Newswise — Leading materials science and engineering (MSE) experts from across the nation will begin their work in Pittsburgh on September 16 and 17 as members of the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) established to address the recommendations made in Linking Transformational Materials and Processing for an Energy-Efficient and Low-Carbon Economy: Creating the Vision and Accelerating Realization.

The “Vision Report”, as it is also known, was released in June 2010 as the culmination of the first phase of a two-part study spearheaded by The Minerals Metals & Materials Society (TMS), in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) and funded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The project was commissioned to support the development of a core materials science and engineering research and development portfolio to meet the nation’s energy challenges.

To provide structure and focus for future study, the Vision Report distills its key findings into four cross-cutting themes. For the project’s second phase, a Technical Working Group has been formed for each of the cross-cutting themes to develop technical roadmaps propelling the most promising technologies into real-world application. A final report consolidating their recommendations and addressing interdependencies is due out in late 2010.

Additional information on the technologies being examined by each Technical Working Group, as well as access to the complete Vision Report as a PDF download, are available on the project’s home page on the TMS Energy website at http://energy.tms.org/initiatives/LTMP.aspx. The Technical Working Groups and their members are as follows:

Functional Surface Technology

This TWG will examine functional surface innovations that can improve renewable energy technologies, energy storage and distribution, transportation and industry efficiency, and carbon management applications.• Arvind Agarwal, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Florida International University• Raghavan Ayer, Section Head, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering•Clark Cooper, Director, Materials and Surface Engineering, National Science Foundation•Michael T. Dugger, Distinguished Member, Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories•Jonah Erlebacher, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University•Steven George, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering/Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder•Jan F. Herbst, Principal Research Scientist, GM Research •Brajendra Mishra (Chair), Professor and Associate Department Head, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines•Yancy Riddle, Chief Technology Officer, UCT Coatings, Inc.•Daniel Sordelet, Engineering Specialist, Caterpillar, Inc.•Götz Veser, Associate Professor and CNG Faculty Fellow, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh•Zhenyu Zhang, Distinguished Research Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Higher Performance Materials for Extreme EnvironmentsThe focus of this TWG is on advancements in materials that can withstand the higher temperatures, corrosive chemicals, and intense radiation integral to the operating environments of many energy systems, including nuclear fission and fusion power. •William Brindley, Chief Technologist, Rolls Royce Corporation•Ivan Cornejo, Research Manager, Corning Incorporated•Thomas Felter, Manager, Hydrogen and Metallurgical Science Department, Sandia National Laboratories•Warren Garrison, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University•Brian Gleeson, Harry S. Tack Chair and Professor, Materials Science and Engineering/Director, Center for Energy, University of Pittsburgh•Wayne King, Division Leader, Condensed Matter and Materials, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory•John J. Lewandowski, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University•Xingbo Liu, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University•George Spanos (Chair), Technical Director, TMS•Peter F. Tortorelli, Deputy Division Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory•William Tredway, Group Leader for Ceramics; Deputy Department Leader, Physical Sciences Department, United Technologies Research Center•Patrice Turchi, Scientific Capability and Group Leader, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory•Brian D. Wirth, Governor's Chair and Professor, Computational Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee•Christopher M. Wolverton, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University•Steve Zinkle, Director, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Multi-Materials Integration in Energy SystemsMost energy technologies, including batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells, involve systems of different classes of materials. The intent of this TWG is to optimize the efficiency of these systems through effective integration of heterogeneous components.•Glenn S. Daehn, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Ohio State University•David M. Dietrich, Manufacturing Engineer/Direct Digital Manufacturing, Boeing Research and Technology•Jerry E. Gould, Chief Engineer, Edison Welding Institute•Darrell R. Herling, Chief Engineer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Warren H. Hunt, Jr. (Chair), Executive Director, TMS•Robert W. Hyers, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts•Bruce Kelley, Manager, Chemical and Biological Systems Department, Sandia National Laboratories•Gerry Ludtka, Distinguished Research Staff, Oak Ridge National Laboratory•Jaime Marian, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory•Angelo Mascarenhas, Materials Science Group Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory•Mark Mathias, Technical Fellow and Director, Electrochemical Energy Research Laboratory, GM Research•Michael Wixom, Senior Technical Director, A123Systems•Carl Zweben, Zweben Consulting

Sustainable Manufacturing of MaterialsThis TWG encompasses methods and processes that minimize the loss of both energy and materials. •John Barnes. Development Program Manager, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics•Cynthia Belt, Senior Energy Engineer, Superior Industries•Craig Blue, Group Leader, Materials Processing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory•James W. Evans, P. Malozemoff Professor Emeritus/Professor of Metallurgy Emeritus, Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley•Randolph E. Kirchain, Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology•Anantha Krishnan, Director, Research and Development/Section Leader, Meso-Micro-Nano Scale Technology, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory•Diana A. Lados, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute•Ray D. Peterson (Chair), Director of Technology, Aleris International, Inc.•Ramana G. Reddy, ACIPCO Professor of Metallurgy/Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Alabama•Mark Smith, Technical Group Manager, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•Susan Smyth, Director, Manufacturing Systems Research, General Motors Research and Development•David B. Spencer, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Technology Officer, wTe Corporation•Ellen Stechel, Manager, Energy, Climate, and Carbon Management, Sandia National Laboratories•Brian G. Thomas, C.J. Gauthier Professor/Director, Continuous Casting Consortium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

About TMSTMS is a member-driven international professional society dedicated to fostering the exchange of learning and ideas across the entire range of materials science and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production, to basic research and the advanced applications of materials. Of particular interest to TMS and its members through its history has been the role of MSE in addressing both short- and long-term energy challenges. Recently, in response to the needs of both society and the MSE professionals it serves, TMS has committed to an even sharper, more strategic focus on materials-enabled energy technology—TMS Energy. The goals of TMS Energy are to provide leadership, facilitation, and resources that generate and support effective energy solutions based on the innovative development and use of materials. The “Transformational Energy Materials Project” is a lead effort of the TMS Energy initiative. Additional information on TMS Energy can be found at http://energy.tms.org.