SCHAUMBURG, IL – The American Foundry Society has multiple webinars planned for Q4 of 2026. Ranging from technical to government, members are encouraged to take advantage of these free webinars to enhance their understanding of current trends happening in the foundry industry. There are currently five webinars planned for the last part of the year.
On October 22, Dr. John Merkey will present Beyond the Audiogram: New Developments in Hearing Protection at 1:00 p.m. CT. Occupational hearing loss remains one of the most common work-related illnesses, including in the US metalcasting industry, despite decades of hearing conservation efforts. Participants will gain practical insights into how fit testing can be integrated into occupational health practice to enhance worker training, improve hearing protector performance, and strengthen hearing loss prevention efforts. You can find more information and register for the webinar here.
On October 29, Mike Lakas from AFS will present AI, Hype, and What Actually Matters at 1:00 p.m. CT. Artificial intelligence is changing how people interact with information, software, and business processes, but separating practical value from hype can be difficult. This presentation will provide an accessible look inside modern AI, explaining concepts such as large language models, tokens, transformers, inference, and AI agents without requiring a technical background. You can find more information and register here.
On November 5, Madeline Harrison, VP at Cottingham & Butler will present Rising Healthcare Costs: 5 Strategies to Take Back Control, this sponsored webinar will start at 2:00 p.m. CT. Participants will gain a better understanding of the numerous misaligned incentives across the commercial healthcare industry, learn practical strategies to take back control of healthcare spending, and leave with a framework to identify the biggest areas of opportunity with the least impact to employees and families. You can find more information and register for this sponsored webinar here.
On November 10, Stephanie Salmon from AFS and Christian Richter from the Policy Group will give the quarterly EPA, OSHA, and Public Policy Advocacy Webinar at 1:00 p.m. CT. Stay up to date with the current state of key EPA, OSHA, tax, trade, Buy America, infrastructure and workforce issues from Washington D.C. This webinar is meant to help members stay up to date and informed with the rapidly changing policies that impact every day work life for our industry. You can register for this webinar here.
Finally, on December 10, David Blondheim, Jr. will present The Good, the Bad, and the Noisy: A Data Story from Manufacturing at 1:00 p.m. CT. AI and Machine learning (ML) are often portrayed as silver bullets for manufacturing challenges, but the real story begins with the data behind these tools. This presentation explores the ongoing journey of a manufacturing operation attempting to predict utility usage. You can find more information on this webinar and register here.
All webinars are complimentary to AFS members and present timely information that will benefit your workflow. For more information on all of our webinars and to register you can visit this page.
The American Foundry Society is a dynamic technical and advocacy organization that serves and represents the $53.7 billion metalcasting industry. AFS is the only association serving the entire industry, including all metals and processes, with a three-part focus on advocacy, education, and innovation. AFS also publishes Modern Casting and Casting Source magazines and presents Metalcasting Congress and CastExpo, the largest metalcasting trade events in North America. Founded in 1896, the organization is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, with an advocacy office in Washington, D.C. More information is available at AFSinc.org.