Newswise — Speakers from industry, academia and government will discuss the advancements that have occurred in materials science over the last 50 years as well as what the future holds at the 50th Anniversary Plenary Series at the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Feb. 25-March 1, in Orlando, Florida. These "Anniversary Laureates" include Diran Apelian of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; James Evans of the University of California; Jeffrey Wadsworth of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Michael King of Falconbridge Ltd.; Alan Taub of General Motors Corporation; Stan Williams of Hewlett-Packard; and Julia Weertman of Northwestern University.
"The Future of Materials Science and Engineering" will be presented Feb. 26 by Diran Apelian, Howmet Professor of Engineering and director of the Metal Processing Institute at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he has worked for more than 15 years. MPI is an industry-university alliance with centers in metal casting, powder metallurgy and heat treating, and has more than 110 corporate partners. The professor has more than 400 publications to his credit and serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Cast Metals, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Aluminum Transactions, and the Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering.
"Light Metals: 50 Years of Technological Progress" is the topic to be covered Feb. 27 by James Evans, professor of metallurgy and the P. Malozemoff Chair of Mineral Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley, where he has spent nearly 35 years of his career. Professor Evans has received more than a dozen awards, including the Brimacombe Prize in 2004. He has earned eight patents and authored or edited more than 300 publications including seven books.
Following the light metals topic, Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, will present "Structural Materials: 50 Years of Technological Progress." Before joining the lab in 2003, Dr. Wadsworth was a senior executive at Battelle Memorial Institute in Ohio, where his work centered on Department of Energy science programs, technology transfer and homeland security. He has published more than 275 scientific papers in his 30 year career and earned four patents. Dr. Wadsworth is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, among them is being elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2005.
To close the day's plenary series on Feb. 27, "Extraction & Processing: 50 Years of Technological Progress" will be presented by Dr. Michael King, senior director of metallurgical technology for Noranda Inc./Falconbridge Ltd., the largest Canadian nonferrous mining company. Dr. King supervises strategic technology development in nickel and copper. He has authored more than 20 technical publications, holds four patents and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a chartered chemist in the United Kingdom.
"Materials Processing & Manufacturing: 50 Years of Technological Progress" will be presented Feb. 28 by Dr. Alan Taub, executive director of research and development at General Motors Corporation. He joined the company in 2001 and is responsible for seven science laboratories in the United States and India. These labs focus on a wide range of technology, including advanced powertrain systems, computer-based design and analysis systems for vehicle engineering, electronics and information-based vehicle systems, new materials and fabrication processes, environmentally friendly fuels and lubricants, and efficient emission control systems. Dr. Taub also oversees global technology collaboration, coordinating government and industry partner projects and collaborative research at universities. He holds 26 patents and has authored more than 60 papers.
Stan Williams, Senior HP Fellow and director of Quantum Science Research at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, follows Dr. Taub with "Electronic, Magnetic & Photonic Materials: 50 Years of Technological Progress." Dr. Williams founded his research group in 1995 to address the challenges in electronic device technology in relation to developing nanometer-size features, in which quantum mechanics plays an important role. Dr. Williams' primary scientific research over the last 25 years has been in solid-state chemistry and physics and their applications to technology. He has many awards and honors, including being named one of the Scientific American 50 Top Technology Leaders in 2002, receiving the 2000 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, and earning a patent selected by MIT in 2000 as one that will "transform business and technology."
The three-day plenary series will conclude with "Evolution of the Profession and the Professional" on Feb. 28 by Julia Weertman, Walter P. Murphy Professor Emerita in Service, at Northwestern University. At Northwestern for nearly 35 years, Professor Weertman focuses her research on the mechanical behavior of metals and alloys and the underlying phenomenon that gives rise to the observed behavior. She holds three patents and has authored more than 150 technical publications. A Fellow in TMS, Professor Weertman has received many professional honors including the 2006 Institute of Metals Lecturer and Robert Mehl Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The plenary series was developed to commemorate TMS' 50th anniversary as a member society of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers. As part of the commemoration, JOM, the technical journal of TMS, will present the top ten materials moments in history as voted upon by materials professionals and the general public from around the world.
In addition to these events, the TMS 2007 annual meeting will feature technical programming in the topical areas of light metals; extraction, processing, structure and properties; and emerging materials. More than 50 symposia are scheduled as well as short courses, workshops, tutorials, lectures, an exhibition of materials-related products and services, and networking events. Last year, some 3,800 materials professionals attended this interdisciplinary conference; more than 40% represented countries from outside the United States. For additional details, including online registration, visit http://www.tms.org/annualmeeting.html.
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 more than 70 countries on six continents.
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