What began as a handful of gentlemen in suits, working under the name of the Industrial Arts Club eventually gave way to Professor Martin O. Johnsen’s journey to creating the Foundry program at Kent State University. Over the decades this program has prepared hundreds of students for employment in the metal casting industry.

The Metal Casting Lab at KSU was founded in Van Deusen Hall in the late 1960s. In 1970, Johnsen’s Metal Casting Program was officially recognized by the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF) and since then has maintained continuous accreditation from this industry leading organization. Access and growing interest in the foundry facilities also brought forth the development of a KSU student chapter of the American Foundry Society (AFS) in the early 1980’s. Campus growth and expansion now finds the Foundry located in the new Aeronautics and Engineering building with new students of all backgrounds exposed to the wonders of liquid metal and the casting process every semester.

Each year students from KSU-AFS participate in a number of casting and metal work focused events in addition to weekly work sessions where they produce the only official Foundry In A Box kit available. They learn team work and develop into a family all their own under the leadership of their Faculty Advisor.