AFS will honor five people for their contributions to metalcasting with awards at CastExpo 2019 and the 123rd Metalcasting Congress.
Von L. Richards is the winner of the 2019 Thomas W. Pangborn Gold Medal, the highest honor awarded by AFS. A professor emeritus of materials science at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Missouri), Richards will receive the medal for his outstanding contributions in education, sharing knowledge broadly within the industry, and attracting new people to metalcasting.
The AFS Award of Scientific Merit will be presented to John M. Tartaglia, engineering manager at Element Materials Technology (Wixom, Michigan). This award recognizes Tartaglia’s outstanding technical papers and presentations, as well as meritorious technical contributions in the areas of material property information and fatigue strain analysis of cast metals.
Receiving AFS Service Citations are George B. Kokos, Peter Satre, and Brian V. Smith.
Kokos is global technical team manager at Caterpillar Mapleton Foundry (Mapleton, Illinois). His service citation is for important work in advancing the technical understanding of iron casting and his support of advanced research, as well as his extensive service to the Cast Iron Division and his regional AFS chapter.
Satre is manager of corporate engineering at Allied Mineral Products Inc. (Columbus, Ohio). His service citation recognizes his steady leadership of AFS technical programs, outstanding service to the Melting Methods & Materials Division, and service to the industry as a rich source of technical information.
Smith is a casting consultant in Saginaw, Michigan. His service citation is for his relentless focus on attracting youth to the metalcasting industry through Foundry-in-a-Box and other outreach activities, as well as his longtime service to AFS regional chapters.
The honors were recommended unanimously by the AFS Board of Awards and approved by the AFS Board of Directors. The Gold Medal will be presented at CastExpo during the Annual Banquet on Sunday, April 28. AFS Service Citations and the AFS Award of Scientific Merit will be presented at the President’s Luncheon and Annual Business Meeting on Tuesday, April 30.