High energy and cutting-edge technology were on display recently at the Third International Conference on Quenching and Distortion Engineering (QDE) in Vancouver. A strong technical program and co-location with AeroMat and the International Thermal Spray Conference left attendees with new contacts and new information to bring back to their organizations. Between the three co-located events, approximately 905 people attended from 28 countries, with 105 exhibitors. There were 460 presentations across the three events, with seven keynote speakers.
Fluxtrol Student Research Competition at QDE
At the recent Quenching and Distortion Engineering Conference in Vancouver, Canada, the following winners were announced:
- First Prize $1,000 to Gabriel Ebner, Leibnitz-Institut fur Werkstofforientierte Technologien (IWT), Bremen, Germany for his paper “Shaft Distortion as a Result of Local Flow Inhomogeneities During Oil Quenching in an Industrial Quench Tank.”
- Second Prize $500 to Niki Nouri, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for her paper, “Influence of Tempering Transformation Induced Plasticity (T-TRIP) on the Evolution of Residual Stresses in Laser Heat Treated 50CrMo4 Steel.”
Judges included Chair – Rob Goldstein FASM, Fluxtrol; Dr. Stefan Hock – IFHTSE, Dr. D. Scott Mackenzie FASM – Retired Quaker Houghton Technical Fellow; Prof. Lesley Frame – University of Connecticut; Prof. Rainer Fechte-Heinen – IWT, Dennis Beauschesne – ECM; and Dr. Masahiro Okumiya, Toyota Technological Institute.
The Fluxtrol Student Research Competition offers young innovative scientists/professionals a competition-based award and recognition program, seeking to encourage participation of young scientists in the ASM Heat Treating Society and IFHTSE, and to provide attractive offers and opportunities in the worldwide Thermal Processing community.
Students who are pursuing an undergraduate or post graduate degree at a university or are within one year of graduation but conducted the research while still enrolled at a university, having completed an aspect of thermal processing research, are eligible.
Lesley Frame achieves professorship
Dr. Lesley Frame was recently awarded full professorship at the University of Connecticut. She is currently vice president of IFHTSE and will assume president of IFHTSE in January 2026.
Prof. Frame received her Ph.D at the University of Arizona in 2009. She is focused on structure-processing-property-performance relationships for engineering alloys. Current research involves residual stress analysis of aerospace alloys during manufacturing, characterization of flow stress and transient properties of alloys, corrosion behavior of additively manufactured alloys, and corrosion protection on bridges.
Prof. Frame is a Fulbright Fellow, U.K., Cardiff University Wales (2009). She was awarded the ASM Bronze Medal and ASTM Award of Achievement in 2017.
Conference updates
30th IFHTSE World Congress
August 19-22, 2025 | Suzhou, China
The 30th IFHTSE World Congress, sponsored by the Chinese Heat Treatment Society (CHTS), follows the 25th World Congress in Xi’an in 2018. More details are forthcoming as available.
The event will be at the Suzhou Shishan International Conference Center in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China.
The historically long friendship between CHTS and the IFHTSE has led to successful cooperation on several significant events, such as the Third International Congress on Heat Treatment of Materials in Shanghai in 1983, the 14th IFHTSE Congress in Shanghai in 2004), the 20th IFHTSE Congress in Beijing in 2012)，the 25th IFHTSE Congress in Xi’an in 2018, and the Second International Conferences on Energy and the Future of Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering in Beijing in 2014.
This World Congress will focus on the organization of a congress that will deal with tradition and innovation in heat treatment and surface engineering. The 30th IFHTSE World Congress will be a good opportunity for delegates from a wide range of industrial and academic backgrounds to discuss and disseminate the recent progress, innovations, and developments in the field of heat treatment and surface engineering.
Plenary Lectures
- Massimo Pellizzari: “Impact of heat treatment and nitriding on the properties of additively manufactured tool steel.”
- Watanabe Yoichi: “Trends in surface heattreatment technologies based on nitriding in Japan.”
- Marcel Somers: “Thermally activated martensite formation; an exception or the rule?”
Important Dates
- Deadline for Abstract & full Paper Submission: June 30, 2025.
- Notification of Acceptance: July 15, 2025.
- Deadline for Early Bird Registration: July 31, 2025.
For more information, go to: ifhtse2025.com/index.html
31st IFHTSE World Congress
Cologne, Germany | October 13-15, 2026
Organized by AWT – Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wärmebehandlung + Werkstofftechnik e. V. – more information will be provided when it becomes available.
