The Anvil - Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

The Anvil
The Anvil
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Newsletter
FALL 2011
OF ENGINEERING
h t t p : / / m t e . e n gC O. LuL aE G. Ee d
u
| MTE DEPARTMENT | 1
MTE Advisory Board
Officers
Randy T. Wilson, Chair
Scott Gledhill, Vice Chair
Terry R. Woods, Secretary
Randy Skagen, Past Chair
Board Members
Billy Bobbitt
John Clay
J.P. “Phil” Duke
John R. Koenig, PhD
Jim Lecroy
Edward J. LeVert
Michael Kevin Minor
Ray D. Peterson, PhD
R. Craig Seabrook
Sheila Sanders Sharp
David A. Smith
William B. Smith III
Sid Tankersly
Dale Watring
Ann F. Whitaker, PhD
Carvetta Williams
The Anvil
Dr. Viola L. Acoff, MTE
Department Head
Dr. Greg Thompson, Editor
Mary Wymer, Editor
Tori Nelko, Designer
Issue No. 1
The Anvil is published each fall by
UA’s Department of Metallurgical
and Material Engineering. Address
correspondence to the editor:
The University of Alabama
College of Engineering
Box 870202
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202
Visit the MTE website at
http://mte.eng.ua.edu.
2 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Cover photo left to right: MTE students Ashley Johnson, Pierre
Samuels, Kim Kopecki, Anna Willemin Clay, Blake Whitely and
Brandi Freeman in the Ray L. Farabee Metal Casting Laboratory.
These students competed and won the top award at the 2011
American Foundry Society Student Casting competition. Read
more on page 13.
Contents
Department Dialogue
3
Alumni News
4
MTE Department News
6
Faces in the Crowd
10
MTE Student News
11
Pay it Forward
14
Look How We’re Growing
15
The Anvil
Welcome to the inaugural issue of The Anvil,
the newsletter for UA’s Department of Metallurgical and Materials
Engineering. As head of UA’s MTE department, I can honestly
say that I have never witnessed a more exciting time here on
campus than what we are experiencing now. Since 2003, The
University of Alabama has experienced a tremendous growth in
enrollment. To accommodate this growth, the footprint of the
campus has changed significantly with the addition of numerous
new buildings. In preparation for the construction of the fourth
and final phase of the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC
Phase IV), the Foundry wing of H.M. Comer Hall was demolished
during the summer 2011. The new SEC Phase IV building will
include materials engineering research and teaching activities. In
addition, we are preparing to break ground for our new Foundry.
Other departmental highlights since 2003:
s$R$ORU3TEFANESCURETIREDIN$R2ICHARD#"RADTRETIREDIN
s3IXNEWFACULTYWEREHIRED$R'REGORY4HOMPSON$R3UBHADRA
'UPTA$R.ITIN#HOPRA$R4AKAO3UZUKI
MINT director and joint appointment with electrical engineering), Dr.
Laurentiu Nastac (2011) and Dr. Jinhui Song (2011).
s-4%FACULTYOFlCESANDLABSWILLMOVEINTOTHENEW3%#0HASE)6
building in summer 2013.
s/URUNDERGRADUATEENROLLMENTFORTHISPASTACADEMICYEARWAS
s)NTHEnACADEMICYEARSTUDENTSGRADUATEDWITHBACHELORS
degrees (10 of these 12 students graduated in May 2011).
s/N-ARCHWEHELDAN-4%ALUMNIREUNION)FYOUMISSEDTHIS
one, we plan to have another one soon!
s)NnTHEAVERAGE-4%FACULTYTEACHEREVALUATIONSWEREMORE
than 4.0/5.0; the faculty averaged five peer-reviewed publications
per year per faculty member; and an average of $253,000 per faculty
member in new research grants were awarded in the 2010 fiscal year.
We hope that you enjoy reading our newsletter, and we encourage your
FEEDBACK7ELOOKFORWARDTOHEARINGFROMYOUANDx2OLL4IDE2OLL
Viola L. Acoff, PhD
Department Head
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 3
ALUMNI NEWS
ALUM NI LUNC HE O N B RIN GS BA C K ME MO RIE S …
On March 11, 2011, the MTE
department hosted an alumni
lunch. More than 60 alumni
attended and reminisced about
the department. During the
alumni lunch, Dr. Charles L.
Karr, dean of the College of
Engineering, visited to share
the growth of the College. The
luncheon provided opportunities
to tour the department facilities,
including classrooms and
laboratories. It also gave alumni
a great opportunity to meet
the rising generation of MTE
graduates and pass along advice
and encouragement.
If you were not contacted, please
contact the MTE department as
we hope to make this a yearly
department homecoming.
2002
Justin Ladner"3-3IS
now a practicing attorney in
"IRMINGHAM!LA*USTINSAYS
he does a lot of failure analysis
product liability work where he
can use his engineering with
the law. He also participates in
triathlons in his spare time.
Peyton Nicholson"3WORKSFOR
Nucor in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He and
his wife just had their first child,
a daughter, earlier this year.
.ICHOLSONSAYSh)AMCURRENTLY
working as a team leader-mill
operator and enjoying it. I made the
move to production from metallurgy
to gain a better understanding
of the entire process, and even
though I am not technically a
metallurgist anymore, the job
change has made me a better one.
Pretty neat to see firsthand the link
between theory and practice.”
ALUM NI UP D ATES
1988
Rob McKenzie"3HASBEEN
quality assurance manager for
Mueller Industries in Munford,
Tenn., for seven years. His
division of Mueller produces
copper fittings for the plumbing
and commercial industries. He
recently celebrated his one-year
anniversary with wife, Grace, a
nurse who works in Memphis.
-C+ENZIESAYSh7EHAVETHREE
very rambunctious dogs and have
been enjoying our life here.”
4 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
2003
Cherqueta Claiborn"3LIVESAND
works in Jackson, Tenn., as a
metallurgist for Kaiser Aluminum.
The Anvil
2005
Robbie Laney"3FORMERLY
with ACIPCO, was promoted to
product manager at Fontaine
Fifth Wheel in Trussville, Ala.,
in May 2011. He is married to
2EBECCA4AYLORHASADAUGHTER
Taylor, and his wife is expecting
another baby.
2006
Chris Smith"3ISTHEQUALITY
coordinator at Nucor Steel in
Jackson, Miss.
2007
Wesley Nicholson"3ISA
process-quality engineer at the
Fairfield Works of US Steel in
"IRMINGHAM!LA
2008
Germanique Pickens"3IS
quality lead for Exxon Mobil
Development Co. She is working
in California and Melbourne,
Australia. She handles fabrication
issues, design criteria and
welding quality.
Joan Reichwein Smith"3IS
a materials engineer at the
!VIATIONAND-ISSILE2ESEARCH
Development and Engineering
Center. She has been working
on batteries and is pursuing a
graduate degree at Columbia
University.
Olivia Underwood"3-3
is failure-analyst engineer at
CGI Federal Defense on the
2EDSTONE!RSENAL3HELIVESIN
Huntsville, Ala., and is working
on her doctorate at The University
of Alabama in Huntsville in the
materials science program.
2009
Adam Epperson"3IS
materials superintendent at
Aleris Specification Alloys. He
supervises the operation of two
large reverberatory furnaces that
PRODUCEALUMINUMALLOYS
10 million pounds per month).
He lives with his wife, Laura, in
"IRMINGHAM!LA
Amber Hamby"3LIVESIN
Longview, Texas, and works in the
oil-gas industry for Schlumberger.
2010
Karen Torres Henry (PhD)
ACCEPTEDA.ATIONAL2ESEARCH
Council postdoc at the National
Institute for Standards &
Technology and is married to MTE
graduate Patrick Henry.
Diondra Means"3-3IS
a process engineer at Texas
Instruments in Dallas, Texas,
and is married to Olagbemiga
h,Uv-AYOWA
Robert Morris"3-30H$HAS
taken a microscopy position at
Knolls Atomic Laboratory in
New York.
duties for a prime contractor
that handles construction,
machine-shop fabrication,
welding, NDT and pressure-vessel
MAINTAINABILITY3HESAYSh0LEASE
tell your new students that MTE
is a great choice for majors.”
2011
Brandi Freeman"3HASTAKENA
position as a teacher in Teach for
America in New Jersey.
Ross Hinson (MS) joined Nucor
Steel in Memphis, Tenn.
Andrew Nix"3WASHIREDASA
foundry and casting engineer at
ITT in Cullman, Ala.
Chase Rawlinson"3WASHIRED
as an associate metallurgist at
33!"!LABAMA)NC
Nathan Rimkus (MS) accepted
a research position at Los Alamos
National Laboratory in
New Mexico.
Jonathan Stein"3JOINED
Progressive Foundry in Iowa.
Marisa Vann"3WASHIREDAT
Thyssen Krupp in Alabama.
Patrick Patton"3JOINED
!RMSTED2AIL#O
Zeenath Reddy (MS, PhD) has
taken an engineer position at
Intel.
If we failed to include you,
please send us your updates!
Please email updates to
[email protected].
Karen Robinson"3ISWORKING
with NASA at the Stennis
Space Center on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast as a system-safety
engineer. She has oversight
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 5
MTE DEPARTMENT NEWS
6 |
CHOPRA SELECTED AS
TMS YOUNG LEADER
INTERNATIONAL
SCHOLAR
development, both as scientist and
an educator. It is a great honor for me
to represent TMS at JIM as a Young
Leader International Scholar.”
Dr. Nitin
Chopra,
assistant
professor,
was the 2011
recipient
of the TMS
Young Leader
International
Scholar award.
The recognition
enables TMS and its counterpart, the
Japanese Institute of Metals (JIM),
to send a representative to each
other’s respective annual meeting.
Chopra was scheduled to give a
PRESENTATIONONh-ULTICOMPONENT
and Multi-functional Nanoscale
Heterostructures: Their Morphological
Control and Assembly on High
Curvature 1-D Nanostructures” at the
JIM meeting in Tokyo in March 2011.
"ECAUSEOFTHEUNFORTUNATEAND
tragic events of the earthquake and
tsunami, the meeting was postponed,
and Chopra will be attending next
year. As part of this award, Chopra
will visit the National Institute for
Materials Science in Tsukuba City
and the Tokyo Institute of Technology
in Yokohama City, as well as other
Japanese industrial research centers,
universities and research laboratories.
h6ISITINGSELECTINDUSTRIALFACILITIES
and laboratories will aid in my
establishing strong collaborations with
distinguished materials scientists and
METALLURGISTSvSAID#HOPRAh4HIS
opportunity will not only develop my
leadership skills but also strongly
contribute towards my professional
WILSON RETIRES AFTER
25 YEARS OF SERVICE
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Lyndall Wilson,
the MTE
department
administrative
secretary for
15 years,
retired April
1, 2011. She
had 25 years
of service to
the University,
serving her first 10 years with the
#OLLEGEOF#OMMERCEAND"USINESS
Administration. She assisted faculty
for many years in purchasing supplies
and equipment, processing paperwork
for student hires and balancing
grant funds. In 2010, she topped
her own University record for the
most purchase-card requisitions in a
single month — a testament of her
perseverance and the productivity
of the MTE faculty. In retirement,
she plans on spending time between
Alabama and New York City, where her
daughter lives. Wilson is a constant
4IDEFANANDWEWILLMISSHERh2OLL
Tide.” The MTE faculty wishes her all
the best!
MTE WELCOMES NASTAC
In spring 2011, Dr. Laurentiu Nastac
joined the MTE faculty as an associate
professor. He received the diplomaengineering degree in metallurgy
and materials
science from
the University
h0OLITEHNICAv
OF"UCHAREST
2OMANIAIN
AND
his master’s
and doctoral
degrees
in metallurgical and materials
engineering from the Capstone
INANDRESPECTIVELY
Upon graduating from UA, he was
a research scientist at Concurrent
Technologies Corp., based in
Pittsburgh, Pa., until he joined the
MTE faculty. His primary research
interest is in advanced metal casting
and solidification processes with
emphasis on the modeling and
simulation of casting phenomena.
Nastac has developed eight
software tools, made more than 100
presentations, co-authored three
patents, had over 125 publications
in the materials science and
manufacturing fields, and wrote
two books.
WARREN NAMED TMS
PRESIDENT
Dr. Garry W.
Warren was
named president
of The Minerals,
Metals and
Materials
Society at the
society’s annual
meeting in San
Diego, Calif.,
&EBn-ARCH7ARRENHAS
been an active TMS member for more
than 30 years, serving as director
The Anvil
of publications, financial planning
officer, member of the executive
committee and vice president. He
also served for a number of years as
the faculty adviser for UA’s Materials
Advantage Student Chapter, which
received five Chapter of Excellence
Awards. TMS is an international
ORGANIZATIONFOUNDEDINWITH
more than 11,000 professional and
student members from industry,
academia and national laboratories.
The mission of TMS is to promote
the global science and engineering
professions concerned with minerals,
METALSANDMATERIALSBYORGANIZING
conferences, offering scholarships
and providing important networking
opportunities for its members. Warren
encourages all former and current
students to be active in their chosen
professional society (hopefully, TMS),
and he would love to see you at the
next TMS annual meeting in Orlando,
&LA-ARCHnORATTHE
MS&T meeting in Columbus, Ohio,
/CTn
SUZUKI NAMED
DIRECTOR OF UA’S
MINT CENTER AND
HONORED FOR WORKS
IN MAGNETISM
Dr. Takao
3UZUKIARECENT
vice president
and professor
at Toyota
Technological
Institute in
Nagoya Japan,
was hired
as the new
Materials for Information Technology
Center director at The University
OF!LABAMA3UZUKIBEGANHIS5!
duties full time on April 1, 2010,
and he holds a joint appointment
in the MTE department and the
department of electrical and
computer engineering. UA’s MINT
Center is an interdisciplinary
research center focusing on
developing new materials to advance
DATASTORAGE3UZUKIWHOEARNED
his bachelor’s and master’s degrees
from Waseda University in Tokyo and
his doctorate from the California
Institute of Technology, had served
as a principal professor at Toyota
4ECHNOLOGICAL)NSTITUTESINCE
and a vice president there since
2004. He is currently serving as
the 2011 president of the IEEE
Magnetics Society. Most recently, he
received the 2010 Society Award of
the Magnetics Society of Japan for
contributions to the developments
of magnetic and magneto-optical
recording materials and technologies
ANDALSOTOTHEGLOBALIZATIONOFTHE
Magnetic Society. The award is the
HIGHESTRANKEDPRIZE
laboratory demonstrations on how to
incorporate materials education into
the classroom. The workshop hosted
("#5FACULTYMEMBERSFROM
different institutions and in the latter
years provided them the opportunity
to come back to work with UA
faculty on their research projects.
Participants of the HBCU workshop touring the
SEM laboratory with MTE graduate student,
Peng Qu, showing the capabilities of the
instrument
HBCU OUTREACH A
SUCCESS
After 12 years of continuous
National Science Foundation funding
totaling more than $2.2 million,
the workshop known as Introducing
Science Faculty from Historically
"LACK#OLLEGESAND5NIVERSITIES
("#5TO-ATERIALS3CIENCEAND
Engineering will come to an end
with the summer 2011 class. This
workshop, coordinated by Drs.
Viola Acoff and Mark Weaver, used
faculty across department and
College boundaries in providing
lectures, tours and hands-on
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 7
MTE DEPARTMENT NEWS
NOVEL CONTAINERLESS
CASTING PROCESS
STUDIED IN MTE
Drs. Nagy El-Kaddah and Mark
Weaver were awarded a National
Science Foundation grant titled
h!.OVEL#ONTAINERLESS-ELTING
and Casting Process for Structural
Cast Magnesium Alloys.” In this
study, they are using a combination
of mathematical modeling and
experimentation to investigate
electromagnetic confinement
of molten magnesium and the
influences of casting parameters
on the solidification morphology,
microstructure and mechanical
properties of cast magnesium alloys.
THOMPSON, WEAVER
RECEIVE $1.3 MILLION
NASA GRANT TO STUDY
SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS
Drs. Gregory Thompson and Mark
Weaver were awarded a $1.3 million
grant over three years from the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration for research in
shape-memory alloys. These metals
can recover their initial shape after
being deformed by heating. The
most common shape-memory alloys
are made of nickel titanium and
are called nitinol. Currently, these
materials have found great promise
as a biomaterial, such as stents
for heart valves. Unfortunately, the
low transformation temperature,
8 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Micrographs of a Magnesium AZ91 alloy processed by Magnetic Suspension Melting
(MSM). The image revealed that Al segregates to the grain boundaries leading to
intermetallic formations. Conventional casting exhibit interdendritic entrapment of Al.
less than 100 degrees Celsius,
has prevented their use in higher
temperature actuator applications,
WHICHARECOMMONINMOTORS2ECENT
discoveries by NASA engineers
demonstrated that ternary additions
of gold, platinum, hafnium, and
palladium to nitinol can increase
the transformation temperature
hundreds of degrees Celsius. The
increase is caused by the formation
of nanoscale precipitates. Thompson
and Weaver are using a variety of
analytical microscopy tools, including
the atom probe that provides 3-D
representation of individual atoms,
to understand how the precipitates
form and why they contribute to
these improvements. The work is
collaboration between UA and the
.!3!'LENN2ESEARCH#ENTERIN/HIO
An atom probe reconstruction of a Ni-29.7Ti20Hf specimen. The dark blue features
represent nanoscale precipitates that allow the
alloy to have superior shape memory properties.
The Anvil
COE HELPS WITH TORNADO-RELIEF EFFORT
On April 27, an EF4 Tornado struck Tuscaloosa, devastating many parts of
the city. The scale of destruction was astounding. It was one of many tornados
that struck that day in Alabama. The city, local churches, the University and
volunteers converged in Tuscaloosa and the other affected areas to help. In
one effort, the College of Engineering and UA Intercollegiate Athletics faculty
ANDSTUDENTSORGANIZEDTOWORKALONGCOMMUNITYANDCHURCHVOLUNTEERSIN
moving donation supplies collected at the Holt High School gymnasium to
(OLT"APTIST#HURCH7ITHNEARLYVOLUNTEERSITTOOKALMOSTSIXHOURSTO
move all the donations, which showed the outpouring of community care in
HELPINGTHOSEAFFECTEDRECLAIMSOMEOFTHEIRBASICNEEDS"ETWEEN!PRIL
and May 25, the Holt Community Partnership assisted nearly 2,000 families
with approximately 10,000 volunteer hours.
Patrick Henry (BS 2001, MS 2004 and PhD
2008) clearing brush from the Cottondale
area after the tornado.
The COE trailer being loaded up with donations.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 9
FACES IN THE CROWD
MTE Graduate Student Profile
Name:-URALIDHARANh-URALIv2AMACHANDRAN
Research adviser:$R2AMANA2EDDY
Hometown: Chennai (formerly, Madras), Tamilnadu, India
What attracted you to UA for graduate studies in MTE?
The main attraction was the amount of research in a
RELATIVELYSMALLDEPARTMENT$R2EDDYSGROUPHASVARIOUS
research projects, such as plasma processing of materials,
fuel cells (SOFC and PEMFC), molten salts for solar
applications and electrometallurgy using ionic liquids,
which helped me in choosing his group for my doctoral
studies.
What is your research topic?
-YDISSERTATIONTOPICISh4HERMODYNAMICSAND4HERMAL
Plasma Synthesis of Fine-Grained Materials” and
incorporates various facets of material processing,
including thermodynamic-reaction feasibility study,
KINETICSOFTHEREACTIONPROCESSVARIABLEOPTIMIZATION
computational fluid dynamics, and properties of finegrained materials.
MTE Undergraduate Student Profile
Name: Kristy Tippey
Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
What attracted you to UA and specifically MTE?
I spent two summers before my junior and senior years
of high school interning with research groups at UA. I got
acquainted with some top-notch equipment and some
welcoming graduate students that made for a nice niche
experience and helped turn me towards my hometown
university.
What has been your greatest achievement during your
time in MTE?
)VEMAINTAINEDA'0!WHILEAVOIDINGHERMITRY)
have been able to continue research interests as an
undergraduate student here. I really like the general
community we have as research groups.
What has been your greatest achievement during your time
in MTE?
Have you been involved in any student organizations
while at UA? If so, which ones?
I have had three peer-reviewed journal publications and
four international symposium presentations since I joined
the MTE department.
I serve as treasurer of Alabama Triathletes and ride with
THE!LABAMA#YCLINGTEAM)MALSOAPARTOF4AU"ETA0I
How do you plan to use the knowledge and experience
gained at UA in your future career?
I would like to pursue an industrial position in
materials processing.
10 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
How do you plan to use the knowledge and experience
gained at UA in the future?
First, I plan on finishing up my undergraduate degree!
From there, graduate school — my interest in high school
was bioengineering — and then possibly a professorship.
MTE STUDENT NEWS
MURPHY RECEIVES UNCF/MERCK
RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP
Aeriel Murphy received the 2011 UNCF/Merck
5NDERGRADUATE3CIENCE2ESEARCH3CHOLARSHIP!WARD
FORTHEnACADEMICYEAR-URPHYSPENTTHE
summer 2011 term at Merck doing research on
biomaterials. This is a highly competitive award that
consists of an undergraduate scholarship up to $25,000
and a paid internship.
HENRY TAKES HOME MICROSCOPY
HONORS
The Anvil
the chemical-ordering behavior in FePt. Her research
consisted of work using both the transmission electron
microscope and atom probe. Upon graduation, she
WONTHE.ATIONAL2ESEARCH#OUNCILFELLOWSHIPTOBEA
postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md. Fu’s thesis was
TITLEDh)NSITUGROWTHSTRESSESIN&E0TAND&E#UALLOY
thin films.” In 2010, his work was published in the highimpact journal Physical Review Letters. He has continued
HISEDUCATIONWITHDOCTORALSTUDIESAT5!"OTHSTUDENTS
were advised by Dr. Gregory Thompson.
STUDENTS SERVE THE COLLEGE
4HREE-4%STUDENTS-ORGAN"LOUIN"RANDI&REEMAN
and Anna Willemin Clay, served as Ambassadors for
the College of Engineering. Ambassadors assist in
college-recruiting events, such as Engineering Day, as
well as Capstone Engineering Society alumni events.
Ambassadors are selected based on GPA, activity in the
college and their department and recommendations
from faculty.
Karen Henry holding the Microscopy Society of America Presidential
Certificate at the M&M 2010 Conference
Karen Torres Henry (PhD 2010) was awarded the
Microscopy Society of America’s 2010 Presidential
Student Award for her research using convergentbeam electron diffraction and simulations to determine
chemical-order parameters in FePt. She presented her
findings at the Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting
held in August 2010 in Nashville, Tenn. She was advised
by Dr. Gregory Thompson.
GRADUATE STUDENTS WIN 2010
COE TOP THESIS AND DISSERTATION
AWARDS
+AREN4ORRES(ENRY0H$AND"IANZHU&U-3
2010) won the College of Engineering’s Outstanding
Doctorate Dissertation and Outstanding Master Thesis
AWARDS(ENRYSDISSERTATIONTITLEDh1UANTITATIVE
Microanalysis of Magnetic Nanostructures,” investigated
2010-2011 MATERIALS
ADVANTAGE STUDENT CHAPTER
OFFICERS
President ˆ"LAKE7HITLEY
Vice-President — Aeriel Murphy
Secretaryˆ2OBERT7RIGHT
Treasurerˆ3UZANNE+ORNEGAY
Materials Advantage (http://materialadvantage.org)
comprises student membership in The American
Ceramic Society, Association for Iron and Steel
Technology, ASM International and The Minerals,
Metals and Materials Society. It is a great way
for students to start their involvement in the
professional societies. The student chapter adviser
is Dr. Nitin Chopra.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 11
MTE STUDENT NEWS
MTE GRADUATES
Congratulations to our graduating
class!
Summer 2010
Karen Torres Henry (PhD)
Fall 2010
2OBERT-ORRIS0H$
Debabrata Pradhan (PhD)
Partha Saha (PhD)
Chris Samuels (PhD)
"IANZHU&U-3
$AVIDh0ATRICKv0ATTON"3
-ARISSA6ANN"3
Spring 2011
2OSS(INSON-3
.ATHAN2IMKUS-3
"RADFORD3CHULZ-3
-ORGAN"LOUIN"3
"RIAN%RVIN"3
"RANDI&REEMAN"3
3TEPHEN(UNT"3
+IMBERLY+OPECKI"3
!NDY.IX"3
#HASE2AWLINSON"3
!USTIN3TARNES"3
*ONATHAN3TEIN"3
!NNA7ILLEMIN#LAY"3
HONORS DAY
RECIPIENTS
The University of Alabama Honors
Day was held April 7, 2011. Honors
week provides an opportunity for the
University, colleges and departments
TORECOGNIZETHEACCOMPLISHMENTSOF
students’ scholastic and leadership
achievements. The MTE department
recipients were the following:
Departmental Awards
John Calhoun, E.C. Wright
Outstanding Freshman Award
12 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
2-ILLER7RIGHT%#7RIGHT
Outstanding Sophomore Award
Kristin Tippey, E.C. Wright Award for
Excellence
Sean Thompson, Alpha Sigma
Mu Outstanding Undergraduate
Student Award
"LAKE7HITLEY*OHN0$UKE
Outstanding Senior Award
Aeriel Murphy, C.H.T. Wilkins Award
for Excellence
#LAYTON/"RIEN&ARABEE4ANNEHILL
Award for Excellence
Stephen Hunt, Materials Advantage
(MS&T) Student Chapter Award
0AIGE"OEHMCKE-ETALLURGICALAND
Materials Engineering Outstanding
Junior
"RANDI&REEMAN-ETALLURGICALAND
Materials Engineering Outstanding
Senior
Citation Corporation Endowed
Scholarship Recipients
0AUL"ARRON$AVID&LETCHER
2EBEKAH'AGE"RETT(UNTER
Joseph Pettit, Samuel Schwarm,
Chase Smith, Kristin Tippey,
*OSHUA4YNER"LAKE7HITLEY
+ELLY7ILSON2-ILLER7RIGHT
5NDERGRADUATESAND2ESEARCH
Experience for High School
conference held in August 2010.
"OTHSTUDENTSWEREMENTOREDBY
Dr. Nitin Chopra. Starnes’ work
involved development of ZnO
nanowire growth for chemical
sensors, and Summerville studied the
morphological evolution and surface
migration of gold nanoparticles.
Wenwu Shi and Junchi Wu, both
graduate students mentored by
$R.ITIN#HOPRAAND"IANZHU
Fu, mentored by Dr. Gregory
Thompson, were awarded top poster
REORGANIZATIONATTHEANNUAL-ATERIALS
for Information Technology Industrial
2EVIEWHELDAT5!IN/CTOBER
2010. All three students work on
nanomaterial-based issues as they
relate to either information storage or
energy-based applications. More than
60 posters were presented.
STUDENTS IMPACT
COLLEGE INDUSTRY
CONFERENCE
*ONATHAN3TEINRECEIVEDTHE2OBERT
72EESMAN-EMORIAL3CHOLARSHIP
which is one of the top awards given
College Awards
nationally to students majoring
-ORGAN"LOUIN3OCIETYOF7OMEN
in metallurgical and materials
Engineers Outstanding Senior
engineering. This award was
Award
presented at the College Industry
Austin Starnes, 2011 Engineering
#OUNCILOF"IRMINGHAM-4%3ENIOR Conference that was held in Chicago,
)LL.OVn3IX-4%
of the Year
students were selected as delegates
to the 2010 College Industry
STUDENT RESEARCH
Conference that was sponsored by
RECOGNIZED
the Foundry Educational Foundation.
Larry Summerville and Austin
4HESTUDENTSWERE-ORGAN"LOUIN
Starnes, both undergraduates,
Stephen Hunt II, David Patton,
received second and third place,
#HASE2AWLINSON*ONATHAN3TEINAND
respectively, for their poster
Marisa Vann.
presentations at the Tuskegee
2ESEARCH%XPERIENCEFOR
The Anvil
STUDENTS TAKE TOP
CASTING PRIZE
Undergraduates Anna Willemin Clay,
"RANDI&REEMAN!SHLEY*OHNSON
Kimberly Kopecki, Pierre Samuels and
"LAKE7HITLEYWONTHETOPAWARDAT
the 2011 American Foundry Society
Student Casting competition held
April 11, 2011, in the Wynfrey Hotel
IN"IRMINGHAM!LA4HESTUDENTS
designed, modeled and made an
A356 Impeller. Their casting was
part of their class project under the
supervision of Dr. Laurentiu Nastac.
UA’s second team, consisting of
Matthew Heyen and Jonathan Stein,
took home second place, outpacing
instate rival The University of Alabama
AT"IRMINGHAM4HEYCASTANIRON
skillet with the script A. The combined
hard work of the MTE students
allowed the teams to bring home
$1,250 for the Materials Advantage
3TUDENT#HAPTER2OLL4IDE
The winning casting projects: A356 impeller (above) and skillet
with script A (right)
UNDERGRADUATES GAIN NANOTECH EXPERIENCE
$R3UBHADRAh3Uv'UPTAHASENGAGEDUNDERGRADUATESINRESEARCHSINCE
joining the faculty in 2004. As the director of the microfabrication facility,
uamicro, she involves students across departments and colleges in using
the facility to see how materials research is focused on thin-film metallurgy
and device fabrication. Current and former students have worked on
nanomaterials and devices applied to the computer-disk-drive industry,
non-volatile memory, magnetic, nano- and biosensors and devices, antenna
arrays, micro-fuel cells, solar cells, and micro-electromechanical devices.
The self-contained user facility has multimillion dollar tools for deposition,
patterning, etching and related microfabrication capability. The facility has
JUSTUNDERGONEAMOVETOTHE"EVILLBUILDINGINPREPARATIONFORAlNALMOVE
to the Science and Engineering Complex Phase IV building scheduled for
completion in 2013.
MTE students work in the clean-room facility
researching thin film materials.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING | MTE DEPARTMENT | 13
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14 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
The Anvil
Look How We’re Growing
As with the University’s growth, the College has also been expanding. Growing
from 1,617 undergraduate students in 2005 to 2,773 in 2010, the College’s
undergraduate enrollment is only one area of many to brag about. Some of
the nation’s best and brightest are choosing the Capstone for engineering.
The 2010 freshman-engineering class had a mean ACT score of 27.7.
The best and brightest are learning in some of UA’s newest facilities. If you
have visited the north side of campus lately, you probably noticed the many
building, facility and road changes. Engineering has expanded with roles in
Shelby Hall and the Science and Engineering Complex, as well as the South
Engineering Research Center and the Science and Engineering Complex
Phase IV, which are currently under construction. Following are brief area
descriptions of the facilities under construction.
South Engineering Research Center
Demolition crews arrived on the Capstone’s
campus immediately after finals concluded
for the fall 2009 semester. The beginning
of construction for SERC started with the
destruction of East Engineering and Houser
Annex. By the end of January, the buildings
were gone and site work was in full swing.
With almost 100,000 square feet, SERC
will sit behind Houser Hall and face directly
across from Shelby Hall. The three-story
building will include seven large classrooms,
numerous meeting and conference rooms,
over 40 research and instructional labs, and
office space for over 175 faculty, staff and
students. The building is scheduled to open
in January 2012.
Science and Engineering Complex Phase IV
The Science and Engineering Complex Phase IV is scheduled to open summer
2013. The building will include more than 100,000 square feet of research
laboratories, faculty offices, graduate-student areas, conference and meeting
facilities and other collaboration spaces.
C o l l e g e o f E n g i n e e r i n g | M T E D e p a r tm e n t | 1 5
Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Box 870202
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage PAID
Tuscaloosa, AL
Permit 16
Science and Engineering
Complex Phase IV