Resumption of ABM WEEK exceeds expectations and attracts a large audience

Presented during the closing ceremony on June 9, the balance of the ABM WEEK’s 6th Edition testified to the great success of Latin America’s largest technical-scientific event in the mining, metals, and materials sector. The number of participants outstripped the organizers' expectations, as pointed out by André Luiz Vasconcellos da Costa e Silva, professor at the Fluminense Federal University and technical coordinator of ABM WEEK.

Overall, 1,740 people attended the event and 776 works were presented. Sponsors totaled 68 – a 12% increase over the previous edition in 2019.

The event included three courses and a pre-event workshop on June 6, with a total of 74 participants. Seven roundtables, three panels, three business rounds, and a plenary session were held. In all, 25 keynote speakers gave lectures.

“I wanted to participate a little in each event. It's fantastic that ABM was able to put together such a huge amount of information and still make it possible for us to talk and have coffee together,” Costa e Silva said.

He pointed out that the 13 technical-scientific events comprised 134 technical sessions. In the case of oral presentations, the non-attendance rate was 13%, a low level, in his opinion, considering the pandemic scenario.

The event with the greatest number of contributions was the ABM Annual Congress, with 370 papers, followed by the 51st Melting, Refining & Casting of Metals Seminar (with 86 papers) and the 57th Rolling and Metal Forming Seminar (with 63 papers).

Researchers from 59 higher education institutions contributed 426 papers – the winners were IME (Military Institute of Engineering) with 91 papers and UENF (Norte Fluminense State University) with 82 papers. Seventy papers were co-authored by university researchers and industry professionals.

“We also celebrated some quinquennial and decennial anniversaries during this edition, such as the 75th Annual Congress, the 50th Ironmaking and Raw Materials Seminar, and the 20th National Meeting of Metallurgical, Materials and Mining Engineering Students (Enemet),” recalled Costa e Silva.

According to Horacidio Leal Barbosa Filho, CEO of the Brazilian Metallurgy, Materials and Mining Association (ABM), the 6th edition “was the most important of all”.

“For me, this ABM WEEK was the most important one because it was a special occasion to reunite and celebrate. After such difficult times we’ve lived through, we had an exceptional event,” the CEO said.

Leal emphasized that sustainability was a constant in the debates, showing that this subject is here to stay.

“Business and academic leaders from Brazil and abroad have presented ideas and solutions that will surely help our industry become more sustainable and enter the zero carbon era once and for all,” he said.

The 6th ABM WEEK is hosted by Gerdau and is sponsored by the following companies: Açokorte, Alkegen, Amepa GmbH, Aperam, ArcelorMittal, Atomat Services, AutoForm, BM Group/Polytec,BRC, BR Event Materials ,CBMM, Combustol, Clariant, Danieli, Dassault Systèmes, DME Engenharia, Eirich, Enacom, Engineering, Evonik, Fosbel, GSI, Harsco, Hatch/CISDI, Ibar, Imerys, IMS Messsysteme GmbH, Isra Vision Parsytec, John Cockerill Industry, Kuttner, Metso Outotec, Nalco Water/Ecolab, Nouryon, Primetals Technologies, PSI Metals, Reframax , RHI Magnesita, Saint-Gobain, SMS Group Paul Wurth/ Vetta, Spraying Systems, Suez, SunCoke, Tecnosulfur, Ternium, Timken, Thermo Fischer, TopSolid, TRB, Unimetal, Usiminas, Vale, Vamtec, Vesuvius, Villares Metals, Wallonia.be (ADI – Industrial Services, John Cockerill Hydrogen, BorderSystem, Datanet International, Synthetis e PEPITe), White Martins, e Yellow Solution.Special support: CNPq. Institutional support: Abal, Abendi, Abifa, AIST, AIST Mena, Alacero, CBCA, Ibram, Icz, Instituto Aço Brasil, CIMM, Ind4.0.