The Federation for International Refractories Research and Education—FIRE—incorporated as a non-profit organization in May 2005^1,2. Organized as an outsourcing network of academic and industrial partners, its mission is to train highly qualified engineers for the refractory industry. Initially comprising four academic institutions in Austria, Brazil, France, and the United States and three refractories companies—RHI, Magnesita, and Pyrotek—the Federation has grown into a collaboration of 10 academic groups from eight countries, which now include Germany, Japan, China and Canada (the last to join), supported by 17 industrial companies from 11 countries (Figure 1). Today, FIRE is a multinational group representing the refractory world constituency and working in a common language: English.

Hot spots—International education and research

To promote the education system in refractory materials engineering education at the MS and PhD levels, FIRE offers graduate students the opportunity to acquire an international perspective through international study programs and student exchanges. To meet the cultural, educational, and research needs of the refractory industry, FIRE has established education programs based on research programs under the direction and approval of its board members³. Research programs center on selected themes and last three to four years. Plans for 2012–2015 will be described in detail at the upcoming United Technical Conference on Refractories (UNITECR 2013) in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, September 10th–13^th, 2013.⁴ To meet its education mission goals, FIRE recently undertook two recent initiatives—organization of FIRE schools and launching of the FIRE Compendium Books series.