For the second time in Sweden, the European Powder Metallurgy Congress & Exhibition, held at MalmöMässan, Malmö, Sweden, from 29 September to 02 October 2024 was a resounding success!
Malmö, Sweden’s third-largest city, is a vibrant coastal hub known for its blend of modern architecture and historic charm. With its scenic waterfront, cutting-edge green initiatives, and cultural diversity, Malmö offers a rich mix of innovation and tradition. Its proximity to Copenhagen via the iconic Öresund Bridge makes it a dynamic gateway to both Scandinavia and Europe.
This event brought together leading experts, researchers, and professionals from the powder metallurgy (PM) industry for three days filled with cutting-edge insights, networking, and collaboration.
A large number of abstracts from across the Powder Metallurgy community enabled a positive number of technical sessions and attracted delegates and visitors from several key end-user sectors, resulting in an active three days of presentations, discussions and networking opportunities.
The fact that this event covers all subjects and represents all areas of powder metallurgy helped to attract an international audience from over 45 countries, including Europe, Asia, North and Sud Americas, with 708 participants.
The technical programme of the Euro PM2024 event attracted 249 Oral and Poster presentations, dispatched in 49 technical sessions by the TPC, chaired by Adj. Prof. Dr. PhD. Susanne Norgren (Sandvik and Lund University – Sweden) and Mr Alexander Angré (Linde Gas – Sweden)
EPMA thanked all the members of the Technical Programme Committee for their work in reviewing over 180 manuscripts by inviting them to a gastronomic dinner at the Årstiderna restaurant on Monday evening, in the historic city centre of Malmö.
The event started Sunday evening with a lively Welcome Reception, sponsored by Höganäs, where attendees mingled, networked, and enjoyed drinks, canapés and lounge music. It was a perfect opportunity to meet peers and kick off the congress in style.
On Monday morning, the Congress opened with Plenary session chaired by Mrs Caroline Larsson (Manager for Product management at Höganäs AB, Sweden) and Mr Jim Shipley (Manager for Business Development at Quintus Technologies AB, Sweden). They were then followed by Mr Lionel Aboussouan, EPMA Executive Director, who presented EPMA’s general and latest activities, and finally Mr Ralf Carlström, EPMA President, who presented an overview of the Status and Trends in the European PM industry.
Two Keynote speakers shared their expertise on current industry challenges and future opportunities in the PM sector: Dr Henrik Karlsson (Volvo Group) with presentation “The journey towards sustainability – how can powder technology support the green transformation?” and Mrs Annika Roos (Jernkontoret) with presentation “Steel and metal powder in the Swedish transition – past, present and future”
Following the presentations, the plenary session continued with the presentation of the 2024
awards with the following winners:
EPMA Thesis Competition, sponsored by HILTI, the winner in the PhD category was Dr Bruno Guimarães (University of Minho) for his thesis on ” Multi-Functional WC-Co cutting tool – a Multi-Material Engineering Design”; and, in the Masters category, Mr Alessandro De Nardi (Politecnico di Torino) for his work on “Development of CoNi-based High Entropy Superalloys”.
For its second edition, the sustainability trophy was awarded to hGears, Italy.
This year’s Fellowship Award was presented to Prof. Dipl.Ing. Dr. Christian Gierl-Mayer, TU Wien, Austria and the Distinguished Service Award was delivered to Ms Caroline Larsson, Höganäs AB, Sweden.
The Keynote papers awards, presented this year to the six following winners:
- Dr Shandra Sainz (CEIT, Spain)
Sinterability Assessment And Microstructural Development In Metal Binder Jetting
- Dr Lars Wimbert (GKN Powder Metallurgy Engineering GmbH, Germany)
Optimizing The Production Process Of NdFeB Magnets
- Dr Solange Vivès (Aubert & Duval, France)
ABD®-1000AM: A Highly Processible Superalloy For Additive Manufacturing, Computationally Designed For 1000°C Applications
- Dr Damien Sicard (Sintermat, France)
Toward A Spark Plasma Sintering Digital Twin Using A Deep Learning-Based Approach
- Dr Pietro De Gaudenzi Gian (F.I.L.M.S. S.p.A., Italy)
Functionally Graded Hardmetal Systems For Applications Requiring Corrosion And Abrasion Resistance
- Mr Aditya Gopaluni (VTT Finland, Finland)
A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Study Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Binder Jetting And CNC Machining Processes
2024 also saw the return of the prestigious EPMA Powder Metallurgy Component Awards, where innovations in PM are showcased to the entire industry. The 2024 winners are:
- Additive Manufacturing – HIPERFLOW – 3D printed Hydraulic Manifold for Landing Gear from Aidro, Ma Group, Chalmers University, Hoganas Ab
- Metal Injection Moulding – Tip Core from Parmaco Metal Injection Molding AG
- PM Structural (including Hard Materials and Diamond Tools parts) – Evans and Cotton wedges from AMES Group Sintering, S.A.
After the Opening Plenary session, the Euro PM2024 Exhibition opened with over 65 exhibiting companies, showcasing the newest technologies, materials, and services in powder metallurgy and representing all parts of the PM supply chain. New this year, the Exhibition Visitors had access to a technical session on Monday afternoon. 179 participants took advantage of the opportunity to visit the exhibition and talk to the exhibitors.
Open to all attendees during the technical session breaks, the successful Industry Corner in the Exhibition Hall, provided opportunities for exhibiting companies to showcase their skills and innovations.
On Monday evening, the Posters reception took place with the Peter Brewin Poster Award presented this year to Dr Farnoosh Forouzan from Höganas AB, for research on “Effect of ultrasonic tempering in comparison with thermal tempering on hardened high carbon PM samples”
A returning feature was the “PM for Beginners”, held again after a few years. Dr Vladislav Kruzhanov (PM Consulting) gave a general overview of the history and features of powder metallurgy processes for less experienced participants gathered on Tuesday in the Industry Corner of the Exhibition.
The Annual Congress Gala dinner took place on Tuesday evening at the Slagthuset; an iconic building with more than 100 years of history in the heart of Malmö city centre. The pre-dinner entertainment was provided by a local band singing the best of Swedish music, including of course the hits of ABBA. This was followed by traditional Swedish fare and excellent networking between more than four hundred attendees.
Running in parallel of the Euro PM2024, the Young Engineers event welcomed 16 students during a two-days programme on Monday & Tuesday. Aimed at helping to foster and develop the next generation of PM academics and industrialists, the programme included lectures on PM, lunches and dinner networking, a tour of the exhibition and the visit of Max IV Laboratory in Lund.
EPMA would like to thank all attendees, speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and event partners for making this yet another successful event. If you have any feedback to provide, please complete our survey here.
Full information on Euro PM2024, including photos from throughout the event can be found here.
The attention of EPMA now turns to the organisation of Euro PM2025, taking place in Glasgow, UK, September 14-17 2025.