Welcome to e-Connections, the weekly AFS email newsletter. In this Jan. 20, 2009, edition:

Attendee, Exhibit Registrations Open for 113th Congress
Attendee and exhibitor registrations are open for the 113th Metalcasting Congress, which will be held April 7-10, 2009, at the Paris Hotel, Las Vegas. More than 1,800 key industry people from around the globe are expected to attend.

Attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on more than 140 technical and managerial presentations intended to increase operations effectiveness and profitability. In addition, as many as 250 companies are expected to participate in the table top exhibitions, highlighting the latest in industry equipment.

For more information on attending or exhibiting at this event, visit www.metalcastingcongress.org.

Leadership Workshop, Super Sessions Highlighted at Wisconsin Regional
The AFS Wisconsin Regional Conference will be held Feb. 11-13 at the Phister Hotel in Milwaukee. The event will be highlighted with a leadership workshop titled "Ten Critical Responsibilities of a Leader," by Aleta Norris, Impact Consulting Group, LLC.

Spend Thursday and Friday visiting the more than 70 exhibitors in attendance and listening to the panel discussions and super sessions on key topics critical to the metalcasting industry's growth.

For more information and to register, click here or visit the AFS Wisconsin Chapter website at www.wisconsinafs.org.

Metalcasting Solutions Coming to Northwest Regional
The next AFS Metalcasting Solutions Seminar will take place March 18, just before the start of the AFS Northwest Regional Conference. Both events will take place at the Red Lion Hotel, Seattle.

The Metalcasting Solutions Seminar is intended to give casting buyers and designers an opportunity to discuss casting processes, review various alloy families and learn about technological advancements in metalcasting. AFS corporate metalcasters will have the opportunity to exhibit.

For more information on attending the Metalcasting Solutions Seminar, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237. To exhibit, contact Leo Baran, AFS director of membership services, at 800/537-4237 x201.

Submit Your Casting of the Year
Engineered Casting Solutions and the AFS Marketing Div. 14 now are accepting submissions for the 2009 Casting Competition. Each year, dozens of castings are sent in with the hopes of becoming the next Casting of the Year.

All castings submitted receive free publicity in Engineered Casting Solutions magazine and the winners are part of an end-user PR campaign. The Casting of the Year and Best in Class winners receive a free license to Magmasoft casting simulation software. Click here to download an entry form. For more information, contact Dave Krugman, AFS PR and marketing coordinator, at dkrugman@afsinc.org or 800/537-4237 x 286.

Career Center Helps Find New Metalcasters
The AFS Metalcasting Career Center has become the new destination for metalcasting industry employers and job seekers. Located at www.afsinc.org/careercenter, the Career Center has new job descriptions and resumes of prospective employees posted every day. Job seekers can view job postings for free. Employers pay a small fee to download resumes of prospective applicants. Discounts are available for AFS members.

Recent jobs posted include:

Manufacturing Manager
Hartford, Wisc.
Signicast, LLC

Mechanical Engineer
Foley, Ala.
Goodrich

Pro Engineer Draftsman
Washington, Penn.
Aerotek Engineering

For more information on the metalcasting career center, contact Dave Krugman, AFS PR and marketing coordinator, at dkrugman@afsinc.org or 800/537-4237 x286.

Metalcasting Blog Reaches 50 Entries at Moderncasting.com
The MODERN CASTING blog is in full swing and updated regularly. Launched on Feb. 27, 2008, the Metalcasting Blog at MODERNCASTING.com has reached 50 installments and counting, with comments on industry trends, highlighted metal castings found in the everyday world, and provided reactions to news items, facility tours, industry events and conferences.

The MODERN CASTING readership also has been involved, commenting on several blog posts throughout the year. You can sound off too. Go to MODERNCASTING.com today and speak your mind.

AFS Offers Free Second Admission When Registering for Environmental 101 Conference, OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Training Course
AFS is offering an unprecedented free second admission when registering for the Environmental 101 Conference, which will be held Feb. 11-12 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville, Tenn. The focus of this conference will be for attendees to learn about basic environmental issues and concerns facing the metalcasting industry in the U.S., including permitting and reporting, testing, pollution control and environmental management.

In addition, CMI is offering the same promotion when registering for the upcoming OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Training course, which will be held Feb. 9-10 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, Nashville, Tenn. This CMI OSHA 10-hour general industry training program is designed to help metalcasting personnel increase their understanding of OSHA standards and requirements. This will result in increased workplace safety awareness and compliance. Information gained further reduces the risk of fines and penalties resulting from OSHA violations.

For more information or to register for the Environmental 101 Conference, contact AFS customer service, at 800/537-4237. To register the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Training course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237, or click here.

CMI Offers Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Internet Course
CMI will be offering a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification internet course March 16-April 26. Learn the tools and techniques essential to be an effective member of the Six Sigma Green Belt Teams in this six week subject specialist facilitated course. At the end of the course, those participants that meet the minimum required score of 150 out of 200 points will receive a certificate from CMI awarding 6 CEUs and Green Belt Certification.

For more information or to attend this course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237, or click here to register.

Nonferrous Gating & Riser Design Course Available
CMI will be offering a Nonferrous Gating & Riser Design course March 17-20 at California State Poly Univ., Pomona, Calif. This course will cover information on aluminum, copper base and magnesium alloy castings. Metal flow, turbulence, solidification, heat transfer, shrinkage, metallostatic pressure effects, gating system and riser design, mold-wall movement and computer modeling. Riser size and gating system calculations, pouring times, placement and feeding distance of risers also are important topics of this course.

For more information or to attend this course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237, or click here to register.

 

Looking for more information on six sigma green belt certification? The publication titled Achieving Six Sigma Maintenance can help. AFS Special Publications has everything you need to supplement your metalcasting training. Visit www.afsinc.org/estore or call 800/537-4237 for more information.