Thomas A. Cobett T. Cobett and Associates Pyrometallurgical Process Development 10042 Oak Branch Trail Strongsville, OH 44149 Tel: (260) 341-2258 Fax: (440) 572-7511 tcobett@tcobettandassociates.com www.tcobettandassociates.com Tom Cobett has over 50 years of experience from a wide range of positions within the Primary Metals Industries. As an R&D specialist, Tom has worked closely with major companies who produce or utilize metals, helping them to solve design, application, and cost problems. He has developed several unique products and processes resulting in 4 U.S. Patents and 2 European Patents. In addition to his R&D activities, Tom has over 20 years of teaching experience at the high school and university levels. Tom was born in Indiana and has lived in Ohio for most of his adult life. He made his first metal castings at the tender age of 12, when a neighbor showed him how to cast lead/tin toy soldiers. After graduation from high school in Warren, OH, and a short stint in the U.S. Army, Tom went to work as a laborer in a small Bronze and Aluminum foundry. Along with moving sand from one pile to another, he learned the basics of sand casting and metal melting from the ground up. After almost a year in the foundry he was sure that he needed to go to college! He paid for his education at Kent State University by working at Oakes Bronze and Aluminum (Warren, OH), Tru-Cast (Akron, OH), Larson Consolidated (Grafton, OH) and Atlantic Foundry (Akron, OH). He also earned scholarship assistance from the Foundry Educational Foundation. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts Education, he joined the Product Development team of FOSECO, Inc. at their Cleveland, Ohio, corporate center. Tom was responsible for developing and marketing consumable chemical products for use with sand molding and core making processes. During his time at FOSECO, Tom traveled extensively in the U.S., England and Japan. After nearly 10 years of working as a Product Manager, Tom moved to Southern California and founded WestCast Company, a product and process development company specializing in Non-toxic, Sodium Silicate based, Sand Binder Systems, Coatings, Adhesives and Release Agents. During the next 15 years, the company grew significantly by offering manufacturing licensing agreements to affiliated companies in Oregon, Ohio and Germany. In the lean years of being self-employed, Tom served as the head of the Materials Science Department of the Don Bosco Technical Institute near Los Angeles, CA. He also taught Metal Casting courses at California State University – Los Angeles and at California Polytechnic University – Pomona, CA. Tom and his family returned to the Cleveland, OH, area in 1990. He immediately began teaching Metal Casting and Metallurgy courses at Kent State University for both the School of Technology and for the School of Art. In 1994, Tom was given the opportunity to design, build and operate a special Teaching Foundry in Cleveland. The facility quickly became successful at providing short run jobbing castings in aluminum, copper base, iron, and steel alloys. Educational programs were offered for area metal casting companies and their entry-level employees. By 1997, the program was closed, due to a shortage of state and federal funds. During his time at the Teaching Foundry, Tom cast several large art pieces for regional sculptors. These include a pair of 350 lb. bronze doors, several 800 lb. stainless steel pieces and a 700 lb. aluminum sculpture of Rodin’s “Thinker” installed in front of the Library at Bowling Green State University. Through his association with Kent State University, Tom has worked with many local and national artists. As the casting provider, Tom has done Aluminum, Bronze, Iron and Steel work for Don Drumm (Akron, OH), Paul O’Keeffe and Claudia Matzko (Kent State University), Glenn Zweygardt (Alfred University) and numerous participants in the Kent Blossom Art Program. He has lead Metal Casting Seminars at ASM International, Kent State University, the Cleveland Institute of Art, Alfred University, the University School (Cleveland), Solon (OH) High School and Chagrin Falls (OH) High School. From 1997 until 2000, Tom was Director of Quality and Engineering at Castalloy, a Cleveland commercial investment casting foundry, making carbon and stainless steel castings. His emphasis was in the areas of casting and tooling design, and process improvement. During his tenure at Castalloy, he earned the title of Six Sigma Black Belt through General Electric Transportation Systems. In 2001, Tom became a full-time R&D Consultant to OmniSource Corporation, Fort Wayne, IN. OmniSource is the largest metals recycling company in North America. In 2004, he accepted employment as the R&D Manager of OmniSource. His projects included: The recovery of Iron from Iron Oxides and Steel Mill Byproducts The recovery of Iron from Iron Ore Concentrate Tailings The recovery of Copper from Copper Oxide Pit Scale The recovery of Zinc Oxide and Pig Iron from Electric Arc Furnace Dust The recovery of Nickel from Stainless Steel Processing Wastes The recovery of Liquid Fuels from the Pyrolysis of Auto Shredder Residues The recovery of Precious Metals from Industrial Wastes and Ore Tailings Piles The recovery of Lead from the Leaded Glass in CRT Screens In 2011, Tom reverted back to a consulting status with OmniSource and their new owner, Steel Dynamics. He continues to provide technical guidance on many of their long term projects. Tom now spends most of his time developing the concept of producing Pig Iron from Steel Mill byproducts, mining tailings and other industrial waste streams, using a unique induction melting process. In Early 2018, he helped to design and commission an induction melting facility that produces 4,000 tons a month of Pig Iron made from the steel wire recovered from scrap truck tires. His current consulting clients include production iron foundries, aluminum foundries, metal recycling companies, primary metal producers and the U.S. Navy. He is also involved with the development of 3D Sand Printing technology. Tom Cobett is a Past Board President of the Foundry Educational Foundation, former Chairman of the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of the American Foundry Society, and former National Amateur Wine Competition Chairman for the American Wine Society. He is an active member of the American Foundry Society. He teaches technical courses for the Cast Metals Institute, and he is the proud developer of the AFS “Foundry in a Box” project, now used all over the world to demonstrate the Metal Casting process to students of any age. Tom served 2 years as the Interim FEF Key Professor at Kent State University. He carried the Cast Metals program forward until a full-time professor was hired to replace Mike Dragomier, who passed away suddenly at the beginning of the 2014 Fall Semester. One of the students in the Metal Casting program at Kent State actually proposed the idea of a smokeless, water free molding sand which became known as K-Bond. The mixing instructions are now widely available on the internet. Tom and his wife, Jan, reside in Strongsville, Ohio, where they make award winning amateur wines and follow the Cleveland Browns in their spare time.
It's a very impressive resume and body of work Tom. Happy to have you here on THF and looking forward to your future posts in support of forum members and their casting endeavors. Best, Kelly
Welcome! I surely can see that amount of experience being EXTREMELY valuable to us hobby casters! This is a hobby that can best be experienced with a good teacher.