AEC Webinars
The AEC offers webinars aimed at educating engineers and designers on the advantages of and practical considerations for designing with aluminum extrusions.
Upcoming Webinars
Leveraging Today's Extrusion Technology: Hollows and More!
SAE Webinar - January 24, 2024 | 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (1:00 p.m. Central Time)
Presenter: Mark Butterfield; President, Manufacturing: Metal Exchange Corporation
This presentation goes beyond extrusion fundamentals, addressing how to leverage the ability to create more-complex profiles that "put the metal where it is needed" to meet particularly demanding vehicle applications. A particular focus will be on complex hollow shapes, particularly multi-void hollows, which can be engineered for a combination of crush resistance, strength, light weight, thermal management and more. The presentation will emphasize some of the more interesting uses of multi-void hollows in today's vehicles, particularly BEVs, and discuss the alloy, design and processing considerations necessary to ensure success.
Presenter Bio
Mark Butterfield is President, Manufacturing for Metal Exchange Corporation (MEC), a global non-ferrous manufacturer, trader, distributor, and scrap processor. As President, Manufacturing, Mark has responsibility for MEC's various manufacturing operations, Including Pennex Aluminum, a tier-one automotive supplier focused on multi-material lightweight solutions.
Mark has over 30 years' experience in complex automotive structural and non-structural 6000-series aluminum extrusions, post processing and their applications. His background includes:
- Profile Design, Development & Optimization
- Extrusion Tool Design & Optimization
- Aluminum Billet Casting & Metallurgy
- Advanced Aluminum Extrusion Process & Equipment
- Post-Secondary Operations; CNC Fabrication, Bending, Welding and Advanced Assembly
In addition to his MEC responsibilities, Mr. Butterfield is quite active within the Aluminum Extruders Council; he is currently Vice Chairman of the Council, in addition to serving as Chairman of the Automotive Team, Vice Chairman of Die & Tooling Team, Vice-Chairman of ET '24, and a member of the Industry Promotion Steering Committee. He is also a frequent contributor to Light Metal Age. Mark's industry passion extends to the presentation of webinars, and seminars dedicated to the advancement of aluminum extrusion processes and applications.
Aluminum Extrusions and the Challenge of Decarbonization
This webinar will explore aluminum's - and specifically aluminum extrusions' - impact on GHG: what drives GHG, and what strategies the architect can employ to minimize that impact - both relative to embodied carbon and to operational aspects of the building.
Successful Application of Aluminum Extrusions for Automotive Components
The AEC will be conducting a one-hour introductory webinar, hosted by Design News, for those that are relatively new to aluminum extrusions in the automotive industry. The use of extruded aluminum shapes in North American light vehicles has more than doubled in a decade to over 50 pounds per vehicle. Today aluminum extrusions are used for crush cans, trim members, battery enclosures, rocker sections, and more — each with a unique set of performance requirements. This webinar will explore how engineers are optimizing performance in new applications and how your material decisions can minimize embedded carbon in the resulting parts.
Finding A Path to Decarbonization with Aluminum Extrusions: A Panel Discussion
This panel discussion, led by AEC's building and energy code consultant, Tom Culp, Ph.D., will assess aluminum extrusions' impact on GHG – the source and extent of that impact. More importantly it will explore both strategies that can be employed to reduce the embodied carbon of aluminum (particularly extrusions) and the practical challenges of fully realizing those strategies– both relative to embodied carbon and to operational aspects of the building. Moderator: Thomas Culp, PhD, owner, Birch Point Consulting, La Crosse, WI; Panelists: Chris Devadas, Director of Technology, Hydro Aluminum Metals USA; Bennett McEvoy, President, Western Extrusions, Dallas, TX; Patrick Muessig, VP of Global Technical Operations, Azon USA, Kalamazoo, MI.