News from the Metals Innovation Ecosystem

The Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2) is excited to be working with a great set of companies and strategic partners in helping support the connections across our innovation ecosystem.

Below, you'll find a few things we've been working on the past month and check out our updates for more! MI2 Holds First Meeting of Expanded Board

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On Tuesday, May 30th, MI2 hosted its first meeting of its expanded board in Louisville. After the board meeting, several board members took a tour of Nucor's Brandenburg facility. MI2 CEO Vijay Kamineni, Director of Strategic Initiatives Chris Conrardy, and General Counsel and Board Secretary/Treasurer Laura Hagan joined the meeting. MI2's board members are Wieland North America President of Recycling Matt Bedingfield (board chair), Logan Aluminum President Mike Buckentin, Western Kentucky University President Tim Caboni, Novelis Director of Strategy Zak Chehab, River Metals Recycling General Manager Bob Eviston, North American Stainless President and CEO Cristobal Fuentes, and Tri-Arrows Aluminum President and CEO Henry Gordinier, along with Ex-Officio Board members Monique Kuykendoll Quarterman (Executive Director of KY Innovation), Terry Samuel (President of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation), and Rick Smith (Vice President of External Relations and Economic Partnerships for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education). Bus to Business at Logan Aluminum

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On May 12th, MI2 was excited to help support our second pilot project in partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, helping bring their Bus to Business program to the metals industry. Logan Aluminum hosted 30 high school students from Todd County. The students toured the facility, participated in virtual reality training on safety hazards and fork truck driving, and more! This followed our partnership on an April tour for students to a Nucor facility. We are thrilled to grow the MI2/Kentucky Chamber partnership and look forward to working with them on expanding their Bus to Business’ program’s desire to connect more students to careers in the metals industry. MI2 CEO Joins Eastern Kentucky University Manufacturing and Engineering Industry Advisory Board

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Earlier this month, our CEO, Vijay Kamineni, had the privilege of participating in the inaugural meeting of the Eastern Kentucky University Manufacturing and Engineering Industry Advisory Board. It's an honor to be part of this esteemed advisory board and see the collaboration between academia and industry around advancing manufacturing engineering. What New Equipment Does Your Company Need for Metals R&D? MI2 helps bring partners together to apply for federal grants to support Kentucky's metals industry. The federal government currently has unprecedented funding available that could help metals companies, innovation entrepreneurs, and higher ed partners work together on new research and development projects. So, is there a new type of equipment your company needs for R&D? If so, MI2's educational partners can join efforts to apply for funding to help bring the equipment you need to a research center in Kentucky so your company could work with partners to solve your R&D challenges. This is just one way MI2 is helping industry and partners collaborate to bring more federal funding to Kentucky to make Kentucky the preeminent destination for metals innovation. Interested? Please contact MI2's Chris Conrardy to discuss your R&D equipment needs at chris.conrardy@mi2ky.org. Now, Follow Us on Twitter and Facebook! We are also very excited to announce that MI2 is officially on Facebook and Twitter. If you’re on the platforms, give us a follow:Twitter @MI2KentuckyFacebook @MI2Kentucky And a reminder that you can follow daily updates as well from MI2 at our LinkedIn page.

We look forward to connecting with all of you across the social world! Together, let’s bring MI2's mission to interested folks we know and create more connections across Kentucky's metals innovation ecosystem, and beyond.