Department of ferrous metallurgy and metal casting

The Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting (FMMC) Department is a successor of the Metallurgy and Mechanical Technologies Chair created in 1953 and headed by Prof. Dr. Eng. Asen Azmanov. In 1960 the Department split in three separate chairs – “Ferrous Metallurgy, Non-ferrous Metallurgy and Founding and General Metallurgy. Prof. Azmanov was Head of the “Ferrous Metallurgy Department till 1962, Prof. Dr. Eng. Hristo Erinin in the period 1962-1980, and Prof. Dr Eng. Nikola Rashkov– in 1980-1984.

In 1984, after integration of the Ferrous Metal Group into the Ferrous Metallurgy Department together with the groups Theory of Metallurgical Processes and Metal Casting under the Founding and General Metallurgy Department, the Ferrous Metal Production Department has been created. It was headed by Prof. Dr. Eng. Avram Avramov. The Department existed under that title up to 1994 when it was renamed into Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting. It was headed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Sorin Atanasov, and in 2000-2010 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Mihail Mihovsky, was Head of the Department. In 2010 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Rumen Petkov was elected Head of the Department.

Over the years, two laboratories operated under the Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting Department – Problem-oriented Research Laboratory on Magnetic Materials, headed by Sen. Res. Associate Dipl. Eng. Malina Yordanova and Problemoriented Research Laboratory on Plasma Metallurgy, PLASMALAB, headed by Prof. Dr. Avramov, and from 1998 on – by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihovsky.

The academic staff of the department kept changing since its establishment. Over the years, 8 professors, 16 associate professors, 7 senior assistants were members of the department. Nowadays, the academic staff of the department consists of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. R. Petkov, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Eng. R. Paunova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. M. Marinov, Chief assistant Eng. D. Grigorova, Assistant Dr. Eng. P. Petrov and Assistant Eng. M. Krusteva. The Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting Department trains students in educational degree Bachelor in two specialization modules, Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting of specialty Metallurgy and students educational degree Master in specialities with the same title.

The lecturers of the department conduct lectures and exercises in curriculum subjects of all specialities in the Faculty of Metallurgy and Material science in the two vocational subdivisions – Metallurgy and Materials and Material Science. More than 2000 students graduated the department and over 120 Ph.D. students successfully defended theses for award of the educational and scientific degree Doctor. 56 textbooks and 65 handbooks were published in the department.

The Ferrous Metallurgy and Metal Casting Department works jointly with many Bulgarian and foreign universities and metallurgical research institutes: Institute of Metal Casting, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in Russia, Institute of Metallurgy- Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine, Institute of Metallurgy-Chelyabinsk, Russia, the Polytechnic Institute in Kosice, Slovakia, Freiberg Polytechnical Institute- Germany, Paton Institut - Ukraine, Technical University- Chenstochowa, Poland, Aachen Technical University, Germany, Royal Polytechnical Institute - Stockholm, Sweden, the Polytechnical School in Skopije, Macedonia, etc.