Apr. 6, 2017 - The Theodore J. Planje – St. Louis Refractories Award is presented annually “for the purpose of recognizing and honoring distinguished achievement in the refractories field.” Dr. Buhr was honored to join this select group of refractory leadership this past March, at the 53 rd Annual Symposium on Refractories, St. Louis Section.

The 2017 Planje Award recognizes Dr. Buhr for his important achievements in the research of high alumina refractories and for developing the best alumina refractory solutions for customers’ challenging high temperature environments. Dr. Buhr brings strong leadership to Almatis’ product development and technical application support with teams in Europe, Americas and Asia. He has authored near 85 papers on refractories and his leading-edge refractories research continues to develop enhanced alumina products at Almatis.

Dr. Buhr presented to the gathered audience on “Mineralogy in Refractories” and the continued value of phase diagrams in research excellence. He in turn took the opportunity to honor his PhD thesis advisors -- Eduard Woermann and Manfred Koltermann -- who guided his development as a young researcher of high alumina castables.