AIST and its Material Movement and Transportation Technology Division presented the 2011 Crane Innovation of the Year Award to John U. Austin, Mobile Maintenance Manager, Gerdau Petersburg, for his paper entitled, “Improvement in Operating Efficiencies Through Scrap Handling Devices.”
Established in 2007, the Crane Innovation of the Year Award is given annually to the author of a paper, selected by the AIST Material Movement and Transportation Technology Division and judged by the Cranes Technology Committee, to be the best technical paper submitted that year.
Austin was hired by Chaparral Steel, now Gerdau Petersburg, in 1999 as a Maintenance Electrician, and in 2001 he was promoted to Meltshop Shift Maintenance Foreman. In 2005, he was given a project to improve reliability of meltshop cranes, and this opportunity evolved into the creation of the Cranes Maintenance Group, when Austin assumed responsibility for all cranes in the facility. Then in 2010, he was promoted to Mobile Maintenance Manager of all mobile equipment at the facility, including cranes, trains, loaders, forklifts and automobiles.
Austin received the award at the 18th Annual Cranes Symposium, June 12–14, at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, Pa.
In addition to the Crane Innovation of the Year Award, each of AIST’s nine Technology Divisions has established up to three awards, to be presented at various AIST venues, including a technical session at AISTech — The Iron & Steel Technology Conference and Exposition or MS&T — Materials Science and Technology Conference and Exhibition, a Technology Committee meeting, a Specialty Training Conference or a Member Chapter event.
AIST is an international technical association of more than 13,800 professional and student members, representing iron and steel producers, their allied suppliers and related academia. The association is dedicated to advancing the technical development, production, processing and application of iron and steel.