Caption: View of the entrance of a hollow extrusion die. Photo courtesy of Compes Group.

Caption: Aluminum provides a stunning design. Shown from underneath a portion of the roof of the Middelfart Savings Bank in Denmark, a prism-like structure is revealed. Skylights compose the spectacular roofscape made of Falzonal, prepainted rolled aluminum for façade cladding, supplied by Novelis. The skylights are designed to maximize sunlight absorption during winter and reduce energy consumption. (Photo courtesy of Novelis. Photographer: Adam Mørk.) For more on aluminum in building and sustainable design see Greenbuild article beginning on page 18.

Caption: A recent tour of the vertical anodizing line at Sapa Profiles in Vetlanda, Sweden showcases the advantages of vertical versus horizontal anodizing which include: less floor space required, 25% less drag out of chemicals, faster clamping system, and based on a vertical line with tanks 5-6 m or more, production capacity is 5-10 times that of a horizontal line. Photo is taken from the end of the line. Load has been anodized and sealed and is ready to be packed. See story beginning on page 6. (Photographer: Rose Fellom-Morris.)

Caption: State-of-the-art two color vertical powder line at Extruders Inc. in Wylie, TX. View from below extrusions just out of the bake oven cooling off before unloading. (Photo by J.D. Schloz.) See story beginning on p. 18.

Caption: Holmer Kleist, a project manager at SMS Meer, is dwarfed by this cylinder crosshead for the 150 MN extrusion press built by the German press builder to be supplied to Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co. Ltd., located in the Nanshan Industry Region of Longkou City, in Shandong Province, PRC. The completed twin of this press, which is to be supplied to Shandong Yankuang Light Alloy Company in Jining, also in Shandong Province, was recently on display at the assembly shop of SMS Meer in M?nchengladbach and is the subject of this issues' feature article beginning on page 6.

Caption: Multiport die with CVD coated mandrel and plate insert for heat exchanger tube. It is a so-called CED sandwich die with the following features: very small mandrels possible, multi-caivity extrusion in limited space, and holder and backer to be used several times. This die is sold under the WEFA patent and trademark CED (Coated Extrusion Die).

Caption: Isal, Rio Tinto Alcan's smelter in Iceland, has commenced a $48 million production upgrade to boost annual outpuut by 20% to 230,000 tonnes. Concurrent with a potroom amperage increase, the casthouse will switch from slab to value-added billet (photo courtesy of Isal).

Caption: The second test launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully occurred December 8th. The entire barrel and dome sections of the Falcon 9 are built using Airware™ 2198 alloy, part of a new family of aluminum lithium alloys patented and produced by Alcan Global ATI.

Caption: Arising like a giant flaming canvas out of the desert, Ferrari World, the largest theme park in the world, opened in Abu Dhabi. It’s roof, painted a stunning Ferrari red, was designed to look like the double curve body shell of a Ferrari GT. Aleris Aluminum of Duffel, Belgium, supplied the aluminum strip used for the roof and exterior building structure. (Photo courtesy of Euramax Coated Products)

Caption: Acciona’s solar “field” in Alvardo, Spain utilizes a parabolic trough type concentrated solar power system (CSP). Multiple rows of parabolic mirrors supported by a framework fabricated from aluminum extrusions focus the sun’s energy onto absorber tubes. The resulting hot oil from the absorber tubes is piped to the central power block where heat exchangers transfer the energy to water, with the resulting steam powering turbines to produce electricity. (Photo: Hydro Aluminum.)

Caption: Captain of the Anodic Department, Elizabeth Remien, unracks anodized profiles at Futura Industries in Clearfield, Utah. This medium-sized aluminum extrusion company has created a prosperous manufacturing business through offering extensive value-added operations, custom assembly and packaging, and a management style that values the employee as much as the customer.

Caption: A 2,500 US ton single action short stroke UBE extrusion press in UBE’s manufacturing facility in Yamaguchi, Japan.

Caption: As of December 2009, the Middle East region is firmly on the path of becoming a major hub for aluminum production with the commissioning of the first phase, 585,000 tpy Qatalum smelter at Mesaieed, just south of Doha in the State of Qatar. Qatalum is a fully integrated greenfield plant, consisting of a smelter, casthouse, and carbon plant, as well as dedicated gas-fired power plant. The rapidly constructed smelter boasts low investment costs, high productivity output, and state-of-the-art reduction technology with low energy consumption and reduced emissions.