Biography
Prof. Hongfa (Henry) Hu
Prof. Hongfa (Henry) Hu
Automotive & Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, Canada
Title: University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario Canada N9B3P4
Abstract: 
Iron is the main component of the earth's core, the most abundant element on the earth (about 35%), and it is relatively high in the sun and other stars. Also, it is a common and cheap metal in the manufacturing industry. Recently, with the rapid development of electric vehicles, more and more automotive companies are willing to develop new lightweight material for electric motors used in electrical vehicles. The iron–containing aluminum alloys can be considered as a good candidate, due to its great strength and electricity performance. This review describes various properties of aluminum-iron alloys including mechanical properties and electrical conductivities, as well their relation to the Fe contents. Also, metallurgical aspects of aluminum-iron alloys, including phase diagrams, equilibrium and non-equilibriun solidification, microstructure development, and castability. The further research and development work are outlined in terms of developing aluminum-iron alloys for some potential and value-added automotive applications.
Biography: 
Dr. Hongfa (Henry) Hu is a tenured full Professor at Department of Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering, University of Windsor. He was a senior research engineer at Ryobi Die Casting (USA), and a Chief Metallurgist at Meridian Technologies, and a Research Scientist at Institute of Magnesium Technology.

He received degrees from University of Toronto (Ph.D., 1996), University of Windsor (M.A.Sc., 1991), and Shanghai University of Technology (B.A.Sc., 1985). He was a NSERC Industrial Research Fellow (1995-1997). His publications (over 150 papers) are in the area of magnesium alloys, composites, metal casting, computer modelling, and physical metallurgy. He was a Key Reader of the Board of Review of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, a Committee Member of the Grant Evaluation Group for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, National Science Foundation (USA) and Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly. He has served as a member or chairman of various committees for CIM-METSOC, AFS, and USCAR.

The applicant’s current research is on materials processing and evaluation of light alloys and composites. His recent fundamental research is focussed on transport phenomena and mechanisms of solidification, phase transformation and dissolution kinetics. His applied research has included development of magnesium automotive applications, cost-effective casting processes for novel composites, and control systems for casting processes. His work on light alloys and composites has attracted the attention of several automotive companies.