Throughout history, cast iron has been unique amongst metallic materials. No other metal can boast such a long history, together with such a wide diversity of variants, properties, and applications. Arguably, no other material can claim to have such complexity. While the cast iron foundry produces myriad components, researchers and engineers have humbly ensured the continued development of this sophisticated material. We control this process not with furnaces and wirefeeders, but with knowledge. This knowledge enables the creation of a material with a unique combination of design flexibility, mechanical properties, wear resistance, recyclability, low life cycle energy consumption, and low cost. And it will be with the continued pursuit of understanding and knowledge that tomorrow's researchers and engineers will ensure the continued growth of new material variants, with improved material properties and new applications that make the world a better place. Cast iron: thousands of years of development and progress behind us; thousands of fascinating mysteries and opportunities ahead of us.

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