The Anvil - Fall 2011

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.

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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

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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 signiďŹ cantly with the addition of numerous new buildings. In preparation for the construction of the fourth and ďŹ nal 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 $ORU 3TEFANESCU RETIRED IN $R 2ICHARD # "RADT RETIRED IN s 3IX NEW FACULTY WERE HIRED $R 'REGORY 4HOMPSON $R 3UBHADRA 'UPTA $R .ITIN #HOPRA $R 4AKAO 3UZUKI

MINT director and joint appointment with electrical engineering), Dr. Laurentiu Nastac (2011) and Dr. Jinhui Song (2011). s -4% FACULTY OFlCES AND LABS WILL MOVE INTO THE NEW 3%# 0HASE )6 building in summer 2013. s /UR UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT FOR THIS PAST ACADEMIC YEAR WAS s )N THE n ACADEMIC YEAR STUDENTS GRADUATED WITH BACHELOR S degrees (10 of these 12 students graduated in May 2011). s /N -ARCH

WE HELD AN -4% ALUMNI REUNION )F YOU MISSED THIS one, we plan to have another one soon! s )N n THE AVERAGE -4% FACULTY TEACHER EVALUATIONS WERE MORE than 4.0/5.0; the faculty averaged ďŹ ve 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 ďŹ scal year.

We hope that you enjoy reading our newsletter, and we encourage your FEEDBACK 7E LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU AND x 2OLL 4IDE 2OLL

Viola L. Acoff, PhD Department Head

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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 -3 IS now a practicing attorney in "IRMINGHAM !LA *USTIN SAYS 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 "3 WORKS FOR Nucor in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He and his wife just had their ďŹ rst child, a daughter, earlier this year. .ICHOLSON SAYS h) AM CURRENTLY 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 ďŹ rsthand the link between theory and practice.â€?

ALUM NI UP D ATES 1988 Rob McKenzie "3 HAS BEEN quality assurance manager for Mueller Industries in Munford, Tenn., for seven years. His division of Mueller produces copper ďŹ ttings for the plumbing and commercial industries. He recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with wife, Grace, a nurse who works in Memphis.

-C+ENZIE SAYS h7E HAVE THREE very rambunctious dogs and have been enjoying our life here.�

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THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

2003 Cherqueta Claiborn "3 LIVES AND works in Jackson, Tenn., as a metallurgist for Kaiser Aluminum.

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2005 Robbie Laney "3 FORMERLY with ACIPCO, was promoted to product manager at Fontaine Fifth Wheel in Trussville, Ala., in May 2011. He is married to 2EBECCA 4AYLOR HAS A DAUGHTER

Taylor, and his wife is expecting another baby.

2006 Chris Smith "3 IS THE QUALITY coordinator at Nucor Steel in Jackson, Miss.

2007 Wesley Nicholson "3 IS A process-quality engineer at the FairďŹ eld Works of US Steel in "IRMINGHAM !LA 2008 Germanique Pickens "3 IS 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 "3 IS a materials engineer at the !VIATION AND -ISSILE 2ESEARCH 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 !RSENAL 3HE LIVES IN Huntsville, Ala., and is working on her doctorate at The University of Alabama in Huntsville in the materials science program.

2009 Adam Epperson "3 IS materials superintendent at Aleris SpeciďŹ cation Alloys. He supervises the operation of two large reverberatory furnaces that PRODUCE ALUMINUM ALLOYS 10 million pounds per month).

He lives with his wife, Laura, in "IRMINGHAM !LA Amber Hamby "3 LIVES IN Longview, Texas, and works in the oil-gas industry for Schlumberger.

2010 Karen Torres Henry (PhD) ACCEPTED A .ATIONAL 2ESEARCH Council postdoc at the National Institute for Standards & Technology and is married to MTE graduate Patrick Henry.

Diondra Means "3 -3 IS a process engineer at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas, and is married to Olagbemiga h,Uv -AYOWA Robert Morris "3 -3 0H$ 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 MAINTAINABILITY 3HE SAYS h0LEASE tell your new students that MTE is a great choice for majors.�

2011 Brandi Freeman "3 HAS TAKEN A position as a teacher in Teach for America in New Jersey.

Ross Hinson (MS) joined Nucor Steel in Memphis, Tenn.

Andrew Nix "3 WAS HIRED AS A foundry and casting engineer at ITT in Cullman, Ala. Chase Rawlinson "3 WAS HIRED 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 "3 JOINED Progressive Foundry in Iowa.

Marisa Vann "3 WAS HIRED AT Thyssen Krupp in Alabama.

Patrick Patton "3 JOINED !RMSTED 2AIL #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 gthompson@eng.ua.edu.

Karen Robinson "3 IS WORKING with NASA at the Stennis Space Center on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a system-safety engineer. She has oversight

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MTE DEPARTMENT NEWS

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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 PRESENTATION ON h-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.

"ECAUSE OF THE UNFORTUNATE AND 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. h6ISITING SELECT INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES and laboratories will aid in my establishing strong collaborations with distinguished materials scientists and METALLURGISTS v SAID #HOPRA h4HIS 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 ďŹ rst 10 years with the #OLLEGE OF #OMMERCE AND "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 4IDE FAN AND WE WILL MISS HER h2OLL Tide.â€? 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

2OMANIA IN AND his master’s and doctoral degrees in metallurgical and materials engineering from the Capstone IN AND RESPECTIVELY 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 solidiďŹ cation 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 ďŹ elds, 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., &EB n-ARCH 7ARREN HAS been an active TMS member for more than 30 years, serving as director

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of publications, ďŹ nancial planning ofďŹ cer, 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 ďŹ ve Chapter of Excellence Awards. TMS is an international ORGANIZATION FOUNDED IN WITH 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, METALS AND MATERIALS BY ORGANIZING 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 -ARCH n

OR AT THE MS&T meeting in Columbus, Ohio, /CT n

SUZUKI NAMED DIRECTOR OF UA’S MINT CENTER AND HONORED FOR WORKS IN MAGNETISM Dr. Takao 3UZUKI A RECENT 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 !LABAMA 3UZUKI BEGAN HIS 5! 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 DATA STORAGE 3UZUKI WHO EARNED 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 )NSTITUTE SINCE 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 AND ALSO TO THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE Magnetic Society. The award is the HIGHEST RANKED PRIZE

laboratory demonstrations on how to incorporate materials education into the classroom. The workshop hosted ("#5 FACULTY MEMBERS FROM 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 #OLLEGES AND 5NIVERSITIES ("#5 TO -ATERIALS 3CIENCE AND 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

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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.â€? In this study, they are using a combination of mathematical modeling and experimentation to investigate electromagnetic conďŹ nement of molten magnesium and the inuences of casting parameters on the solidiďŹ cation 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,

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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, WHICH ARE COMMON IN MOTORS 2ECENT 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! 'LENN 2ESEARCH #ENTER IN /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.

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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 AND STUDENTS ORGANIZED TO WORK ALONG COMMUNITY AND CHURCH VOLUNTEERS IN moving donation supplies collected at the Holt High School gymnasium to (OLT "APTIST #HURCH 7ITH NEARLY VOLUNTEERS IT TOOK ALMOST SIX HOURS TO move all the donations, which showed the outpouring of community care in HELPING THOSE AFFECTED RECLAIM SOME OF THEIR BASIC NEEDS "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.

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FACES IN THE CROWD

MTE Graduate Student ProďŹ le Name: -URALIDHARAN h-URALIv 2AMACHANDRAN Research adviser: $R 2AMANA 2EDDY 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 RELATIVELY SMALL DEPARTMENT $R 2EDDY S GROUP HAS VARIOUS 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?

-Y DISSERTATION TOPIC IS h4HERMODYNAMICS AND 4HERMAL Plasma Synthesis of Fine-Grained Materials� and incorporates various facets of material processing, including thermodynamic-reaction feasibility study, KINETICS OF THE REACTION PROCESS VARIABLE OPTIMIZATION

computational uid dynamics, and properties of ďŹ negrained materials.

MTE Undergraduate Student ProďŹ le Name: Kristy Tippey Hometown: Tuscaloosa, Ala. What attracted you to UA and speciďŹ cally 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? ) VE MAINTAINED A '0! WHILE AVOIDING HERMITRY ) 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 #YCLING TEAM ) M ALSO A PART OF 4AU "ETA 0I

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.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

How do you plan to use the knowledge and experience gained at UA in the future?

First, I plan on ďŹ nishing 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 5NDERGRADUATE 3CIENCE 2ESEARCH 3CHOLARSHIP !WARD FOR THE n ACADEMIC YEAR -URPHY SPENT THE 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

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the chemical-ordering behavior in FePt. Her research consisted of work using both the transmission electron microscope and atom probe. Upon graduation, she WON THE .ATIONAL 2ESEARCH #OUNCIL FELLOWSHIP TO BE A postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md. Fu’s thesis was TITLED h)N SITU GROWTH STRESSES IN &E 0T AND &E #U ALLOY thin ďŹ lms.â€? In 2010, his work was published in the highimpact journal Physical Review Letters. He has continued HIS EDUCATION WITH DOCTORAL STUDIES AT 5! "OTH STUDENTS 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 CertiďŹ cate 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 ďŹ ndings 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 +AREN 4ORRES (ENRY 0H$ AND "IANZHU &U -3 2010) won the College of Engineering’s Outstanding Doctorate Dissertation and Outstanding Master Thesis AWARDS (ENRY S DISSERTATION TITLED h1UANTITATIVE Microanalysis of Magnetic Nanostructures,� investigated

2010-2011 MATERIALS ADVANTAGE STUDENT CHAPTER OFFICERS President ˆ "LAKE 7HITLEY Vice-President — Aeriel Murphy Secretary ˆ 2OBERT 7RIGHT Treasurer ˆ 3UZANNE +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.

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MTE STUDENT NEWS

MTE GRADUATES Congratulations to our graduating class!

Summer 2010 Karen Torres Henry (PhD) Fall 2010 2OBERT -ORRIS 0H$ Debabrata Pradhan (PhD) Partha Saha (PhD) Chris Samuels (PhD) "IANZHU &U -3 $AVID h0ATRICKv 0ATTON "3 -ARISSA 6ANN "3 Spring 2011 2OSS (INSON -3 .ATHAN 2IMKUS -3 "RADFORD 3CHULZ -3 -ORGAN "LOUIN "3 "RIAN %RVIN "3 "RANDI &REEMAN "3 3TEPHEN (UNT "3 +IMBERLY +OPECKI "3 !NDY .IX "3 #HASE 2AWLINSON "3 !USTIN 3TARNES "3 *ONATHAN 3TEIN "3 !NNA 7ILLEMIN #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 TO RECOGNIZE THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF students’ scholastic and leadership achievements. The MTE department recipients were the following: Departmental Awards John Calhoun, E.C. Wright Outstanding Freshman Award

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2 -ILLER 7RIGHT % # 7RIGHT Outstanding Sophomore Award Kristin Tippey, E.C. Wright Award for Excellence Sean Thompson, Alpha Sigma Mu Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award "LAKE 7HITLEY *OHN 0 $UKE Outstanding Senior Award Aeriel Murphy, C.H.T. Wilkins Award for Excellence #LAYTON / "RIEN &ARABEE 4ANNEHILL Award for Excellence Stephen Hunt, Materials Advantage (MS&T) Student Chapter Award 0AIGE "OEHMCKE -ETALLURGICAL AND Materials Engineering Outstanding Junior "RANDI &REEMAN -ETALLURGICAL AND 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, *OSHUA 4YNER "LAKE 7HITLEY

+ELLY 7ILSON 2 -ILLER 7RIGHT

5NDERGRADUATES AND 2ESEARCH Experience for High School conference held in August 2010.

"OTH STUDENTS WERE MENTORED BY 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 #HOPRA AND "IANZHU Fu, mentored by Dr. Gregory Thompson, were awarded top poster REORGANIZATION AT THE ANNUAL -ATERIALS for Information Technology Industrial 2EVIEW HELD AT 5! 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

*ONATHAN 3TEIN RECEIVED THE 2OBERT 7 2EESMAN -EMORIAL 3CHOLARSHIP

which is one of the top awards given College Awards nationally to students majoring -ORGAN "LOUIN 3OCIETY OF 7OMEN in metallurgical and materials Engineers Outstanding Senior engineering. This award was Award presented at the College Industry Austin Starnes, 2011 Engineering #OUNCIL OF "IRMINGHAM -4% 3ENIOR Conference that was held in Chicago, )LL .OV n 3IX -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 4HE STUDENTS WERE -ORGAN "LOUIN

Starnes, both undergraduates, Stephen Hunt II, David Patton, received second and third place, #HASE 2AWLINSON *ONATHAN 3TEIN AND respectively, for their poster Marisa Vann. presentations at the Tuskegee 2ESEARCH %XPERIENCE FOR

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STUDENTS TAKE TOP CASTING PRIZE Undergraduates Anna Willemin Clay, "RANDI &REEMAN !SHLEY *OHNSON

Kimberly Kopecki, Pierre Samuels and "LAKE 7HITLEY WON THE TOP AWARD AT the 2011 American Foundry Society Student Casting competition held April 11, 2011, in the Wynfrey Hotel IN "IRMINGHAM !LA 4HE STUDENTS 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 "IRMINGHAM 4HEY CAST AN IRON 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 #HAPTER 2OLL 4IDE

The winning casting projects: A356 impeller (above) and skillet with script A (right)

UNDERGRADUATES GAIN NANOTECH EXPERIENCE $R 3UBHADRA h3Uv 'UPTA HAS ENGAGED UNDERGRADUATES IN RESEARCH SINCE 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-ďŹ lm 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 JUST UNDERGONE A MOVE TO THE "EVILL BUILDING IN PREPARATION FOR A lNAL MOVE to the Science and Engineering Complex Phase IV building scheduled for completion in 2013.

MTE students work in the clean-room facility researching thin ďŹ lm materials.

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Through your ďŹ na ncial con support s tribution tellar stu s, you ca dents lik the meta n help e Brandi F llurgical reeman b engineers ecome of tomorr ow.

Pay It Forward !

nds, Alumni and frie

. If you inue our growth nt co us lp he to u to give back check to the ment invites yo ease send your rt pl pa t, de en m TE rt M pa e de Th $EPARTMENT v to the OF !LABAMA -4% ake a donation ITY m RS to VE e NI 5 lik E ld 4H ou r w TO THE h experience of ou ND MAKE IT OUT e the academic nc . ha ADDRESS BELOW A ck en ba to ng ed vi by gi e primarily us ying it forward pa r fo u These funds ar yo k an students. We th undergraduate

of Alabama Engineering The University al and Materials ic rg lu al et M of Department ON !TTN "RANDI ,AM "OX

4USCALOOSA !,

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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.

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Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Box 870202 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0202

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Science and Engineering Complex Phase IV