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9639 Kinsman Road

Materials Park, OH 44073

Tel: 440.338.5151 • Fax: 440.338.4634

Frances Richards

,

Senior Editor

frances.richards@asminternational.org

Julie Kalista

,

Editor

julie.kalista@asminternational.org

Barbara L. Brody

,

Art Director

Joanne Miller

,

Production Manager;

Editor, ASM News

joanne.miller@asminternational.org

Press Release Editor

magazines@asminternational.org

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Mario Epler,

Chair,

Carpenter Technology Corp.

Yu-Ping Yang,

Vice Chair,

Edison Welding Institute

Ellen Cerreta,

Past Chair,

Los Alamos National Lab

William Lenling,

Board Liaison

Laura Addessio,

PCC Structurals Inc.

Arvind Agarwal,

Florida International University

Gerald Bruck,

Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp.

Steven Claves,

Alcoa Inc.

Adam Farrow,

Los Alamos National Lab

Nia Harrison,

Ford Motor Co.

Alan Luo,

The Ohio State University

Roger Narayan,

UNC-NCSU

Scott Olig,

Vision Point Systems

Nina Pang,

Boston University

Somuri Prasad,

Sandia National Lab

Fei Ren,

Oak Ridge National Lab

Michael Rigsbee,

North Carolina State University

Kumar Sridharan,

University of Wisconsin

Jaimie Tiley,

U.S. Air Force Research Lab

Cong Wang,

Saint-Gobain High Performance

Materials

ASM BOARD OF TRUSTEES

C. Ravi Ravindran,

President

Sunniva R. Collins,

Vice President

Robert J. Fulton,

Treasurer

Gernant E. Maurer,

Immediate Past President

Jeffrey A. Hawk

William J. Lenling

Linda S. Schadler

Iver Anderson

Mitchell Dorfman

James C. Foley

Jacqueline M. Earle

John R. Keough

Zi-Kui Liu

Thomas S. Passek,

Secretary and Managing

Director

STUDENT BOARD MEMBERS

Jessica Booth, Karly Chester, Raymond Hickey

Individual readers of Advanced Materials & Processes may,

without charge, make single copies of pages therefrom for per-

sonal or archival use, or may freely make such copies in such

numbers as are deemed useful for educational or research pur-

poses and are not for sale or resale.Permission is granted to cite

or quote from articles herein, provided customary acknowl-

edgment of the authors and source is made.

materials wi tness

ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES •

JUNE 2014

2

A celebration of science and life

A

s I write this column, I’m sitting in the

airport one day after NIST’s 100th an-

niversary celebration of its metallurgy divi-

sion and 50th year of its polymers

program. Longtime NISTers Bob Shull and

Chad Snyder spent several months pulling

together amazing speakers and entertain-

ment to commemorate a century of mate-

rials science advances at the National

Bureau of Standards (NBS), which became

the National Institute of Science and Tech-

nology (NIST) in 1988. The festivities were

full of interesting and funny stories, tales of

technology advances, and an optimistic look toward the future of materials science and

engineering (MS&E).

Looking back with a nod to the past, associate director for laboratory programsWillie

May—with 43 years under his belt at NIST—kicked off the celebration with a warm wel-

come and a bit of history from 1901, when NBS was first established. Eric Lin, MS&E divi-

sion chief, then thanked the sponsors (including a shout-out to ASM) and talked about

NIST’s dedication to public service, technical excellence, and an open and dynamic work-

ing environment.

Lin turned things over to Isaac Sanchez, a fixture in the polymers division during the

1970s and 80s, who shared a few good stories plus some tidbits of advice that helped

shape his life. One gem he kept in mind throughout his career involved Ed DiMarzio, his

original NIST advisor. DiMarzio said you don’t need hundreds of great ideas to build a ca-

reer, only two or three good ones per year. Sanchez admitted that, in reality, he’s only had

about one good idea each year, but this has sustained him throughout a long and inter-

esting career.

In the next lecture, Richard Fields spoke about several disaster investigations NIST

has been involved with from the early days to recent times. He shared how tragedies

drove the creation of the metallurgy division: From 1902 to 1912, 41,578 train derailments

occurred, with roughly 13,000 deaths each year. The division was established in 1913 to

improve train safety, which translated to improvements in steelmaking. This knowledge

was then transferred to shipbuilding, with technologies such as welded construction vs.

rivets. Fields also spoke about bridge collapses, airline accidents, and the Twin Towers in-

vestigation, and how such tragedies can lead to new standards and technologies.

Next up, several other interesting speakers rounded out the day, followed by a lively

reception catered by Dogfish Head Alehouse. The best part besides tasty craft beer and

pork sliders? NIST director Pat Gallagher presented a gift to renowned materials scientist

John Cahn. You could have heard a pin drop when Cahn spoke. He recalled that before

he came to NIST, he was a“tired 49-year-old professor”with no time for his own research,

as he spent all his hours helping students write grant proposals. His wife accepted a job

with the Carter Administration and was headed to D.C. At that point, Cahn was faced with

either a commuter marriage or looking for a new position, so he called some NIST con-

tacts and landed a position there. It gave him a new lease on life, and he expressed his

gratitude for a hugely rewarding second career. The takeaway? You never knowwhat’s just

around the corner.

frances.richards@asminternational.org

Richard Fields (at NIST from 1977-2004) with

Frances Richards and NIST’s ASM Historical

Landmark designation.