Ryan Van Dyke is a 2019 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology. During his studies he was the president of both the American Foundry Society and Climbing Club. Even with his tight schedule, he managed to do two tours as an undergraduate researcher focused on heat treatment and chemistry optimization of austenitic lightweight steels among other studies. Ryan joined Paulo right as the COVID lockdown hit. Even with this handicap, he was not hindered in his ability to acclimate to the world of physical metallurgy and heat treatment technology.

Even with the disadvantage of his employment coinciding with the COVID lockdown, Ryan has become a go-to person for internal answers. This includes activities such as physical metallurgical analyzation for reverse engineering, failure analysis, and problem solving. He is also an energetic resource for assisting quoting feasibility reviews along with plant assistance for job development and handling day to day activities.

Besides his experience being president of university clubs, Ryan has been accepted as an Emerging Professional Board Member of the HTS Board starting in October 2023. As part of this role, Ryan will gain a position in the heat treat community and help drive improvements for the future.

Ryan has been given leadership roles in critical company objectives. He is currently leading a group of internal professionals with respect to process evaluations for all major heat treatment and metal finishing operations within Paulo. This includes groups of plant managers, production managers, quality managers, metallurgists, and engineers who focus on process optimization and reduction in variation. This is a high honor, since he is leading one of only six primary company objectives for 2023.

Ryan will be presenting a paper at this year’s IMAT Conference and Exposition in Detroit. This paper will focus on causes and mitigation strategies concerning quench cracking during heat treatment. Ryan’s additional contributions to the industry include being a member of the NADCA Heat Treat Task Force where he played an active role in the rewriting of the NADCA 207 specifications of “Special Quality Die Steel & Heat Treatment Acceptance Criteria for Die Casting Dies.”

Nominated by: Paulo