Alumni & Former Researchers
Over more than three decades, 110 graduate students, undergraduates, and visiting researchers have contributed to the Continuous Casting Center. Many now lead research and engineering teams across the global steel industry, academia, and beyond. For current group members, see the People page.
Former Graduate Students
- Lawrence J. Mika
“Simulation of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer Inside a Continuous Slab Casting Machine”
working for Amoco Technology Co., Naperville, IL
- Jean A. Azzi
“Preliminary Steps in the Development of a 3-D Thermal-Stress Model of Continuous Casting”
working for Woodward Governor Co., Rockford, IL
- Glen T. Haegele
“Application of Mathematical Models to Investigate Defect Formation During Hot-Charging of Continuously-Cast Steel Slabs”
Engineer with Cummins Engines Company, Inc., Columbus, IN
- David D. Goettsch
“Heat Flow Model of Directionally Solidified Single Crystal Airfoils”
General Motors, Saginaw, MI
- Doug Habing
“Prediction of 3D Thermal Distortion of Slab Molds”
Manager, Hughes Electronics, Torrance, CA
- William R. Storkman
“Optimization of Mold Taper Design Using Mathematical Models of Continuous Steel Slab Casting”
Design & Analysis Engineer, Cummins Engines Company, Inc., Columbus, IN
- Fady M. Najjar
“Finite-Element Modelling of Turbulent Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer Through Bifurcated Nozzles in Continuous Steel Slab Casters”
[Jerry Silver Award, ISS, for best Masters thesis on iron and steelmaking for (1989-90)]. (Applications Specialist, NCSA, Urbana, IL
- Patrick F. Kozlowski
“Simple, Unified Constitutive Equations for Plain Carbon Steel Under Continuous Casting Conditions”
Manufacturing Engineer, Caterpillar, Inc., Decatur, IL
- Bryant Ho
“Characterization of Interfacial Heat Transfer in the Continuous Slab Casting Process”
[Jerry Silver Award, ISS, for best Masters thesis on iron and steelmaking for (1992-93)] (InterAccess Co., Northbrook, IL
- Donald E. Hershey
“Turbulent Flow of Molten Steel through Submerged Bifurcated Nozzles in the Continuous Casting Process”
Scientist / Engineer, Procter and Gamble, Cincinnati, OH
- Avijit Moitra
“Thermo-mechanical Model of Steel Shell Behavior in Continuous Slab Casting”
Group Product Design Engineer, Assoc. Spring Inc., Adv. Eng. Technology, Bristol, CN
- Robert M. McDavid
“Flow and Thermal Behavior of the Top Surface Flux / Powder Layers in Continuous-Casting Molds”
Caterpillar Inc. - Engine Div., Mossville, IL
- Ravid T. Lui
“Effect of Oscillation Marks on Heat Transfer in Continuous Casting Molds”
Honeywell Microswitch, Free Port, CA
- Keith Rackers
“Mechanism and Mitigation of Clogging in Continuous Casting Nozzles”
Project Engineer, Tosoh SMD Research & Development, Columbus, OH
“Analysis of Thermal and Mechanical Behavior of High Heat Flux Facing Copper Walls”
Lead Engineer, General Electric., Cincinnati, OH
- Hong Zhu
“Coupled Thermal-Mechanical Finite Element Model with Application to Initial Solidification”
Research Engineer, Inland Steel Research Labs, East Chicago, IN
- David T. Creech
“Computational Modeling of Multiphase Turbulent Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in the Continuous Slab Casting Mold”
FE Analyst, MacLean Power Systems, Chicago, IL
- Hua Bai
“Argon Bubble Behavior in Slide-gate Tundish Nozzles during Continuous Casting of Steel Slabs”
Dow Chemical Company, Freeport, TX
- Sivaraj Sivaramakrishnan
“Transient Fluid Flow in the Mold and Heat Transfer Through the Molten Slag Layer in Continuous Casting of Steel”
FE Analyst, Fluent, Evanston, IL
“Bulging in Continuous Cast Steel Slabs”
PhD student, UIUC
- David Stone
“Mathematical Modeling of Interfacial Heat Transfer in the Continuous Slab Casting Process”
Thermal Engineer, Delta IV Thermal IPT, Boeing Huntington Beach, CA
- Jon Parkman
“Simulation of Thermal-Mechanical Behavior During Initial Solidification of Steel”
Design Engineer, Motorola, Arlington Heights, IL
- Tiebiao Shi
“Effect of Argon Injection on Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in the Continuous Slab Casting Mold”
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
- Melody Langeneckert
“Influence of Mold Geometry on Heat Transfer, Thermocouple and Mold Temperature in Continuous Casting of Steel Slabs”
Hamilton Sundstrand, Rockford, Illinois
- Joong-kil Park
“Thermo-Mechanical phenomena in high speed continuous casting processes”
I. Samarasekera, co-advisor
University of British Columbia (Posco Steel, Seoul, S. Korea
- Joe Shaver
“Measurements of Molten Steel/Flux Interface Phenomena in Thin-Slab Casting”
I. Samarasekera, co-advisor
University of British Columbia (Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting, Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
- Bin Zhao
“Numerical Study of Heat Transfer in Continuous Casting of Steel”
P. Vanka, co-advisor
Doctoral Candidate, UIUC
“Modeling Interfacial Slab Layer Phenomena in the Shell / Mold Gap in Continuous Casting of Steel”
Postgraduate Researcher,UIUC
“Transient Study of Turbulent Flow and Particle Transport during Continuous Casting of Steel Slabs”
P. Vanka, co-advisor
American Air Liquide; Dow Chemical
- Chunsheng Li
“Thermal-mechanical Model of Solidifying Steel Shell Behavior and its Applications in High Speed Continuous Casting of Billets”
Senior project engineer, Caterpillar Champaign Simulation Center
“Investigation of Subsurface Hook Formation in Continuous Cast Steel Slabs”
S-H Kim, advisor
Posco, Pohang, S. Korea
- Jorg Peter
“Development of a new process to continuously melt and refine steel”
K. Peaslee, advisor
Nucor
“Fluid Flow, Particle Motion, and Clogging in Continuous Cast Steel”
Caterpiller, Peoria, IL
“Development Efficient Thermo-mechanical model of solidification and Application to Beam Blank and Funnel Mold Continuous Casting”
Engineering Applications Analyst ABAQUS, NCSA, UIUC
J. Bentsman advisor
Research Engineer, Arcelor-Mittal Global R&D, East Chicago, IN
- Kevin Cukierski
“Electromagnetic Breaking effect on Flow in Continuous Slab Casting Molds”
Law school, UIUC, 2007
- Zaher Hashisho
“Argon Flow through Porous Refractory Nozzles for Continuous Casting”
Assistant Professor, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Bret Rietow
“Fluid Velocity Simulation and Measurement in Thin Slab Casting”
Infinium Capital Management
“Thermal stress modeling of Aluminum Strip Casting”
Infinium Capital Management
“Computational Modeling and Validation of Multi-phase Fluid Flow in Nozzle and Mold during Continuous Slab Casting”
S.H. Kim, advisor
Posco, Pohang, S. Korea
“Development of New Sensor for Meniscus Temperature Monitoring”
Mittal Steel, East Chicago, Indiana
- Xiaoxu Zhou
“Heat Transfer during Spray Water Cooling Using Steady Experiments”
Research and Development, SSAB Americas, Muscatine, IA
- Varun Singh
“Heat Transfer Model of a Nozzle during Preheating, Cooling, and Casting”
Altair Engineering Inc., Troy, MI
- Hemanth Jasti
“User-Friendly Interface Design and Development for Continuous-Casting Model CON1D”
General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, CT
- Rajneesh Chaudhary
“Studies of Turbulent Flows in Continuous Casting of Steel with and without Magnetic Field”
ABB Global Industries and Services Limited, Karnataka, India
“Multiphase Particle-Size-Grouping Model of Precipitation and its Application to Thermal Processing of Microalloyed Steel”
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Mechanical Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“High Fidelity Numerical Investigations of Tailored Magnetic Fields for Defect Reduction in Continuous Casting of Steel”
Mechanical Engineer at Schlumberger Technologies, Houston, TX
“Multiphysics Modeling of the Steel Continuous Casting Process”
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dept. of Mechanical Science & Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“Transient Thermo-Fluid Model of Meniscus Behavior and Slag Consumption in Steel Continuous Casting”
PhD student at Penn State University, State College, PA
“Modeling Transient Multiphase Flow and Mold Top Surface Behavior in Steel Continuous Casting”
ArcelorMittal Global R&D, East Chicago, IN
“Distributed Parameter Control of Heat Diffusion with Solidification”
Nucor Steel, Decatur, AL
“Thermal and Chemical Behavior of Continuous Casting Nozzles”
Vesuvius R&D, Pittsburgh, PA
“Heat Transfer in Continuous Casting Spray Cooling”
High Radius, Houston, TX
Former Undergraduate Students
- Chris Thomas
Web Site Designer
Web Site Designer
- Cathy Mao
Web development
- Pavel Sokolovsky
Web development
- Oluwaseun Araromi
Modeling of Clogging / Erosion of Nozzle Refractories", Undergraduate Project
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Eric Badger
Web Development
- Joseph Appelhans
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Eric Eckstrum
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Nicholas Froggatt
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Amanda Steelman
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- James Buckland
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Mihir Chavan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Jason Troutner
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Tyler Sierzega
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Gavin Hamilton
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Kenneth Swartz
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Former Visiting Researchers & Post-Doctoral Associates
- Maria-Rita Ridolfi
CSM, Italy
- Rodrigo Marin
U. of Los Andes, Chile
Tsinghua University, Beijing, PRC
- Xiaoqing Huang
Post-Doc. Res. Assoc., Concurrent Technologies, Johnstown, PA
- Mustapha El-Bealy
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Royal Institute, Sweden
- Yuji Miki
Kawasaki Steel, Japan
- Martin Fackeldey
Foundry Institute, RWTH Aachen, Germany
- Young Mok Won
Seoul National University, Korea
- Kuan-Ju Lin
Visiting Scholar from China Steel, Taiwan, Republic of China
- Claudio Ojeda
Visiting Scholar from Centro Tecnologico Labein, Bilbao, Spain
Post Doctoral Research Associate, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan ; Also, Visiting Professor, U. Trondheim, Norway
Post Doctoral Research Associate, University of British Columbia, Canada (2003-06 ) (Dofasco, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Visiting Scholar, Postech, Pohang, S. Korea
- Seon-Hyo Kim
Visiting Professor, Postech , S. Korea
- Dianfeng Li
Post Doctoral Research Associate, University of British Columbia, Canada
M.S. student, UIUC, (Nippon Steel, Japan)
M.S. student, UIUC
Visiting Scholar, Postech, Pohang, S. Korea (2005-2008 )
- S. Louhenkilpi
Visiting Professor, U. Helsinki, Finland
- Claudia Pfeiler
Visiting Scholar, U. Leoben, Austria
- Prasanna Kumar
Visiting Professor, IIT Madras, India
- Sami Vapalahti
Visiting Ph.D. student, U. Helsinki, Finland
- Ruan Xiaoming
Visiting Scholar, Baosteel, Shanghai, China
- Huan Li
Ph.D. student, UIUC
Visiting Scholar, Posco, Pohang, S. Korea
- Seong-Mook Cho
Visiting Scholar, Postech, Pohang, S. Korea
- Choul-Hong Min
M.S. student, UIUC
- Seong-Yeon Kim
Visiting Scholar, POSCO, Pohang, S. Korea
- Chengbin Li
Visiting Scholar, Baosteel, Shanghai, PRC
- Junya Iwasaki
Visiting Scholar, Nippon Steel Corp, Japan
- Zhengie Fan
Visiting Scholar, Baosteel, Shanghai, PR China, 2011-2012)
- Yingchun Wang
Visiting Scholar, Baosteel, Shanghai, PR China
Ph.D. Student, University of Science and Technology Beijing, PR China
Metallurgical Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China
- Seon-Hyo Kim
Visiting Professor, Postech, Pohang, S. Korea
- Hai Hao
Visiting Scholar, Dalian University of Technology, PR China
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Akitoshi Matsui
Visiting Scholar, JFE Steel, Hiroshima, Japan
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign