Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works triumphantly completed its participation in the International Innovation & Invention Competition "IIIC - 2021", held last week in Taipei (Taiwan). All the developments presented by MMK were awarded gold medals.

More than 1,000 inventors from 11 countries took part in IIIC in 2021 and submitted 476 projects. MMK, as part of the collective presentation of Russian inventors and innovators organised by the International Innovation Club "Archimedes", presented five developments at the forum, each of which won a gold medal.

One of them is passive exoskeletons that can be used in key industries. Russia's first industrial exoskeletons were created at MMK management’s initiative for representatives of the most labour-intensive metallurgical specialties, such as coke oven battery workers and blast furnace shop miners. These devices make it easier to move loads, increase physical capabilities of a person and make the work safer. After successful tests at MMK's production site, the exoskeletons are now entering the market as a commercial product.

 Another innovative development of MMK, which was awarded a gold medal at a contest in Taiwan, is the "Method of producing high-strength cold-resistant sheet steel from low-alloy steel" (Magstrong cryogenic structural steel). The main areas of application of such steel sheets are tankers and tanks for transportation of liquefied gases, static equipment, gas separation units and other elements of cryogenic equipment. At the same time, by providing such products, MMK helps to develop the use of LNG technology, which contributes to the reduction of the carbon footprint.

 Another development under the MAGSTRONG brand is MAGSTRONG W600 high-strength structural steel. It is a high-strength cold-resistant low-alloy steel sheet. Its main areas of application are for the construction of equipment and structures for the Far North and the Arctic; hoisting and handling equipment; construction, agricultural and railway equipment; loaded welded structures; platforms and bodies of heavy-load quarry and shaft-boring equipment and crane structures.

Two other MMK developments presented at the contest concern production of high-strength cold-rolled steel for the automotive industry. These are rolled products of various strength classes from dual-phase ferritic-martensitic steel, as well as cold-rolled high-strength sheets from low-alloy steel. MMK is the leading Russian producer of automotive plates, so many of the plant’s high-tech developments are intended precisely for the automotive industry.

Innovative activity is a priority direction of scientific and technical development for MMK Group. And among the key areas of innovation is the development and implementation of new types of products. The successful implementation of innovative product development programmes at MMK became possible in many respects due to the new technological capabilities of the modern production complexes built at the plant in the last decade. These possibilities together with experience and professionalism of the plant's researchers enable the development of the latest types of steel products capable of satisfying even future customer requirements.