The Regional Championship took place online for a 24-hour period on 27 November 2019. This year’s steelChallenge attracted 2,003 participants representing more than 60 companies and about 240 academic institutions from 57 countries. The 14th edition saw an increase in participation of 5% compared to the previous year.

There were over 69,000 attempts with the combined electric arc furnace steelmaking and secondary steelmaking simulation with 3,460 successful runs completed.

The top placed people in the ‘Industry’ and ‘Student’ categories will be invited with expenses paid to compete for the title of World Champion in London, UK, on 21 April 2020. Qualifying for the World Championship are the first-place people in each of the five regions.

The award ceremony will be held in the presence of leaders of the global steel industry. All Finalists will be awarded certificates, cash prizes and an iPad in addition to their trip. The World Champions in both categories will also be awarded a World Champion certificate, an additional cash prize and the steelChallenge trophy.

steelChallenge-14 utilised steeluniversity’s electric arc furnace steelmaking and secondary steelmaking in a combined simulation. Competitors were tasked to produce a grade of steel meeting technical requirements at the lowest cost per tonne. The simulation used a grade of steel specifically designed for steelChallenge-14.

Competitors could undertake unlimited ‘runs’ of the simulation during the 24-hour competition period. A ‘run’ was concluded when the simulation had completed the set time, the result had been registered in the competition database, and the competitor had received a confirmation of successful completion.

The best ‘run’ of each competitor was to determine their score and placement in the Regional Championship.

The World Championship Finalists are: