Department News

George Krauss, Professor Emeritus in Metallurigal and Materials Engineering, recently published "Steels: Processing, Structure, and Performance. The book is a comprehensive guide to physical metallurgy of steels. The book, an updated edition of a classic 1990 book, discusses the interrelationships among chemistry, processing, structure, and performance - the elements of physical metallurgy - are integrated for all types of steel. The evolution, characterization, and performance of steel microstructures are described with empahsis on deformation and fracture and thermal processing.
Cosan Unuvar, a research faculty member in the Department, recently published a book on combustion systhesis (CS) titled "Combustion Synthesis for NASA's New Vision for Space Explooration: Moon, Mars, and Beyond. CS involves complex mechanisms that occur simultaneously at rapidly changing high temperatures. Gravity and electric current play important roles in the properties of the reaction and the final product. CS is considered by NASA as a potential technique for applications in space exploration.
Karem Tello, a Materials Science PhD Graduate student, has been awarded the 2008-2009 AWS International Scholarship. This award recognizes an outstanding international student pursuing education in the field of welding. Karem is in the Center for Welding, Joining, and Coatings Research working under her advisor, Dr. Patricio Mendez.
Colorado School of Mines First to Use Nuclear Energy Research Partnership with MITR A Colorado School of Mines nuclear materials irradiation experiment will be the first test conducted in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) under a research partnership between the Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF) and MIT. The ATR NSUF is at Idaho National Laboratory. NSUF Scientific Director Todd Allen notified the Mines Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering of the experiment's selection on July 7. "We at the Colorado School of Mines see this partnership as a tremendous advantage in allowing our students in the nuclear materials program to get hands-on experience with the tools and procedures involved with the nuclear reactor industry," said Professor David Olson, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. "This project on the nondestructive electronic property measurements of high-temperature structural materials to assess radiation induced aging has a high potential of introducing advanced assessment tools to the nuclear industry. We look forward to further developing our partnership and hope other universities also take advantage of this wonderful opportunity." The research partnership was formed to support nuclear energy research. Under the partnership, test space can be offered to users in the Advanced Test Reactor at INL or the reactor at MIT. A new call for university experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor NSUF will be released later this year. "This partnership arrangement increases opportunities for reactor testing and provides the NSUF greater flexibility to respond to user needs," Allen said. The Mines experiment will be "Advanced Nondestructive Assessment Technology to Determine the Aging of Silicon-Containing Materials for Generation IV Nuclear Reactors." NSUF test space at both reactors is made available at no cost to external users whose projects are selected through a peer review process. The partnership with MITR is the first in an expected series of national partnerships designed to enhance the NSUF infrastructure and capability. The U.S. Department of Energy created the ATR NSUF in April 2007. This designation will help assert U.S. leadership in nuclear science and technology and will attract new users -- universities, laboratories and industry -- to conduct research at the ATR and its partner facilities. The MITR is a 5-megawatt research reactor owned and operated by MIT. The MITR has carried out interdisciplinary research in advanced materials and fuel testing for next-generation nuclear systems. One of the reactor's many capabilities involves using in-core loops and the ability to reach temperatures of up to 1,600 degrees Centigrade. This allows researchers to replicate nuclear power reactor conditions to study the behavior of advanced materials and fuel designs for next-generation nuclear reactors.
Collin Donohoue Awarded Rickover Fellowship Collin Donohoue, MT PhD candidate, was awarded the Rickover Fellowship through the Medical University of South Carolina, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, and the Department of Energy. The program is designed to meet the needs of the Naval Reactors Division of the US DOE for the development of science and engineering technology as it pertains to naval nuclear propulsion. The fellowship provides funding for the completion of a PhD in Nuclear Engineering or a directly related field, travel for presentation at national conferences, and includes an appointment at either KAPL or Bettis after graduation.
Paul Johnson on his way to Korea after Winning a Critical Language Scholarship Sponsored by U.S. State Department Two Mines students received the nationally competitive Critical Language Scholarship sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Paul Johnson was awarded a fully-funded critical language scholarship to study Korean in Korea this summer. Lee Jackson was awarded a fully funded advanced Chinese language Scholarship to study Chinese at Suzhou University. Johnson and Jackson are the first two Mines students ever to receive the award. Paul was recently accepted into the PhD Materials Science program studying Ceramic Engineering under Professor Nigel Sammes. Professor Sammes also nominated Paul to receive special TA funding from Materials Science foundation source. Recipients of this funding are selected on a competitive basis with three Materials professors making the decision from a list of nominees.
FEMET Scholarship/Internship Program Selected Julianna Sipeki The FEMET Scholarship/Internship Program has selected Julianna Sipeki to receive a FeMET Scholarship for the 2007-2008 school year. She will also be offered a paid summer internship at CMC Steel, Seguin, TX. In addition, Julianna will receive an additional award towards tuition for the 2008-2009 academic year. Congratulations, Julianna! The FeMET Intitative was established in 2005 through a cooperative agreement between the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Associated for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST with the goal to encourage more students to choose metallurgy or materials science as their field of study; to recruit more of such graduates into the steel industry; and to increase the number of professors knowledgeable in steel in North American universities. June 15, 2007