A portable metal-casting kit developed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is taking one of manufacturing’s oldest industrial processes past traditional foundries and into classrooms, public events, and even local bars.

The compact demo, Known as ‘Foundry in a Box,’ lets participants safely cast molten tin into small souvenirs like keychains, delivering a hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of metal casting.

Designed as an outreach tool, the portable setup condenses a process normally associated with large industrial facilities into a compact, transportable unit. Wearing protective gloves and safety goggles, participants pour molten tin into molds and leave with a finished metal keepsake while learning how casting underpins products used across the automotive, aerospace, construction, and manufacturing industries.

Unlike machining, which removes material from a larger piece, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold and allowing it to solidify into a desired shape. The method can produce components with complex geometries and remains a key part of manufacturing, from small hardware to large industrial machinery.

“Metal casting is everywhere,” said Swaroop Behera, a doctoral engineering student at UWM who has expanded the initiative. “So long as anyone is making something out of any metal, metal casting is going to be there.”

The project aims to expose students and the general public to manufacturing technologies that often receive little attention in traditional science and engineering education.

While ‘Foundry in a Box’ had existed previously, Behera helped broaden its reach after becoming president of UWM’s student chapter of the American Foundry Society.

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