Strengthening International Collaboration: Nippon Steel Representative Visits the University of Miskolc

A representative from Nippon Steel, one of Japan’s leading steel manufacturers, visited the University of Miskolc as part of the growing professional collaboration launched in 2022. This is the second visit from Nippon Steel colleague and welcomed Dr. Masahiko SATO, General Manager and Head of the Automotive Steel and Sheet Metal Forming Division at Nippon Steel.

The earlier visit involved a delegation of four specialists from the hydrogen-steels research field, showing the wide scope of mutual research interests. Since the cooperation was initiated at the 2022 International Institute of Welding (IIW) Annual Meeting and Conference in Tokyo, where the Institute of Materials Science and Materials Technology established professional contact with Nippon Steel. Since then, the Institute has been engaged in ongoing research on specialized hydrogen-transport steels including comprehensive materials testing activities.

During this latest meeting, the focus was on automotive steel developments and sheet metal forming research.

Dr. Zsolt Lukács, Director of the Institute and an expert in sheet metal forming and AutoForm simulation technologies, opened the meeting with an introduction to the Institute, presented the institute’s current research activities, development projects, and technical capabilities. He also held extensive technical discussions with Dr. Sato on the automotive steel and sheet metal forming research directions.

This was followed by a presentation from Professor Dr. Gabriella Bognár, Vice-Dean for International Affairs at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Informatics, University of Miskolc. She introduced the faculty educational programs, international collaborations, academia–industry cooperation models, student initiatives, and major research and development activities.

After the meeting with the Vice-Dean, Dr. Lukács guided Dr. Sato on an institute laboratory tour, introducing the Sheet Metal Forming Laboratory and the Materials Testing Laboratory, providing an overview of the institute experimental infrastructure and research capabilities.

This visit further strengthened the partnership between Nippon Steel and the University of Miskolc, reinforcing their collaboration and opening new pathways for future cooperation in automotive steel research and sheet metal forming.