Held May 23-25 at Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Forge Fair 2023 – hosted by the Forging Industry Association (FIA) – is North America’s largest event dedicated exclusively to the forging industry. Forging professionals from across the globe attend to see new products, make purchasing decisions and network with each other. No other event enables suppliers and forgers to connect with more qualified potential customers.

This year’s show promises to educate and entertain. Industrial Heating/FORGE will be there (stop by booth #843 to see us), and there are several interesting events you might want to attend. If you want more Forge Fair coverage, click here to see our preview – complete with schedule, floorplan, exhibitor list and show profiles.

Image courtesy of Hunington Convention Center Website

Technical Presentation Program

Forge Fair 2023 includes a robust technical program, with nearly 60 presentations scheduled May 23-24. Running 2:10-4:20 p.m. on May 23 and 9:30 a.m.-11:50 a.m. and 2:10-4:30 p.m. on May 24, several exhibitors will discuss the latest technological developments. Presenting companies include: Ajax/CECO/Erie Press, Ajax TOCCO, Campbell Press Repair, Condat Corp., Dango & Dienenthal, Finkl Steel, Fives North American Combustion, Forging Equipment Solutions, Gerb, Gerdau, Inductoheat, Lasco, oelheld US, Onex Inc., Schuler Group, Scientific Forming Technologies, SMS group, Superior Die Set, Transvalor Americas Corp., Weld Mold and more.

Career Day and Competition

Thursday, May 25 is Forge Fair Career Day, which is for students and educators only. Students have the opportunity to explore the forging industry, learn about co-ops and internships, and meet with potential employers. All students are encouraged to bring their resumes with them to hand out to potential employers during their time at the show. FIA will provide a list of students with contact information to all FIA member exhibitors following the event.

Meanwhile, 11 teams have already signed up to compete in the first-ever FIERF Forging Competition. Teams of up to four students and one faculty advisor will work to forge two tuning forks to an assigned frequency. The FIA Technical Committee will judge the submissions, and the winners will be announced on May 25 following the opening keynote presentation. Awards will be presented to the overall winner, team closest to the frequency and People’s Choice (voted on by Forge Fair attendees).

Women’s Luncheon

On Wednesday, May 24, Forge Fair will host a Women in Forging Luncheon. Led by JJ DiGeronimo, a woman in tech and author of The Working Woman’s GPS, Accelerate Your Impact and SEEKING, the event will include roundtable discussions with group participation. Women that attend this session will discuss strategies to:

• Highlight self-imposed boundaries
• Create time for new commitments
• Identify common career obstacles
• Showcase your accomplishments and successes
• Evaluate future projects and requests
• Identify mentors and sponsors

Keynote Speaker

If you like the television show “Forged in Fire,” you won’t want to miss the keynote speaker on Thursday, May 25 at 8:00 a.m. Ben Abbott is a nine-time “Forged in Fire” champion who began making blades after seeing arms and armor in museums and castles around England when he was 13. He has firsthand experience with the pressure and challenges “Forged in Fire” contestants face and knows the dedication it takes to walk away a champion. From 2000 to 2018, Abbott was an electronics engineer at Caltech. There he worked on the LIGOproject, which was seeking to directly detect gravitational wave radiation from massive collisions in space. The project won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2015 after detecting gravitational waves from two in-spiraling black holes. Abbott left that project in 2018 to become a full-time bladesmith and “Forged in Fire” judge.

Visit www.forging.org/forge-fair-2023 for more information and/or to register. We hope to see you in Cleveland!