Jeremy Lipshaw is the engineer of Product Development at Aalberts surface technologies. Jeremy graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering. Later, he received his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

At Aalberts surface technologies, Jeremy has worked on a large variety of research projects that include: optimizing furnace and quench process parameters; identifying the heat treatment processing envelope of certain steels; developing novel heat treatments; and thoroughly characterizing missing material properties required for niche applications. This work requires critical thinking skills, since reading scientific literature and developing rigorous projects is essential. Self-motivation is key to Jeremy’s work in seeing projects through to the end, as well as presentation skills to successfully market ideas to the industry.

Jeremy is leading efforts to decarbonize and reduce emissions in specific processes and equipment in the U.S. heat treat industry. Jeremy’s paper, “The Underutilized Competitive Advantage: Benefiting from Life Cycle Analyses,” published in 2020 in the AFS Proceedings of the 124th Metalcasting Congress, deals with how the metal casting industry, and heat treat processes subsequently, can benefit from sustainability metrics such as life cycle analyses.

Related to that publication, Jeremy acts as a liaison between the University of Michigan and the heat treating industry. Jeremy identified how the metal casting industry does not have up to date cycle information, effectively removing products from any sustainability consideration. Jeremy distributed a request to multiple universities, asking them to research and compile the life cycle information for ductile iron and austempered ductile iron.

Led by the University of Michigan, the Ductile Iron Society and American Foundry Society began cost-sharing a $100k project that is currently acquiring this information and comparing the product’s sustainability to competitors. This project is expected to be completed in upcoming months.

Besides his work in sustainability (Jeremy’s true passion), Jeremy is involved with commercial heat treat and metallurgy research. Jeremy worked at a prototyping ductile iron foundry called Joyworks. Working his way up from Foundry Engineering intern to principal engineer, Jeremy helped to manage multiple internal research projects and one major research initiative that was funded by LIFT (Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense, industry, and academia.

Jeremy’s work is complex with financial, equipment, and cultural issues to resolve. His projects are multi-faceted, requiring him to have excellent project management skills, communication skills, and the ability to see the big picture. Jeremy is vice-chair of the research arm of the Ductile Iron Society and specializes in light-weighting and cost reduction projects using austempering and other heat treatment processes. He is a rising star in the heat treat community, and Heat Treat Today's 40 Under 40 Class of 2022 will help him to have a deeper impact on the overall heat treat industry.