The Shapemakers by The Aluminum Extruders Council
Episodes
Safety + HR Workshop Preview (with Melvin Mitchell)
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Host: Jason Weber, President, Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) Guest: Melvin "Mel" Mitchell, EHS Director, MI Metals Episode Summary Jason ...
Unlocking Opportunities at The Aluminum Summit - Atlanta
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Summary In this conversation, Jason Weber and Mark Butterfield discuss the upcoming Aluminum Summit, highlighting its significance as a major event fo...
Investing in the Future: How the AEC is Tackling Workforce Development with Apprenticeship Programs
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Episode Summary: In this episode of SHAPEMAKERS, host Bennett McEvoy, President of Western Extrusions and AEC Board Member, is joined by Dunca...
2024 Year in Review w/ Mark Butterfield
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jason Weber and Mark Butterfield reflect on the AEC's 75th anniversary, discussing the organization's impact on the industry and the ...
Aluminum Extrusion: The circular economy - A Sustainable Future
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of ShapeMakers, Lynn Brown and Rue Rogers discuss the intersection of aluminum extrusion and the circular economy. They explore how al...
Mark Butterfield - President of Manufacturing, MX Holdings
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Shape Makers, the podcast series from the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC). AEC represents over 75% of North America's aluminum ...
Environmental Tool - Extrusion & Decarbonization - Part 1
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lynn Brown of the AEC and Shane Tredup of Custom Aluminum discuss decarbonization efforts in the extrusion industry, highlighting the growing dema...
ET'24 Preview with Rob Nelson of ALMAG Aluminum
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and innovations. In this special...
Process Analysis+Optimization - ET'24 In Conjunction Workshop
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Weber visits with Prof. Lorenzo Donati about the upcoming ET'24 In-Conjunction Workshop on Process Analysis & Optimization 8:30 a.m. - 5:00...
Anodizing Essentials - ET'24 In Conjunction Workshop
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
George Oh & Judy Runge join Jason Weber of the AEC to discuss their upcoming Anodizing Essentials Workshop at this years ET'24 event in Orlando. For...
ET'24 Preview with Gary Jones
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SHAPEMAKERS EPISODE 57 Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and innov...
Technical Sessions & Getting the most @ ET'24 with Bill Rogers
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SHAPEMAKERS EPISODE 56 Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and innov...
Jerome Fourmann - Chairman of ET'24
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SHAPEMAKERS EPISODE 55 Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and innov...
Brook Hamilton President of Bonnell Aluminum
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SHAPEMAKERS EPISODE 54 Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and inn...
Jason Weber, the VP of Operations and Government Affairs for the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC)
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to another riveting episode of SHAPEMAKERS, where we explore the fascinating world of shaping industries and innovations. In this special...
AEC Extrusion Kits: PSU Capstone Project Teams Interview
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AEC Extrusion Kits: PSU Capstone Project Teams Interview In 2023, AEC sponsored three capstone projects with the Pennsylvania State University enginee...
Aluminum Safety Summit Preview
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Aluminum Safety Summit Preview Nancy Klein, AEC Education Director, talks with Mel Mitchell, AEC Safety Team Leader, about the 2023 Aluminum Safety Su...
AEC Management Conference Preview: Heat Stress & Heat Illness with Dr. Thomas Bernard
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
AEC Management Conference Preview: Heat Stress & Heat Illness with Dr. Thomas Bernard Meet the Heat Stress and Heat Illness expert, Dr. Tom Bernard...
Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition Winner Drew Klopfenstein
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition Winner Drew Klopfenstein First-place winner in the 2023 Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition, Drew Klopfenstein...
How One Automotive Engineer Discovered the Value of ET
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How One Automotive Engineer Discovered the Value of ET The ET Seminar is a technical conference that focuses entirely on the aluminum extrusion indust...
Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition Winner Brady Hawks
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition Winner Brady Hawks Brady Hawks, Second Place winner of the 2023 Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition and I...
Challenges to Aluminum Extrusion for BEV Growth
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Challenges to Aluminum Extrusion for BEV Growth Abey Abraham, principal of Ducker Carlisle and Mark Butterfield, president of manufacturing for Metal ...
What is the Future of Aluminum Extrusion Use in BEVs?
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The past decade has seen doubling in per-vehicle aluminum extrusion use in North American passenger vehicles. More recently, significant additional ...
Actions Designers and Specifiers Can Take to Reduce the Embodied Carbon in Aluminum Extrusion
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Actions Designers and Specifiers Can Take to Reduce the Embodied Carbon in Aluminum Extrusion Bonnell Aluminum's Division Marketing Director, Guy Char...
Actions Designers and Specifiers Can Take to Reduce the Embodied Carbon in Aluminum Extrusion
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Actions Designers and Specifiers Can Take to Reduce the Embodied Carbon in Aluminum Extrusion Bonnell Aluminum's Division Marketing Director, Guy Char...
What are EPDs and What Do the Newly Released AEC EPDs Tell us?
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are EPDs and What Do the Newly Released AEC EPDs Tell us? Guy Charpentier, Chairman of the AEC Industry Promotion Steering Committee and Division...
Fair Trade Update: Kingtom EAPA and WRO
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, and Robert DeFrancesco, AEC's Fair Trade lead attorney, will discuss the latest developments in the Kingtom case. Spe...
Qualities Today's Students Want in a Future Career
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The competition for today's talent has never been more fierce. Young talent graduating and searching for a career are faced with a variety of options ...
ET '22 Preview: Meet Astronaut Mike Massimino
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ET '22 will feature a Closing Keynote address by special guest, astronaut Mike Massimino. At ET Mike will talk about his experiences as an astronaut a...
ET '22 Workshop Preview: AEC Die Clinic
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
AEC Die Clinic, one the Council's most popular educational workshops, is being offered for the first time at ET – and is available to nonmembers of ...
ET '22 Workshop Preview - Process Analysis & Optimization
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Werner, ET Seminar Committee Chairman talks with Lorenzo Donati, Associate Professor of Manufacturing Technologies in the Department of Engineer...
ET '22 Extrusion Excellence Courses: Process Fundamentals
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ET Chairman Craig Werner talks with Professor Wojtek Misiolek, Director of the Loewy Institute at Lehigh University, and top-rated instructor of AEC...
2022 Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition Helps Schools and Students
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Duncan Crowdis and Craig Werner provide an overview of the Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition, the benefits for students and instructors and they t...
ET '22 Track Spotlight: Billet Process Track
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Olivier Gabis of Wagstaff, Inc., the Track Chair for the ET '22 Billet Process Track, discusses the highlights of the BP Track with ET '22 Chair Craig...
ET '22 Track Spotlight: Value-Added Processes Highlights
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Nelson, Executive Vice President of Almag Aluminum and ET Value-Added Processes Track Chair talks with ET Seminar Committee Chair Craig Werner and...
ET '22 Track Spotlight: Management Issues Highlights
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hear what you can expect when attending the Management Issues (MI) Track at ET '22 this May in Orlando, FL. ET Seminar Committee Chair Craig Werner an...
ET '22 Track Spotlight - Extrusion Theoretical Highlights
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ET '22 Chairman Craig Werner and ET Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann discuss what to look forward to at ET '22 this May in Orlando, FL. Frank Kraft, ET Extr...
Impact of Production Shutdowns in China on the Aluminum Industry
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, and Greg Wittbecker, Senior Analyst with CRU North America, discuss China's announcement to curtail production and the...
ET '22 Track Spotlight: Extrusion Equipment Highlights
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Craig and Jerome talk with Extrusion Equipment (EE) Track Chair Chip Edwards, who recently retired from Cardinal Aluminum. Chip reveals the interestin...
ET '22 Track Spotlight: Extrusion Practical (EP) Highlights
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
ET '22 Chairman Craig Werner and ET Vice Chair Jerome Fourmann talk with Mark Butterfield of Magnode – A Shape Corp. Company and ET Extrusion/Die Pr...
ET '22 is Happening!
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After being postponed – twice! – the Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar & Exposition—the biggest and best technical eve...
Sneak Peak of the AEC Press Maintenance Workshop
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Get a sneak peak of the AEC Press Maintenance Workshop scheduled for October 18-20, 2021 in Atlanta, from instructor Al Kennedy of Kennedy EuroTech. T...
The Aluminum Safety Summit Delivers the Tools for Safety Excellence
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, the President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, discusses the Aluminum Safety Summit and its benefits...
What a National Apprenticeship Program Can Mean to AEC Members
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, will discuss how a National Apprenticeship Program ca...
The Wonders of Aluminum Extrusions – The Manufacturing Process
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The second podcast in this series is once again a discussion between long time industry players, Craig Werner of Werner Extrusion Solutions and Duncan...
Will a Lobbying Firm Enable the AEC to Achieve its Ambitions?
09 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Shapemakers, Jeff Henderson, the President of the Aluminum Extruders Council, will discuss how the AEC can use a Lobbying Firm ...
The Wonders of Aluminum Extrusions –the Material and Products
02 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first podcast in this series is a discussion between long time industry players Craig Werner of Werner Extrusion Solutions and Duncan Crowdis of A...
CRU: State of the Aluminum Industry, July 2021
19 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, Greg Wittbecker with CRU North America, discuss the current state of the aluminum market and the outlook for 2022. Th...
Rusal America: State of the Aluminum Industry, July 2021
19 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, discusses the current state of the aluminum market and the outlook for 2022 with Rusal America's President and CEO. T...
Auto Solutions: Aluminum Extrusion Use in Cross-car Beams
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Halonen of Mayflower Consulting talks with AEC Industry Promotion consultant Lynn Brown about aluminum extrusion use in cross-car beams, or i...
Auto Solutions: Aluminum Extrusion Use in Battery Boxes
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With many auto builders turning their focus to producing battery electric vehicles (BEVs), Andrew Halonen of Mayflower Consulting shares his insig...
Fair Trade: Reflections Window & Wall Scope Decision
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, and Robert DeFrancesco, AEC's lead trade attorney, discuss the Department of Commerce's recent decision in the importan...
Fair Trade: What is the Difference Between Transshipment and Circumvention?
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast Jeff Henderson, AEC President, will have a discussion with the AEC's Lead Attorney in its Ongoing Trade Case against China about circu...
Fair Trade: The Enforce and Protect Act – Effective Tool Against Circumvention
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Henderson, AEC President, and Robert DeFrancesco, AEC's lead attorney discuss the ongoing Trade Case against China and the Enforce and Protect Ac...
Developing Talent in the Aluminum Extrusion Industry
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many aluminum extruders (as well as manufacturers in general) are challenged to hire talent with the critical skills needed in today's manufacturing e...
What's New and What's Next for Aluminum Extrusions in Building and Energy Codes
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Culp, PhD, AEC's consultant on building and energy codes, discusses his work with various code and ratings groups. Tom is privy to the next round ...
Career Opportunities in the Aluminum Extrusion Industry: Engaging Middle and High Schools Students
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Studies have shown that students and parents start to make curriculum choices that will guide potential career paths as early as middle school. This p...
Fair Trade: What Are Administrative Reviews?
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this second episode in our series covering the various components of a trade case, we'll discuss Administrative Reviews. The Department of Commerce...
Fair Trade: Kingtom EAPA Decision
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, AEC's lead trade attorney, Robert Defrancesco of Wiley Law, discusses a key victory in our trade case. Kingtom, with an operation i...
Fair Trade Update – The Aluminum 232 in the Biden Administration
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Aluminum Extrusions in Autos … Today and Tomorrow
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for a conversation with Andrew Halonen, President of Mayflower Consulting, and a lightweighting expert. Andrew discusses with host Lynn Brow...
Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition: How Students & Instructors Can Benefit
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The AEC Student Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition is a yearly scholarship opportunity for university, technical college and high school students. ...
Career Opportunities in the Aluminum Extrusion Industry
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As students and parents look at choices for desirable career paths, this podcast focuses on the changes in the work environment and attractive career ...
Fair Trade: What is a Scope Challenge?
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this first in a series of podcasts that cover the various components of a trade case, we will explore Scope Challenges. Since our case was won ...
Fair Trade: The Reflections Scope Challenge for a Hybrid Window Wall/Curtain Wall product
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we will discuss the latest developments in the Reflections Scope Challenge to our case. Reflections has introduced a hybrid window w...
Fair Trade: A Look Ahead to the AECs Sunset Review
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021 and 2022 the AEC and its members will be filing for another 5-year extension of its historic Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty cases. In ...
Introducing The Shapemakers Show
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this introductory episode of The Shapemakers, AEC President Jeff Henderson joins Guy Charpentier of Bonnell Aluminum and AEC Industry Promot...