SMS group Chief Digital Officer Katja Windt Discusses the Transformative Potential of Data Science in Steel Industry Production
By Anthony Wallace, Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation Intern
Media Inquiries- Digital Communications Manager
On November 2nd, the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation concluded our Fall 2023 Lecture Series by hosting Katja Windt from SMS group GmbH for a Distinguished Lecture exploring the intersection of the metals industry, data science, and energy innovation.
Windt serves as the Chief Digital Officer and Member of the Managing Board of SMS group GmbH (SMS group). Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, SMS group is a global market leader in metallurgical plant engineering with approximately 15,000 employees worldwide, including locations in the United States, South Africa, and many other countries. Leveraging the unique expertise of these employees, the company helps provide the metals industry partners with new perspectives to lay the foundation for aligning value creation, sustainability, and responsibility.
Katja Windt joined SMS group in 2018 with robust training and experience in mechanical engineering and production systems. Following her degree in mechanical engineering at Leibniz University Hannover––including a stay at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a visiting scholar—she completed her doctorate at the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics in 2000. Immediately before joining SMS group, Windt was the President of Jacobs University Bremen (now Constructor University) for four years and successfully restructured the private international university.
In her November 2nd presentation, “Metals Industry Meets Data Science,” Windt explored the challenges facing a decarbonizing steel industry and paths forward using digital tools. As the industry sees increasing trends toward reverse globalization, there is a growing need to transform several aspects of the metals industry, including localizing supply chain capacities, finding alternative supply chain sourcing, and evaluating alternative energy supplies. To face the growing demand for de-carbonization and new technologies, SMS group is considering various factors to serve their customers better and contribute to a sustainable future.
“We need to look at how we can further optimize along the whole value chain, not just decarbonize, but to consider digital topics and optimization in order to achieve the higher, farther, quicker wishes of our customers and to come to what we call learning steel pants toward autonomous plant.”
These autonomous plants have a single goal: to use data to enable production that is as sustainable and resource-efficient as possible. Through SMS DataFactory, a software to convert raw data into information and add value through artificial intelligence and machine learning, Windt demonstrated the transformative potential of data science applications in the steel industry and introduced CMU students to internship and research opportunities to contribute to similar efforts.
Click here to watch Katja Windt’s presentation.
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Katja Windt is Chief Digital Officer and member of the Managing Board of SMS group, global market leader in metallurgical plant engineering with headquarters in Düsseldorf. Around the world, SMS group has approximately 15,000 employees who generated sales of $3.1 billion euros in 2022. Following her degree in mechanical engineering at Leibniz University Hannover - including a stay at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a visiting scholar - she completed her doctorate at the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics in 2000 and subsequently took up the position of head of department at the Institute for Production and Logistics (BIBA) at the University of Bremen. In 2008, Katja Windt was appointed chair of “Global Production Logistics” at Jacobs University (renamed Constructor University in 2022). As a member of a specialist research unit working in the field of autonomous control, she and her team explored new algorithms for planning and controlling production systems. Before joining SMS group in 2018, she was President of Jacobs University Bremen for four years and successfully restructured the private international university. As well as being a member of the German national Academy of Science and Enginnering (acatech) and the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Windt is a member of the Board of Governors of Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and she is active in various supervisory boards in the business and commerce sector. Katja Windt has been distinguished with prestigious awards.