Newswise — Howmet Professor of Engineering and Director of the Metal Processing Institute at WPI in Massachusetts, Diran Apelian, Ph.D., became the 52nd president of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) in an awards ceremony Tuesday evening, March 11, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Professor Apelian succeeds Robert D. Shull, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Maryland, who held the post in 2007.
Professor Apelian addressed a room of more than 300 people in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel about his goals for 2008, which involve the development of Web 2.0; supporting materials professionals in an expanding field; and addressing societal needs.
In regard to Web 2.0, Professor Apelian believes that while it is an excellent means of distributing knowledge and engaging future materials professionals, the risk is that the content may not always be accurate. "There is a role for professional societies to be guardians of the knowledge conduit."
The role of supporting materials professionals today, Professor Apelian says, is also challenging as the field has broadened compared to 20 or 30 years ago. "We have materials scientists and engineers working in the fields of food processing, biomaterials, fuel cells, nanotechnology, nanostructured materials, MEMS, computational sciences, advanced polymers, drug delivery and pharmaceutical science, cell biology, biotechnology and bioengineering, etc." Professor Apelian's goal is to determine how to address the needs of the professionals in this expanding field.
Addressing the needs of society"•energy resources, transportation, housing, food distribution and packaging, recycling, health care delivery, climate change—is also very important in Professor Apelian's strategy. "It is crucial for us as a professional society to address the complex technological, professional, educational, societal, environmental, infrastructural and economical issues that challenge not only the sustainability of today's world situation but improve it for those living in developing countries and secure it for future generations."
About Professor ApelianProfessor Apelian has worked at WPI for almost 18 years, with the majority of his time as director of the Metal Processing Institute. The institute is an industry-university alliance dedicated to near-net-shape manufacturing with centers in metal casting; powder metallurgy; and heat treating. It is supported by more than 110 corporate partners as well as funding from private foundations and the federal government. Professor Apelian's research interests and expertise are in materials processing, and specifically, solidification and net-shape manufacturing. He is credited for pioneering work in various areas of solidification processing: molten metal processing and filtration of metals; aluminum foundry engineering; plasma deposition; and spray casting/forming. Professor Apelian has more than 450 publications to his credit and 11 books, which he co-edited. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Cast Metals Research, and the Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering.
Among his many honors and awards, in 2007, Professor Apelian was recognized for his work on society and technology with Acta Materialia's prestigious Hollomon Award, and was also the recipient of the Brimacombe prize for being a world ambassador, an innovator and a visionary for a better global society. In 2006, WPI recognized Professor Apelian with the Board of Trustees' Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Scholarship, and he received the Bruce Chalmers Award from TMS. Professor Apelian is an honorary member of the French Materials Engineering Society and a Fellow of APMI, ASM and TMS. He was awarded an honorary doctorate and named honorary professor of Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xian, China, in 1997. Professor Apelian earned his doctorate in materials science and engineering from MIT, and has been an active member of TMS for more than 30 years.
TMS is the professional organization encompassing the entire range of materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Included among its professional and student members are metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, researchers, educators and administrators from six continents.
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