Last year's competition

PROJECT: Celtic Leaf Sword

This year’s student competition is focused on the use of modern casting tools to design and produce a functioning version of a Celtic Leaf Sword.

Each Sword will be put through a series of tests appropriate for these types of swords. All submissions should include your sword, a project video and technical report documenting the design and manufacturing process.

This competition requirements for the sword are:

1. Your team will need to identify why your sword is a Celtic Leaf Sword in the Technical Report.
2. Your team should use the steel casting process to add value to your sword. How you did this should be explained in your Technical Report.
3. Your Celtic Leaf Sword should weigh no more than 3.5 lbs.
4. Your Celtic Leaf Sword should not be longer than 32 inches in overall length.

Each entry will be eligible for three awards: the Best Design and Process as presented in the technical report, the Best Project Video documenting the project (not to exceed 5 minutes), and the Best Performance based on testing and expert evaluation.

The technical reports and video entries will be judged by Master Founders and Lifetime SFSA members. The performance evaluation will include a series of tests established to prove worthiness of the implement, similar in style to those seen in the History Channel program, Forged in Fire.

Teams

Cast in Steel 2022 challenges university students to use steel casting to creatively make a Celtic Leaf Sword. Teams must have:

• Student teams who will design, build, and test their Celtic Leaf Sword. At least one member must be a current student
• A faculty sponsor to help the team
• An industrial partner familiar with steel castings

Sponsors

Companies interested in sponsoring the Cast in Steel 2022 competition are welcome and should contact monroe@sfsa.org. AFS is already the Presenting Sponsor for the Awards ceremony at the 2022 CastExpo.

Schedule

As for the Timeline, below is a timeline of some of the important events and submissions dates.

• Team video, Technical Report, and Celtic Leaf Sword due April 1st, 2022. *Please take care that your video does not include copyrighted music.
• Cast in Steel Performance Testing: Fri., April 22, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio.
• Awards Ceremony: Sun., April 24, 2022 in Columbus, Ohio at the AFS CastExpo
  (AFS has graciously agreed to be the Presenting Sponsor at CastExpo)

More details and dates will be released by September 30th, 2021. More information about the American Foundry Society (AFS) and their 2022 CastExpo can be found at the link below.

https://www.afsinc.org/tradeshows/castexpo-2022

For the testing on Friday, April 22, teams and mentors should attend and will compete with their Celtic Leaf Swords. Please plan on attending the testing and mark this date on your calendars.

Evaluation

• Competition will be judged by panel of steel experts selected by SFSA
• The technical reports and video entries will be judged by Master Founders and Lifetime SFSA members.
• The performance evaluation will include a series of tests established to prove the worthiness of each sword.

New This Year

The Technical reports have also ranged in organization and length and so this year we are setting some guidelines and providing an outline for the Cover page.

The guidelines are as follows:

• You must state the reason for the competition: “SFSA has created this competition to encourage students to learn about making steel products using the casting process and applying the latest technology available”
  This should be addressed somewhere in the introduction of you Technical Report
• The report must address the historical background and accuracy of your Celtic Leaf Sword and explain why your Celtic Leaf Sword is a Celtic Leaf Sword
• Your report must address your design process and the steps you took to get to your final product
• Your report must address your final results, preferably with pictures, and show that it met contest requirements (state what the final length, weight, and materials of your Celtic Leaf Sword)
• Your report shall not exceed 30 pages. (This will include your cover page and resources pages so clear and concise writing is necessary)

Other suggested topics that can be addressed in your report are as follows:

• What metallurgical decisions were made with respect to your Celtic Leaf Sword
• What type of casting process was selected, what led you to that decision, and the casting process steps you used while creating your Celtic Leaf Sword
• What kind of inspection and testing your Celtic Leaf Swords were subjected to before submission

Additionally, your cover pages must follow the outline below. An example cover page is included in the document so you can see what the final product should look like.

More details and dates will be released by September 30th, 2021 so please pay attention to this site.

Registration

Are you ready to compete? CLICK HERE to register your team for the CIS 2022 competition.

T-Shirt Art Competition

Calling all Artists
Is this you or someone you know?

Steel Founders’ Society of America is looking for an image for our 2022 Cast in Steel (CIS) T-shirt.

AWARDS:
$100 Amazon gift card!
Public Thank You on social media
Recognition at the online event

If you have an image for us to consider, email it to: rmueller@sfsa.org by November 1, 2021.

REQUIREMENTS:

• The image should represent the Steel Casting Industry (not just the CIS team experience).
• The image should be .jpg or vector (.eps) of 300dpi or larger (if you are unsure, feel free to submit by choosing the largest possible option on your device).
• Understand that by submitting an image or design; you acknowledge that the image is not otherwise copyright protected and it becomes the property of SFSA and may be used for the T-shirt, on social media, our website, to promote (CIS) and/or the Steel Founders' Society Foundation, or for other promotional uses of the Society.
• Your image could become the face of the Cast in Steel Competition for 2022! Create your own design, take a new photo, or check your photo library. Feel free to share this opportunity with others!

We’re looking forward to considering your image.

References

Celtic Leaf Sword Image:
ageofchivalry.com/…

The Event

Award winners

• Main Awards
  • Pittsburg State University: Best Performance & Runner up for the Best Technical Report
  • Penn State Behrend: Best Technical Report
  • University of South Alabama: Best Project Video

• “Ben’s Honorable Mentions”
  • University of South Alabama: Most Creative Alloy Combination
  • Art et Métiers Science et Technologies: Most Likely to be Confused for a Wrench (Honored for the Unique Shape)
  • Saint Martin’s University: Most Likely to Explode (Honored for the Challenge of the casting)
  • Georgia Southern University: Most intricate Casting
  • Texas State University - Team 2: Must-Have for a Zombie Apocalypse (Honored for the Strength of the Points)
  • Texas State University - Team 1: Most Interesting Head Design

Technical Reports

Team	Hammer, Testing & expert commentary
Arts et Métiers Science et Technologies Cluny Technical Report (No Team project video) (No Team test video) Industry Partners: Safe
Central Michigan University Technical Report (No Team project video) (No Team test video) Industry Partners: Bay Cast
Colorado School of Mines Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Western Foundries Art Castings of Colorado
CalPoly Pomona - Team 1 - Seitz Technical Report Team project video (No Team test video) Industry Partners: Aerotec Alloys
CalPoly Pomona - Team 2 - Rodriguez Technical Report (No Team project video) (No Team test video) Industry Partners: Fenico Precision Castings Bodycote Aerotec Alloys Runner-up - Best Performance
CalPoly Pomona - Team 3 - Avila Technical Report (No Team project video) Team test video Industry Partners: Soundcast Co., Costa Mesa, CA
CalPoly San Luis Obispo - Loco for Loki Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: American Casting Company
CalPoly San Luis Obispo - Not a Drill Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Aurora Casting & Engineering Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: One of the top three
Georgia Southern University Technical Report (No Team project video) Team test video Industry Partners: Carolina Metal Castings
Iowa State University Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Eagle Alloy Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: Just because of the lightning at the end!
Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Fundidora Morelia, SA de CV Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: Good introduction
Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo - Team Briones Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Fundición de Aleaciones Especiales de México, SA de CV Runner-up - Best Performance Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: Good work
Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo - Valhalla Donkeys Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: SEMSA Foundry
Kent State University - Mjolnir Team Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Humtown Additive Foseco Pentair
Kent State University - Stormbreaker Team Technical Report Team test video
Penn State Behrend Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: PRL Regal Cast Urick Ductile Solutions Winner - Best Technical Report What judges said: Good metallurgy and a creative design with great potential Good recap of lessons, reasonable the thought process, the result was too soft – but recognized Entirely too long, but very detailed. Introduced new computer programs to decision making and performed a functional test Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: The explosion
Pittsburg State University Technical Report Team project video (No Team test video) Industry Partners: Monett Metals World Class Prototypes Trojan Heat Treat Runner-up - Best Technical Report What judges said: Well written, picture of the product, picture of scale showing final weight Best papers are well detailed, clearly describe decision making, and explain the manufacturing process
Saginaw Valley State University (No Technical Report) Team project video Team test video
Saint Martin’s University Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Spokane Industries Wear-Tek
Texas A&M University - Capstone Project Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Texas Precision Metalcraft Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: One of the top three
Texas A&M University - (Lies) Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group Runner-up - Best Performance Runner-up - Best Team video What judges said: One of the top three
Texas State University - Team 1 Technical Report (No Team project video) Team test video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group
Texas State University - Team 2 Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group
University of South Alabama Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Howell Foundry Winner - Best Team video What judges said: The mascot
University of Northern Iowa Technical Report (No Team project video) Team test video Industry Partners: Waukesha Foundry
Virginia Tech - VT Fire Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: D.W. Clark Southwest Specialty Heat Treat ExOne
Youngstown State University Technical Report Team project video Team test video Industry Partners: Trumbull Metal

Super Steel Hammer

Award winners

• Main Awards
  • Best Performance - Virginia Tech
  • Best Technical Report - Texas A & M University
  • Best Video - University of South Alabama

• “Ben’s Best” Recognized for special attributes and creativity:
  • Most Period Correct Handle - Mississippi, Team 2
  • Most Ambitious Casting & Intricate Design - Missouri State University
  • Unique Design - Instituto Tecnologico de Morelia, Mexico
  • Best Cast Guard & Pommel - Pittsburg State University - Fist Pommel
  • Most Surprising Knife Cast - Penn State University

Technical Reports

Team	Knife, Testing & expert commentary
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - Team 1 Technical Report Industry Partners: American Casting Company Pacific Heat Treating Co. AWL Tech Engineering & Machining, Inc. Ridgeline Knife Works
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - Team 2 Technical Report Industry Partners: American Casting Company Pacific Heat Treating Co. AWL Tech Engineering & Machining, Inc. Ridgeline Knife Works
Instituto Technológico de Morelia Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Fundidora Morelia
Instituto Tecnológico de Saltillo Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Mahle - Planta Camisas, Ramos Arizpe
Mississippi State Team - 1 (No report) Industry Partners: Southern Cast Products (Meridian, MS)
Mississippi State Team - 2 (No report) Industry Partners: Southern Cast Products (Meridian, MS)
Missouri University of Science & Technology (No report) Team video Industry Partners: Metaltek-Carondelet Southern Cast Products (Jonesboro, AR)
Penn State University - Behrend Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Regal Cast Urick Ductile Solutions
Pittsburg State University Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Monett Metals
St Martins University (No report) Team video Industry Partners: Bradken
Texas A&M Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Texcast American Foundry Group Holt SigniCast Applied Process
Texas State - Team 1 Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group
Texas State - Team 2 Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group
Texas State - Team 3 Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: American Foundry Group
University of Northern Iowa Technical Report Industry Partners: Omaha Steel
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Technical Report Industry Partners: McConway & Torley, LLC
University of South Alabama Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Howell Foundry LLC
Virginia Tech Technical Report Team video Industry Partners: Midwest Metal Products

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Award winners

• Main Awards
  • Best Performance - Instituto Technológico de Morelia
  • Best Engineering Design - Texas State University

• Special Awards
  • (Runners up) Engineering Design - Cal Poly-Pomona Team#1 & Penn State-Behrend
  • Most Captivating Design - Pittsburg State
  • Most Likely To Succeed - University of South Alabama
  • Most Historically Accurate - Mississippi State
  • Best Axe Swinger - Jenni Brown from University of Alabama at Birmingham

Technical Reports

Tap school name to view report

Report	Axe	Testing & expert commentary
Instituto Technológico de Morelia Winner - Best Performance
Texas State University Winner - Best Engineering Design
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Team 1 (Investment)
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Team 2 (Sand)
Georgia Southern University Team 1 (Liggett)
Georgia Southern University Team 2 (Lewis)
Iowa State University Team 1 (Sand)
Iowa State University Team 2 (Investment)
Kent State University
Michigan Technological University
Mississippi State University
Pittsburg State University
Penn State
Purdue University
University of South Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Northern Iowa Team 1 (Investment)
University of Northern Iowa Team 2 (Sand)
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Youngstown State University

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