion in total infrastructure projects by 2028.

The prospect of revitalized steel production in the United States brings excitement to many in the heat treatment industry.

This article is being updated to include the most recent developments. Last updated on 06-17-2025.

References

“2022 Annual Report—U.S. Steel” 2022. https://investors.ussteel.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0001104659-23-030780/tm231813d6_ars.pdf

“About Us – History,” United States Steel Corporation, Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.ussteel.com/about-us/history.

Biden, Jr., Joseph R. “Order Regarding the Proposed Acquisition of United States Steel Corporation by Nippon Steel Corporation,” White House Archives. January 3, 2025. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2025/01/03/order-regarding-the-proposed-acquisition-of-united-states-steel-corporation-by-nippon-steel-corporation/

Biden, Jr., Joseph R. “Statement from President Joe Biden,” White House Archives. January 3, 2025. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/03/statement-from-president-joe-biden-13/.

Boselovic, L. “Steel Standing: U.S. Steel Celebrates 100 Years,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20181012210047/http://old.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20010225ussteel2.asp 

“Cleveland-Cliffs Proposes to Acquire U.S. Steel,” Cliffs. Cleveland Cliffs, August 13, 2023. https://www.clevelandcliffs.com/news/news-releases/detail/600/cleveland-cliffs-proposes-to-acquire-u-s-steel.

“Nippon Steel to invest $4 billion for new U.S. Steel mill,” Reuters, Accessed May 28, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/20/nippon-steel-to-invest-4-billion-for-new-us-steel-mill-reuters-.html

Trump, Donald J. “Review of Proposed United States Steel Corporation Acquisition,” The White House. April 7, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/review-of-proposed-united-states-steel-corporation-acquisition/.

Trump, Donald J. “Regarding the Proposed Acquisition of United States Steel Corporation by Nippon Steel Corporation,” The White House. June 13, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/regarding-the-proposed-acquisition-of-the-united-states-steel-corporation-by-nippon-steel-corporation/

“Trump Opposes Foreign Control of US Steel amid Nippon Steel’s $14 Billion Bid,” The Economic Times, April 14, 2025. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/trump-opposes-foreign-control-of-us-steel-amid-nippon-steels-14-billion-bid/articleshow/120267416.cms.

“United States Steel Corporation,” Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.ussteel.com.

“United States Steel Corporation to Release First Quarter 2025 Financial Results on May 1, 2025,” United States Steel Corporation, April 17, 2025. https://www.ussteel.com/newsroom/-/blogs/united-states-steel-corporation-to-release-first-quarter-2025-financial-results-on-may-1-2025

“U. S. Steel Statement on President Trump’s Leadership,” United States Steel Corporation, May 28, 2025. https://www.ussteel.com/newsroom/-/blogs/u-s-steel-statement-on-president-trump-s-leadership

For more information: Contact Tiffany at Tiffany@heattreattoday.com

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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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