Honoring Outstanding Achievements at Midrex

Midrex Research Engineer Katsuma Fujiwara is the first recipient of the 2024 Innovator of the Year award. Katsuma was cited for his deep understanding of thermodynamics and chemical processes that have made him a key contributor in solving complex technological challenges at the Midrex Research and Development Technology Center. Link to story can be found here.

In the dynamic environment of Midrex, certain individuals stand out as beacons of excellence. One such individual is Dawn Craft, our Senior Executive Administrative Assistant and the recipient of the 2024 Iditarod Award. This award, presented annually during our first- quarter company meeting, honors a teammate who exemplifies the qualities of integrity, dependability, initiative, teamwork, accountability, respectfulness, organization, and decisiveness— the very essence of the Iditarod spirit. Link to story can be found here.

Also, five patents were awarded to Midrex engineers in 2024:

• Oxygen injection for reformer feed gas for direct reduction process (Mickie Michishita)
• Direct reduction process utilizing hydrogen (Keith Bastow and Greg Hughes)
• Method and system for heating direct reduced iron between a DRI source and processing equipment for the DRI (Todd Astoria and Jim Lewis)
• System and method for the production of hot briquetted ironcontaining flux and/or carbonaceous material at a direct reduction plant (Mickie Michishita and Todd Astoria)
• Methods and systems for increasing the carbon content of DRI in a reduction furnace (Keith Bastow, Todd Astoria, and Greg Hughes)