ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | SEPTEMBER 2026 33 SMST UPCOMING EVENTS NITINOL FOR MEDICAL DEVICES COURSE 2026 October 19-21 | G.Rau Inc. | Alan Pelton, instructor Sponsored by: SMST 2027 May 19-20 | Belén, Heredia Province, Costa Rica SMST 2028 May 1-5 | Portorož, Slovenia Learn more at smst.asminternational.org. SMST ANNOUNCES 2026 WILLIAM J. BUEHLER RECIPIENT: TOM DUERIG, FASM The International Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST) is pleased to name Dr. Tom Duerig, FASM, as the winner of the 2026 SMST William J. Buehler Award, which recognizes excellence in shape memory or superelastic alloy (SMA) technical innovation. The award recognizes those who have provided an exceptional amount of effort and valuable return on effort in their service to advancing shape memory and superelastic alloy technology. Dr. Duerig is being honored “for co-founding SMST, pioneering Nitinol’s medical applications, endowing the SMST Founders’ Grant, authoring more than 100 patents and publications, and for over four decades of transformative leadership in shape memory alloy technology.” Dr. Duerig is the founder of Nitinol Devices & Components (NDC), now Confluent Medical Technologies, and one of the world’s foremost authorities on the engineering and medical application of Nitinol. He pioneered Nitinol’s use in medical devices in the late 1980s while at Raychem Corp., then founded NDC in 1991. He sold NDC to Johnson & Johnson in 1997, remaining as president through 2008 while helping develop the SMART stent line and TrapEase vena cava filter within J&J’s Cordis division, where he also served on the Cordis management board and Advanced R&D group. He reacquired NDC in 2008 and merged it with Interface Catheter Solutions to form Confluent Medical Technologies, from which he retired formally in 2019. Together with Alan Pelton and Darel Hodgson, Duerig co-founded SMST in 1992 and organized its inaugural conference in 1994, serving as founding president. He has served as associate editor of Shape Memory and Superelasticity, the official SMST journal. In 2019, he personally endowed the SMST Founders’ Grant, a $50,000 biennial award, ensuring continued support for emerging SMA research in perpetuity. Dr. Duerig has authored more than 100 patents and publications, including the foundational 1990 book Engineering Aspects of Shape Memory Alloys (Butterworth- Heinemann) and the landmark 1999 paper “An Overview of Nitinol Medical Applications.” He holds a B.S. in physics from Lehigh University and M.S., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in materials science from Carnegie Mellon University. His legacy is further honored by the Thomas W. Duerig Fund for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering, established at the University of California, Santa Barbara by his colleagues, collaborators, and family. Duerig Kumar FOUNDERS’ GRANT: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF SHAPE MEMORY MATERIALS Innovation in materials science often begins with a bold idea and the support needed to bring that idea to life. The 2026 SMST Founders’ Grant has been awarded to Dr. R. Arockia Kumar, associate professor at the National Institute of Technology Warangal, for his research project, “Development of Lightweight Polycrystalline Ti–Al–Cr Shape Memory Alloys: Effects of Alloying and Grain Size.” Selected from a competitive field of 10 applicants representing four countries, Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on developing lightweight, cost-effective shape memory alloys (SMAs) that could improve energy efficiency and performance in advanced actuator applications. By studying how alloy composition and grain size influence material behavior, his team aims to unlock new possibilities for next-generation engineering solutions. The Founders’ Grant, which provides up to $50,000 in research funding, holds a special place within the shape memory materials community. While administered through the Foundation, the award is independently selected by a committee led by Tom Duerig, FASM, one of the founders of the Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies Society. In 2019, Duerig secured the future of the program through a generous $1 million endowment, ensuring that promising researchers would continue to receive support for years to come. Dr. Kumar, along with collaborators Dr. B. Srinivasa Rao and research scholar S. Vignesh, will share the results of their work with the SMST community at the 2028 conference. Their research represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking innovation the Founders’ Grant was created to encourage, advancing both the science and real-world applications of shape memory materials. SMST NEWS
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