Lectures 

Detailed schedule to be anounced  

How we learned to look at mountains through a microscope

Speaker: Matteo Seita, University of Cambridge 

Past metallurgist: Henry Clifton Sorby

In this lecture, I will present the life and accomplishments of Henry Clifton Sorby, an amateur geologist and metallurgist who lived in Sheffield between 1826 and 1908. Sorby is regarded as the father of microscopical petrography and metallography, as he was the first to analyse the microstructural constituents of rocks and steel using innovative microscopy techniques. Ignoring early criticisms raised by his colleagues—who laughed at the geologist who would “look at mountains through a microscope”—Sorby continued to investigate the “hidden structure” of crystalline solids and eventually uncovered those fundamental linkages between processing, structure, and properties of steel which are so familiar to modern metallurgists. Fast forward ~160 years, I will next discuss novel optical metallography techniques devised by my research group, which—despite early scepticisms—can now be used to map crystallographic quantities in metal alloys under ambient environment and in a more time- and cost-effective manner compared to traditional diffraction-based methods.

Let There Be Light! Learning from Tungsten’s Bright Past to Enable a Fusion Energy Future

Speaker: Jason R. Trelewicz, Stony Brook University 

Past metallurgist: William D. Coolidge

William Coolidge’s seminal paper on Ductile Tungsten presented at the 249th Meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1910 began with: “When work was first started on the problem of producing a ductile form of tungsten, the metal looked very uncompromising. It was so hard that it could not be filed without detriment to the file, and was, at ordinary temperatures, very brittle.” Such a dispiriting view was not surprising, as up to this point, carbon filaments were the technology of choice but suffered from being extremely brittle with short lifetimes. Coolidge, learning from prior experiments on tungsten-based ‘amalgams’, solved the ductility problem in tungsten by tediously controlling the mechanical working process while reducing manufacturing impurities, concluding in the same publication that “the product which we now have is a perfectly pliable ductile wire, which has the strength of steel”. Over a century after Coolidge established the foundation for the incandescent lightbulb revolution, we appear to be at a similar crossroads with tungsten – albeit for constructing high heat flux components for future fusion reactors. This talk describes how Coolidge’s work has inspired our own pursuits in designing stable nano-engineered tungsten alloys for fusion reactor components using grain boundary solute segregation synergistically with nano-dispersed carbide precipitation. With alloy stability demonstrated above common recrystallization temperatures for tungsten and under high-dose irradiation, our findings provide a new foundation for nano-engineered tungsten alloy fusion reactor components rooted in the microstructure control initially pioneered by Coolidge.

Seeing is believing!

Speaker:  Maria Teresa Perez-Prado, IMDEA Materials Institute

Past Metallurgist:  Max von Laue and Seishi Kikuchi

This lecture honors physicists Max von Laue (1879-1960) and Seishi Kikuchi (1902-1974) who despite living in times of major political upheaval and having limited resources made key discoveries related to X-ray and electron diffraction that enabled great progress in metals characterization. Max von Laue was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1914 for his discovery the diffraction of X-rays on crystals. In 1928 Seishi Kikuchi first observed and explained the lines that appear in diffraction patterns of diffusely scattered electrons.

“Seeing is believing” alludes to the pivotal role that the characterization techniques developed based on the findings of these great scientists have had in advancing metallurgical research. Focus will be placed on electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), which uses Kikuchi patterns as the raw data to determine crystal orientation, and which has become a mainstream characterization method following its first commercialization at the end of the last century.

Examples of application of EBSD to understand Hall-Petch effects and the 3D nature of twinning in magnesium alloys will be given.

Under Pressure – The Lasting Impact of Percy Bridgman on Processing in Extreme Conditions

Speaker:  Suveen Mathaudhu, Colorado School of Mines

Past Metallurgist:  Percy Bridgman 

Abstract:  Percy Bridgman (1882 – 1961) received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of matter under high pressure.   His studies of the effects of high pressure and thermodynamic behavior were extensively investigated at pressures of up to 10 GPa through his “fertile mechanical imagination”, which improved on instruments capping out at 0.3GPa at the time.  These instruments allowed the study of compressibility, electric and thermal conductivity, tensile strength and viscosity of more than 100 different materials, including the study of metals such as plutonium and uranium for the Manhattan Project.  It the decades following Bridgman’s seminal instruments and discoveries, the understanding of the behavior of materials has exploded based on rotational diamond anvil and high pressure torsion studies.  In this lecture, we will journey through Bridgman’s life and discoveries, and lead into how they have influenced our modern understanding of both metallic and geological materials under extreme pressures, shears and temperatures. 

From Liberty Ships to Hydrogen Bubbles: Understanding Environmental Degradation of Metals through Microstructures

Speaker: Mengying Liu, Washington and Lee University  

Past metallurgist: Constance Tipper 

This lecture delves into the pioneering work of Constance Tipper and its profound influence on modern metallurgical research, particularly highlighting her role as a trailblazer for women in engineering. Tipper's research on the ductile-to-brittle transition in metals used in Liberty Ships, marked a significant advancement in metallurgy. As the first to employ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study metal fractures at a microstructural level, she established a vital precedent in the field.

Building upon this legacy, my research focuses on hydrogen embrittlement in nickel alloys, utilizing advanced in-situ SEM tensile testing techniques. This endeavor resonates with Tipper's dedication to uncovering the slip band formation and twin-like structures in metals. Furthermore, it expands our knowledge by quantitatively analyzing grain boundary slips using digital image correlation (DIC). This approach enhances our understanding of the role of hydrogen and slip in embrittled crack initiation, thus continuing the unbroken thread of inquiry in metallurgical research.

Tipper's achievements not only advanced materials engineering but also laid the groundwork for future generations of women in this domain. Her inspiring journey has been a catalyst in my own path, motivating me to educate and empower the younger generation to surmount gender barriers in science and engineering.

Designing alloys from their liquid structure

Speaker: Marie Charpagne, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Past metallurgist: Frederick Charles Frank

This lecture will be dedicated to Frederick Charles Frank (1911-1998) and his pioneering contributions to understanding crystal growth, dislocations, and disclinations.

In 1952, Franck published a pioneering article on the structure of metallic liquids (Proc R Soc Lond Ser-Math Phys Sci 215:43–46, 1952) -postulating that icosahedral short-range ordering in molten metals may explain the large undercoolings previously observed by Turnbull and Fischer (J Chem Phys 17:71–73, 1949). This hypothesis has been critical in understanding quasicrystal formation and metallic glass formation. More recently, short-range ordering in the liquid has been shown to lead to the formation of twinned crystals, even in materials of high stacking fault energy. In this lecture, I will present how short-range ordering in the liquid can be leveraged as a driving force to design new alloys for additive manufacturing, randomizing crystal orientations and refining grain sizes. Following this principle, the goal of my research is to mitigate some of the most pressing challenges in the field of additive manufacturing: reducing mechanical anisotropy and increasing fatigue performance.

Breaking bonds and making them: How Tony Evans changed the world and had fun along the way

Speaker: Zachary Cordero, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Past metallurgist: Tony Evans

This lecture celebrates the life and career of Tony Evans (1942 – 2009), whose vision, technical excellence, and extraordinary leadership unlocked advances in the science and engineering of brittle structural materials for extreme environments. Tony Evans was literally and figuratively an itinerant researcher – moving from institution to institution (NIST, Rockwell International, UC Berkeley, UCSB, Princeton, Harvard) and from topic to topic (fracture mechanics, brittle matrix composites, thin films, porous solids, architectured materials, among many others) over his prolific career. Wherever he landed, Tony had an impact, forging powerful collaborations with colleagues from academia and industry, pushing into new disciplines without fear, and leading important research campaigns that yielded fundamental insights with real-world practical implications. This talk will review Tony’s many contributions to the materials used in modern aeroengines, focusing specifically on his foundational work on ceramic matrix composites and advanced ceramic coatings. I will cover how Tony helped push these technologies from lab curiosities into the current generation of gas turbines. I will also discuss how his taste in problems and approach to research can serve a roadmap for the current generation of materials engineers seeking to change the world while having a blast.

From CALculation of PHAse Diagrams to Modern Digital Metallurgy: The (R)Evolution in Alloy Design

Speaker: Kathy Christofidou, University of Sheffield 

Past metallurgist: Scientists developed CALPHAD

The CALPHAD methodology, and computational thermodynamics in general, has been instrumental in enabling a revolution in alloy design, understanding of microstructure development, and propelling physical metallurgy to the 21st century. The development of CALPHAD itself, however, also offers a masterclass in collaboration and community building towards a unified scientific vision and can be chronicled as one of our most notable successes in Materials Science over the past 50 years. This lecture will delve into the history of the development of the CALPHAD method and the extraordinary scientists that pioneered its use; from the first CALPHAD meeting in 1973 discussing pure elements and lattice instabilities to the present-day evolution of CALPHAD as a fundamental tool for physical metallurgy. Building on this, I will discuss my own work in alloy design for aerospace applications, always underpinned by CALPHAD, and the fundamental role that CALPHAD will play in our transition towards materials informatics approaches to alloy design.

Microstructure design via additive manufacturing: What can we learn from traditional metallurgy

Speaker:  Nima Haghdadi, Imperial College London

Past Metallurgist:  Max Hatherly

In this presentation, I will explore the life, achievements, and scientific contributions of Professor Max Hatherly (1922-2011), an innovative Australian physical metallurgist. Prof. Hatherly, a passionate environmentalist with a love for nature, is most recognized in contemporary times for his authorship of the book "Recrystallisation and Related Annealing Phenomena." However, he also did significantly influence thinking in the areas of deformation, recrystallization and texture. One of his biggest contributions was to show the extreme degree of heterogeneity that takes place in deformed metals. In 1968 he reported that individual grains split up into deformation bands having very diverse textures. He was a pioneer in rationalizing microbands and shear bands in deformed metals. Interestingly, there still remains a dispute as to whether the microbands lie on crystallographic planes or not. Many assume they are crystallographic including researchers at Risö, while some very elegant statistical work at Manchester showed that microbands are not specifically crystallographic. In the latter part of this lecture, I will delve into my own research on the additive manufacturing of metals. I will elucidate how leveraging some of the established concepts in the deformation and recrystallization of metals including those discovered by Max Hatherly can help us attain advanced property profiles in additively manufactured steels.

Beyond the Atmosphere: Exploring Mechanics in Modern Metallurgy

Speaker: David Collins, University of Cambridge 

Past Metallurgist: Sir Alan Cottrell, FRS (1919 –2012)

Alan Cottrell was a pivotal figure in metallurgy, whose theoretical and practical contributions fundamentally shaped the field. Cottrell’s seminal work was the discovery of interstitial atom that pin dislocations, known widely as the ‘Cottrell atmosphere’, to explain the mechanical performance of ferritic steels. Linking impurities to plasticity behaviour in metals extends to understating hardness, brittleness and strain ageing in steels.  More broadly, his work on dislocation theory enhanced our understanding of alloy deformation and mechanical properties. Cottrell’s contributions to fracture mechanics have helped define modern approaches to assessing fracture toughness and crack propagation in metals, including low temperature brittle fracture in steels. Through his research, Cottrell influenced materials design and the development of new alloys, focusing on improved performance under challenging conditions. His legacy continues with his discoveries remaining relevant to modern material engineering practices. This talk will discuss the advances made from Cottrell’s discoveries, outline areas of remaining contention and opportunities for future metallurgical research.

Anchors Away! CALPHAD-Designed Joints for Dissimilar Alloys

Speaker: Ian McCue, Northwestern University 

Past metallurgist: Thomas Eagar

Joining of dissimilar materials is a long-standing engineering challenge because brittle intermetallics readily form when elements chemically interact. This issue is particularly prevalent in aerospace, where platforms consist of many different materials that operate at temperatures where diffusion is active. Current joining strategies rely on rivets and bolts, which add unnecessary weight and volume to these structures. Here, transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding is studied as a viable solution.  TLP involves heating a joint to a temperature where interdiffusion produces a lower melting point liquid, which subsequently undergoes isothermal solidification to form a dense joint. While there have been several key contributors to this technique over the years, Thomas Eagar (DMSE MIT) pioneered much of our understanding on the kinetics of TLP. Professor Eagar was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a former head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and made many critical contributions to the fields of welding and metallurgy. In this talk we will show how Eagar’s models for TLP can be extended to dissimilar joining – something that was previously considered not possible.

Metals in Motion: Celebrating the Scientific Legacy of Prof. R.W. Armstrong

Speaker: Liliana Romero Resendiz, National Autonomous University of Mexico 

Past metallurgist: Ronald W. Armstrong

This talk will be dedicated to Prof. Ronald W. Armstrong (1934-2023), who was Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, United States. His vast contributions were crucial to a deep fundamental understanding of the metallurgical field, including dislocation mechanics, constitutive equations, Hall-Petch relations, Zerilli-Armstrong equations, high-rate metallic deformations, ductile-brittle transition behaviors, and X-ray imaging. In addition to his extensive scientific contributions, he motivated many generations of metallurgists with his exceptional human qualities. This talk will briefly cover Prof. Armstrong's biography, his scientific contributions, and the inspiration his work provided to my research on metallic materials.