Heat Treat Today Class of 2019
Heat Treat Today is privileged to present the 40 Under 40 Class of 2019, including Justin Sims, Carl Soderhjelm, and Olexandra (Sasha) Tupalo who represent a group of young, up-and-coming talent in the North American heat treat industry. Justin is a member of the Center for Heat Treating Excellence (CHTE), one of the centers affiliated with the Metal Processing Institute at WPI. Carl is an Assistant to Research Professor at WPI, as well as the Associate Director of the (Advanced Casting Research Center) ACRC, at the Metal Processing Institute. Lastly, Sasha Tupalo, a graduate of WPI, currently works for one of CHTE's member companies.
Name: Justin Sims
Company: Dante Solutions, Inc.
Position: Principal Engineer
Justin is an excellent analyst of steel heat treat processes. He is an expert modeler of quench hardening processes using the DANTE software, and he has trained many of users in the company’s list of licensees. More importantly, he has been a leader in development of the DANTE Controlled Gas Quenching process, with the first prototype installed at Akron Steel Treating for the purpose of minimizing part distortion while achieving required properties and performance.
Nominated by: Dante Solutions, Inc.
Name: Carl Soderhjelm
Company: WPI-Metal Processing Institute
Position: Associate Director and Research Professor
Dr. Carl Soderhjelm is a FEF (Foundry Education Foundation) Professor and Associate Director of the ACRC at the Metal Processing Institute at WPI. He is a leader and has done significant heat treat research and developments particularly dealing with Al Alloys. His doctoral thesis on multimaterial casting and thermal processing is a seminal piece of work. He is an up and coming leader in the field.
Nominated by: WPI–Metal Processing Institute
Name: Olexandra (Sasha) Tupalo
Company: Thermatool Corp
Position: Materials Engineer
Sasha Tupalo began her career as a materials engineer at Thermatool Corp. in 2016 after finishing her master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She has been very active supporting the Fabricators and Manufacturer’s Association educational programs, as well as ASM Heat Treat events. She provides process troubleshooting support for tube, pipe, and closed roll formed shape producers. She routinely evaluates weld samples and heat treat specimens as part of this process. Sasha delivers training both in-house at Thermatool and at customers’ sites and leads continuing education classes such as “Weldability of Advanced Steels, Stainless Steels and Aluminum” (delivered 2018 at LeTourneau University, Longview, TX), and “Oilfield Metallurgy” (an ASM Continuing Education Class) in 2017. She has written several papers and delivered presentations in her field just since 2016. Sasha is an active member of numerous scientific and technical committees such as ASM, ASTM (A01, E04 and E28), TMS, AIST and WAG (Welding Advisory Group) at AISI.
Nominated by: Thermatool Corp