On 14 November 2023, Zaporizhstal hosted the 47th young professional and student science and technology conference dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the enterprise. More than fifty young employees of Zaporizhstal and students of Zaporizhzhia’s higher education institutions took part in the forum. Young professionals presented scientific reports and ideas for improving production.
Traditionally, young steel workers chose the topics of their presentations and developed projects aimed at improving production efficiency. Young professionals presented their findings and innovative approaches to production in four sections: “Engineering”, “Health and Safety”, “Technology and Quality”, and “Student Projects”. The experts from among Zaporizhstal’s employees noted that the reports had been prepared to a high standard and identified the best ideas for implementation in the future, including the implementation of artificial intelligence-based projects, improvement of the local warning system, modernisation of the automatic adjustment system for equipment of rolling mill stands, improvement of welding slag processing technology, etc.
At the end of the conference, Oleksandr Tykhonovskyi, an electrician of the hot rolling shop, won first place in the section “Engineering”, Dmitro Ruban, a diesel locomotive driver from the Operations Shop of the Railway Transport Department, presented the best project in the section “Health and Safety”, Anton Zakharchenko, a forklift driver of the slag processing shop, took first place in the section “Technology and Quality”, and Victoriia Didenko, a student of the Faculty of Economics and Management at Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic National University, won among students.
“Today, keeping abreast is not enough to be successful. You need to be one step ahead. Only a company that can be flexible survives and develops – and this, in turn, is achieved thanks to the initiative at the team level. I am grateful to Zaporizhstal’s young people and students of metallurgy for their innovative ideas, concern for production improvement and great contribution to the stable operation of the works,” said Roman Slobodianiuk, General Director of Zaporizhstal.
The participants who presented the best production ideas were given awards at the end of the conference, and their projects will be developed and implemented at the enterprise.
As a reminder, Zaporizhstal has been holding science and technology conferences and forums for young professionals since 1973. During this time the participants presented more than 21,000 innovations and research papers, many of which were implemented at metallurgical enterprises in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Over the years, more than 25,500 employees of mining and metals companies in Ukraine and abroad have participated in the conferences.