Established in 1961 in honor of Charles W. Briggs, the award is presented to the author of a paper selected by the AIST Steelmaking Technology Division and judged by the AIST Electric Steelmaking Technology Committee to be the best technical paper submitted.
The award recognizes the paper “Optimization of Fe Feedstocks for EAF Steelmaking,” to which Guschall contributed as a co-author. The paper focuses on the optimization of iron-bearing feedstocks for steelmaking in electric arc furnaces. It highlights the growing importance of scrap quality for efficient, economical, and CO₂-reduced EAF steelmaking.
The paper shows that while steel scrap plays a central role in the transition toward more climate-friendly steel production, increasing levels of residual elements such as copper, nickel, chromium and tin, as well as contamination from non-metallic components, can significantly affect the operation of the electric arc furnace. Targeted improvement and processing of scrap quality can help increase yield, reduce energy demand, lower the use of fluxes and improve the CO₂ footprint of steel production.
The award underlines the relevance of this topic for the future of the steel industry. Sustainable and competitive EAF steelmaking will increasingly depend on how effectively scrap qualities can be measured, evaluated, and specifically optimized.
Published July 2026