New and existing sensors based on fiber optic technologies have shown great promise for applications in steel manufacture. These new highly distributed and remote sensing capabilities promise to provide both researchers and operators with a view into their processes that was previously unattainable only a few years ago. With these new systems now becoming available, the next step toward Industry 4.0 is the integration of these systems with the advanced analytic tools that are now also becoming available. I have little doubt that this combination will prove to have significant benefits to the steel manufacturing industry as measured by productivity, cost, quality, environmental impact, and efficiency. I think that Henry Marion Howe would be impressed both with how far the science and technology of steelmaking has advanced and with the promising advancements the future has yet to deliver.