Rick Bodnar is currently a part-time metallurgical consultant. He retired as the founding Director of Research & Development for SSAB Americas in August 2019, after being with the company for 14 years. Bodnar began with IPSCO/SSAB in 2005 as Director, Applications Engineering (AE) and New Steel Product Development. In addition to managing the AE group, he led the product development team, which covered three plate mills, and he had responsibility for quality assurance for the company’s five cut-to-length lines. Bodnar became the Director of R&D in 2009, and immediately helped design, construct, equip, staff, and LEED certify a new R&D facility in Montpelier, Iowa. In addition to maintaining responsibility for new product development, he was also responsible for process development and customer technical support. Collectively, he has contributed to the development of more than 150 new products. Prior to joining IPSCO/SSAB, Bodnar spent 28 years with Bethlehem Steel, and later the International Steel Group and Mittal Steel, in a variety of mill metallurgical and research positions, including research management in the areas of product development and applications technology. Bodnar has actively served on the boards of several steel consortia and with technical societies, e.g., he served on the Board of Directors and was Chairman of the Mechanical Working & Steel Processing Division of the predecessor of AIST. He remains active on the AIST Metallurgy: Processing, Products, and Applications Technology; AIST Foundation Kent D. Peaslee Junior Faculty Award; and Hunt-Kelly Outstanding Paper Award Selection Committees. In 2018, he was selected as an AIST Distinguished Member and Fellow. He is also a Fellow of ASM International (2002) and Alpha Sigma Mu (2012). Bodnar is a graduate of Muhlenberg College with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s degree in Engineering in Metallurgy and Materials Science. He also has had executive management training at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and he is a licensed professional engineer. Further, he has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Iowa since 2010. Bodnar has published 112 technical papers and articles, was granted 15 patents, organized 15 technical conferences, and edited seven conference proceedings. He has also won numerous awards, including 25 best paper awards.