Plansee Seminar highlights trends in refractory metals and hard materials
June 4, 2017
The 19th Plansee Seminar, organised by the Plansee Group, took place in Reutte, Tirol, Austria, May 29 to June 2, with over 470 delegates from 28 countries in attendance. Originally established by Professor Paul Schwarzkopf in 1952 as a four-yearly event, bringing together the academic and industrial world to discuss material and technological innovations in the field of refractory metals and hard materials, the 19th Plansee Seminar lived up to its reputation with an exciting week of high-level presentations and innovations.
Dr Karlheinz Wex, member of Plansee Holding AG’s Executive Board, said in his welcome address that both the refractory metals and hard materials sectors are very close to technological mega trends which support new applications for these sectors. “Innovation is a key factor for our industry. This means reinventing our existing business models with the support of improved or new materials processes and technologies to even better serve our global customers,” stated Wex. Additive Manufacturing was cited as a key new manufacturing technology which both sectors are expected to exploit.
Keynote presentations at the Plansee Seminar included an overview of global trends in refractory metal markets by Plansee’s Ulrich Lausecker, and global trends in the hard materials (cemented carbide) sector by Dr Christoph Gey, Kennametal Europe GmbH. Highlights of both these presentations will be published in Powder Metallurgy Review, as will reviews of some of the innovations presented in technical papers. There will also be a report on the presentations given during the European Hard Materials Group (EuroHM) open meeting at Plansee on ongoing Club Projects and the presentation on the current status of hazard classification of cobalt.
The 19th Plansee Seminar was chaired by Dr Lorenz Sigl, with Dr Heinrich Kestler as secretary.
