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Jerry Kucharczyk. PhD, Receives Prestigious Ray H. Witt Metallurgy Award

The bi-annual award, given by the Advanced Casting Research Center of WPI, recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the metal casting industry.

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Jerry Kucharczyk, PhD, past president of ATEK Metal Technologies, has been posthumously awarded the Ray H. Witt Metallurgy Award from the Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC) of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The biannual award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the metal casting industry. 

Kucharczyk’s family received the Witt award at a formal ceremony on June 3, 2015, during ACRC’s bi-annual meeting on the WPI campus. Kucharcyzk, who passed away in November, was recognized for his leadership in the aluminum casting industry, the resources he invested to broaden the technology base, the techniques and concepts he introduced to advance the field, and his mentoring of future talent.

“Jerry was a great business leader, a wonderful colleague and, most of all, a very dear friend,” said Mark Osmanski, president and chief executive officer of ATEK Companies, Inc. “In the time he was with us, he had a profound impact on our company and employees.  He consistently set high standards for himself and the company, and always delivered.  While we miss him very much, we are committed to continuing to build on his successes, as we know he would expect nothing less.”

Few people have had a more far-reaching impact in the world of metal technologies than Kucharczyk, who spent more than 30 years directing metal casting operations in Europe, North America and the Middle East before joining ATEK Companies in 2011.  A native of Poland, Kucharczyk received his PhD in Materials Science from the Warsaw University of Technology in Warsaw, Poland.

The Witt award was established in 1999 in memory of Ray H. Witt, one of the founding members of ACRC and a prominent player in the global casting industry, and commemorates Witt’s outstanding contributions to the industry.

About Advanced Casting Research Center

The ACRC is an academic-industry partnership headquartered on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass. Built on the university’s strengths and focused on helping industry solve technical issues, the center provides a collaborative environment in which members, faculty, and students discuss challenges in the metal casting industry, specifically in the areas of light metals, non-ferrous alloys, and semi-solid processing. 

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Perspective Program. There are more than 30 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.

For more information about WPI and ACRC visit: <link http: www.wpi.edu _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>www.wpi.edu/+acrc.

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