The paper with the title “Cracking Failures of Copper Alloy Hot Rolled Plates: Phenomenological Approach and Root Cause Analysis”, authored by Dr. G. Pantazopoulos, Dr. A. Vazdirvanidis and Dr. I. Contopoulos was presented in the oral session “Manufacturing-Related Failures – Casting Failures” of Materials Science and Technology Conference (MS&T 2018), Columbus OH, October 14-18, 2018. The paper presented a detailed metallographic and fractographic investigation relevant to casting-related failures of Copper and Copper Alloys. Moreover, in the case of ETP-Cu plates, numerical modeling of the solidification process, using CFD software, was also employed. The obtained results are suggestive of microstructural embrittlement caused by the synergistic contribution of the manufacturing process parameters and the potential micro-segregation that might have promoted intergranular cracking. Dr. George Pantazopoulos participated in two Journal Editorial Board Meetings, as a member of the Metallography, Microstructure and Analysis and Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention. On October 15^th, during the ASM Leadership Awards Luncheon, he received the 2017 IMS Buehler Technical Paper Award for the paper titled: “Metallographic Study of Great Anthony Historical Bronze Bells of Apostle Andrew Skete in Mount Athos, Greece” published in Metallography, Microstructure, and Analysis, Vol 6(4), August 2017, pp. 340-351 (Award Recipients: Dr. A. Vazdirvanidis, Dr. G. Pantazopoulos).