AMAG is set to become a magnificent cathedral

We are meeting today for this conversation because a change is also imminent on the AMAG Scientific and Technological Advisory Board. Univ.-Prof. Peter Uggowitzer (ETH Zürich) will step down from the Board at the end of April 2026 and hand over the chairmanship to Univ.-Prof. Stefan Pogatscher (Technical University of Leoben, MUL).

AluReport: Professor Uggowitzer, you have been a member and chair of the advisory board from the very beginning, since 2008, and you will surely be happy to tell us which tasks and expectations this body is designed to fulfil and how it lives up to them.

Peter Uggowitzer: As the name suggests, we see ourselves responsible for supporting AMAG in both scientific matters and technological challenges. This takes place on various fronts.One primary task is supporting AMAG’s R&D team. Together with management and the R&D leadership, we aim to identify strategically important development areas and, where appropriate, initiate the corresponding science oriented projects. Typically, this is done through supervising doctoral theses at universities, but also on site. This means that AMAG employees can complete a PhD essentially alongside their regular work. In general, every research project involves very close collaboration, and the experimental work is carried out both at the plant and in the university laboratory. This allows both sides, the AMAG R&D group and the university team, to learn a great deal from one another and to benefit mutually.

A second essential task is supporting AMAG’s Technology Team with technically demanding issues that often relate to day to day operations. This works particularly well because both sides have known each other for a long time and maintain excellent, collegial cooperation. Beyond that, we continuously monitor the current scientific literature and immediately share information when­ever new publications or patent applications could be relevant for AMAG.The Scientific and Technological Advisory Board also strives to identify developments and opportunities in the aluminium world at an early stage, to assess them together with AMAG’s Executive Board, and to position them strategically. In this context, the Executive Board receives an annual recommendation letter highlighting those areas of R&D activities where increased engagement including necessary infrastructure investments appears sensible.I would also like to emphasize that from the very beginning it has been our central concern to structure the advisory board in such a way that the full breadth of AMAG relevant expertise is compe­tently represented. With this in mind, the six professors from Technical University of Vienna and Graz Technical University of Leoben, the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials, and ETH Zürich bring diverse scientific focus to the table ranging from recycling and casting technology to alloy and materials development, process engineering, simulation of complex microstructure evolution in forming processes, and the prediction of property profiles. The advisory board therefore brings together both fundamental researchers and experts with a strong applied science orientation.

AluReport: You just highlighted the strong collegial relationship between AMAG’s teams and the universities. Do you see the shared goal of generating insights and the resulting product quality as the key to this productive collaboration?

Peter Uggowitzer: Yes, that is certainly a major factor. But I also believe that our shared passion for solving scientific and technological problems plays an important role. Particularly relevant is the fact that many of the young talents supervised by advisory board members now hold key positions at AMAG. This creates a strong personal and professional connection that facilitates dialogue, accelerates decision making processes, and strengthens cooperation sustainably.Please consider that currently 15 former or active doctoral candidates hold key roles and are significantly involved in AMAG’s strategic and operational leadership. They carry responsibility for central functions including the technical management of AMAG rolling GmbH and AMAG casting GmbH, the leadership of Corporate Technology, and the leadership of the Center for Material Innovation. In addition, many others hold responsible positions across the Group.

AluReport: Looking back to the founding year of the advisory board, in your view, how has the scientific and technological aluminium landscape changed since then?

Peter Uggowitzer: This is an important question in light of the upcoming transition, as my answer will likely reflect a kind of interim assessment. Allow me to give a staggered report.The first point concerns the development of scientific competence at AMAG. Two years ago, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of AluReport, I had the opportunity to illustrate this growth using striking figures and data. I was able to show that through investments in research and development and the recruitment of talented individuals, AMAG has elevated its understanding of aluminium to new heights and can now keep pace with the best in the world. This was not the case to the same extent in 2008.

The second point relates to the evolution of R&D topics. In 2008, AMAG faced the challenge of positioning itself as a high performance and reliable supplier to potential customers. Against this backdrop, strategically relevant topics were discussed at the very first advisory board meetings. A typical example is the development of HDT plate materials (High Damage Tolerant) for the aerospace industry. The objective was to establish, through targeted development measures, the technological and quality prerequisites required to reach the competitive level of established players and to secure long term market viability in the aerospace segment. Not only has this been achieved, today AMAG holds a considerably improved position: thanks to strong market and technological recognition, the company has established itself as a technological pace setter in selected industries through the development of innovative alloy variants.

A third point concerns AMAG’s simulation competence. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, thermodynamic calculations and equilibrium simulations were the dominant tools. The goal was primarily to predict the fundamental relationships between phase diagrams, precipitation processes, and microstructure. These models typically focused on static states or simple temperature paths, mathematically robust, but without reflecting dynamic, process related aspects. Later, simulations increasingly moved beyond equilibrium and began describing the evolution of microstructures during individual process steps. Examples include models for recrystallization and grain growth during hot forming, precipitation models, and the integration of mechanical deformation and temperature histories. These approaches made it possible to understand and predict microstructural changes within real processing windows, such as during rolling or heat treatment phases. However, the models were still mostly separated by process step and not yet fully coupled across the entire production route.

A decisive step forward has been achieved over the past ten years with through process modelling – the transition from isolated process simulations to integrated, continuous models covering all relevant manufacturing steps. This was made possible in particular through the use of the DAMASK software tool, which captures crystal plasticity and microstructure development at the mesoscale and provides an excellent description of microstructural evolution under real processing conditions. I would like to mention here that our advisory board colleague Prof. Raabe is a co-founder and key figure in the development of this important software. This evolution of simulation capabilities has not only deepened the scientific understanding but has also become a decisive competitive factor in industrial practice. Simulation based analyses and measures have proven to be an essential tool for process oriented design and control of cold  and hot rolling operations. They allow process parameters such as rolling speed, degree of deformation, temperature control and cooling conditions to be varied and evaluated in a targeted manner on the computer, assessing their impact on microstructure development and material properties. At the same time, simulation supports the reproducible adjustment of tailored property profiles and contributes significantly to ensuring high product quality in industrial operations. In this way, AMAG’s simulation competence has proven to be a decisive success factor in the rapid and successful commissioning of the new rolling mills. Through targeted, simulation supported process design, key parameters could be optimally set in advance and potential challenges could be identified early. Without this simulation based approach, the short ramp up time and the rapid achievement of stable processes and high product quality would not have been possible.

As a final point regarding your question about the transformation of the scientific technological aluminium landscape, allow me to address the looming shift in scientific leadership from the West to China. To illustrate this, let me cite a striking statistic based on the number of publications on aluminium alloys in the scientific journal Acta Materialia, which we consider the gold standard in our field. In 2008, authors from the USA, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Austria collectively published 435 contributions, while only 60 publications came from China. By 2025, however, the number of Chinese contributions had already risen to 315 - an increase by a factor of more than five - while the number of publications from the Western countries mentioned increased only moderately to 495. It is to be expected that this trend will intensify, as China, unlike the USA and Europe, continues to fund aluminium research in a targeted and substantial manner, considering it strategically important. In view of this development, swift yet far sighted action is required. It would be fatal, especially in times of high cost pressure as we are currently experiencing to cut spending on research and development. This warning applies equally to public institutions, such as university funding and the budgets of research funding agencies, and to the companies concerned.

AluReport: Professor Pogatscher, you are taking over the chairman­ship of the advisory board this year. Professor Uggowitzer has just described the shifts in aluminium research in recent years. What should we be preparing for?

Stefan Pogatscher: Although the global centre of gravity in aluminium research has shifted noticeably towards Asia, as mentioned, the long term strategy of AMAG reflected in the advisory board ensures that AMAG remains at the forefront in terms of research quality. For example, the top journal mentioned above awards the globally most prestigious prize for young researchers in metallic materials, the Acta Student Award. In March, this award will be presented in the USA to Dr. Philip Aster for part of his doctoral work supervised jointly with us. On the one hand, this highlights the high scientific excellence and visibility of AMAG’s research. On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the award winning work is of high industrial relevance and not, as is often the case with scientific awards, of a purely academic nature. Specifically, the project brings Cu containing 6xxx alloys into entirely new realms of strength and formability, thus creating the foundation for future AMAG products.This combination of technological relevance and scientific excellence also strengthens other areas, such as attracting outstanding talent and AMAG’s perception as a premium producer among competitors and customers. Internationally, there is close attention to what is happening in Ranshofen. Research activity in China will likely continue to grow, challenging AMAG’s scientific technological adaptability. Furthermore, the rapidly changing framework conditions require ever shorter response times. Strengthening and above all efficiently leveraging AMAG’s scientific technological excellence is therefore a key factor through which the advisory board can contribute to competitiveness, especially in the medium and long term. The advisory board also acts as a strategic early warning system, ensuring that limited resources are deployed as precisely as possible, and as an acceleration mechanism enabling rapid responses to new technological questions.

AluReport: Which overarching capability within the scientific technological expertise you just described will, in your view, be most decisive in meeting these challenges?

Stefan Pogatscher: To respond effectively to change, AMAG must rely on a broadly and well trained workforce. From a scientific technological perspective, this means that a solid and, above all, universal foundational education is particularly valuable in times of transformation. Strategic networks with partner universities must therefore be maintained and expanded. These efforts, however, will only be successful if the expertise can be applied quickly enough. In the past, fundamental research often required considerable time. I believe we are at the beginning of a massively positive transformation, and AMAG is well prepared for it. Professor Uggowitzer has already described the systematic expansion of simulation capabilities in detail.With simulation, foundational knowledge can be channelled into rapid responses to technological challenges. Crucial to harnessing the fruits of consistent capability development in the years ahead is the integration of diverse simulation tools into user friendly environments. I have observed that this process has already gained momentum at AMAG.It is essential to understand that many simulations - key word “digital twin” - have been developed specifically for AMAG products and processes, forming a unique data resource. For speed and efficiency, it will be decisive to further strengthen the use of AI and machine learning and seamlessly combine them with physics based simulation expertise. Only the combination of AMAG’s now easily accessible data resources and highly trained personnel enables rapid, and above all accurate, responses to complex questions, supported by predictive models and live data analyses for flexible process control, ultimately ensuring cost efficient production.

AluReport: Do you have concrete proposals on how AMAG’s R&D activities should continue in the medium and long term?

Stefan Pogatscher: Medium and long term R&D activities should focus on technological relevance, speed, and decarbonization. First, the focus must be on recycling friendly alloys that can robustly incorporate low grade scrap while still enabling demanding property profiles. This includes widening tolerance windows and digitally coupling alloy design with process control to optimize properties such as formability and residual stress freedom in the final product.Second, we must continue to pursue cost efficient process design. Intelligently controlled melting processes, casting procedures, rolling schedules, and heat treatment cycles are examples of processes that can be further optimized through integrated, physics based simulations and ML supported systems to reduce energy consumption, scrap, and throughput times. Third, predictive maintenance can be expanded, with improved forecasts for equipment failures and extended service life. Finally, I would like to mention the rapidly advancing field of embodied AI, for example humanoid robots for tasks that are ergonomically demanding, repetitive, or safety critical. Given these developments, it becomes clear that AMAG with its excellent physics based knowledge base, often condensed into simulations, the existing data resources and AI, has all the essential tools for an acceleration system that enables “the right” technological decision in a short time. However, successful implementation is only possible with qualified personnel who can interpret the results. In light of declining engineering graduation rates and shrinking research budgets, including for doctoral projects, I propose developing a risk management strategy to ensure rapid responsiveness.

AluReport: The evolution of the advisory board since 2008 has already been discussed. Could you give us some insight into your personal experience with the board? Will you set new priorities as chairman to reflect the changing framework conditions?

Stefan Pogatscher: My experience with the advisory board goes back to first contact in 2009 as a young doctoral student and extends from guest to member as a professor. So I know the board well, and I look forward to the challenge of taking over the chair. I had the opportunity to help shape the strategic development of a globally leading aluminium research unit at Technical University of Leoben (MUL), and I see this as a blueprint for a successful cooperation with high transfer potential. Right now, maintaining this level is crucial. Long term models such as the Christian Doppler Laboratory launched in 2025 are valuable tools for this. To remain competitive with Asia in research infrastructure, we created the Aluminium Microstructure Analysis Gainhub (AMAGh) (AluReport 03/2023), a platform combining high resolution microstructure analytics with aluminium expertise while simultaneously providing long term talent development. Although I am convinced that AMAG’s current scientific technological depth is well aligned and should continue to grow, I also aim to introduce new accents. Specifically, I will work to place even more emphasis on speed. I have already highlighted this in my remarks on integrating fundamental research, simulation, and AI. Connectivity and breadth are essential resilience factors not only in this context.Universality and diversity should also be reflected in the composition of the advisory board, potentially beyond established specialist fields, while always keeping an eye on expansion potential towards markets and customers, especially as development partner. More­over, in my view, strong international partnerships and collaborations are required to address overarching, high risk research topics to keep pace with competition from China. It is essential to preserve a shared spirit, one that carries the enthusiasm for aluminium research from the advisory board into all areas of AMAG’s R&D and technology organization.

AluReport: Professor Uggowitzer, in light of your long experience, may I conclude by asking: With what wish or hope for AMAG’s future development would you like to bring your work on the advisory board to a close?

Peter Uggowitzer: Allow me to conclude with a metaphor expressing my hope that the Scientific and Technological Advisory Board will continue to play a guiding and inspiring role in the strategic development of R&D activities and thus in AMAG’s sustainable and successful growth.In the Middle Ages, cathedrals were built over generations. The people who worked on them knew that they might never see the finished structure. None­theless, they worked with pride, precision, and dedication - not for short term success but for something greater. Every master builder took responsibility for what he passed on: solid foundations, clean transitions, clear plans.The cathedral did not stand in the end because someone once invested extraordinary effort, but because each generation was willing to continue building with the same care and passion.

May AMAG become such a magnificent and enduring cathedral, preserved for generations to come.