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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6
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WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
really struck by the enthusiasm Zeiss shows for our educa-
tional mission and focus on bringing solutions tailored to
our industrial customer base,” says Cerne. “Zeiss brought us
an integrated solution that no one else could offer—an opti-
cal microscope and correlation to macro images—which
greatly adds to our capabilities. The Zeiss solution will help
us better educate users on finding images optically, con-
ducting failure analysis, and performing metallographic
interpretations.”
VOLUNTEERISM
COMMITTEE
Profile of a Volunteer
James Callahan, Laboratory Technician, Takata Corp.
Some of us learn by doing—
and thrive by giving back. James
Callahan does both. After gradu-
ating from high school in the Flor-
ida panhandle, he moved to San
Antonio to work for Chromalloy,
an international powerhouse in
gas turbine engines for the aero-
space industry. Callahan worked
his way up from a simple role as
plating operator into the chemical
and metallurgy lab where he learned how to test chemicals
and work with the R&D team on analysis and reports. With
his thirst for learning, he decided to explore metallurgy—all
part of his 23 years of hands-on experience at Chromal-
loy. Callahan recently began a new position with Takata, a
leader in seat belt technology.
At a training seminar in 2010, he learned about ASMand
joined the Alamo Chapter. He was soon invited to become
membership chair and jumped right in. Callahan has made
a noticeable difference by improving communication with
members and attracting new ones as he added a Chapter
Facebook page, maintaining the website, and working with
college interns to get the ASM message out. “I really enjoy
seeing an issue or problem and finding a better way,” says
Callahan. He finds that being on the Board gives him more
of a say in the Chapter so he can make a greater impact.
He believes ASM’s greatest value is through its outreach
to the community, especially to college students at schools
like University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Mary’s Uni-
versity. “I can be there to answer questions and help stu-
dents become part of our community,” says Callahan, “so
they can use the ASM member knowledge base to help with
their careers.” Encouragement from ASM members helped
him through a year-and-a-half of unemployment after Chro-
malloy reduced its workforce. Deeply devoted to God and
family, Callahan is also grateful for support from his wife of
28 years and three children.
WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
This new profile series intro-
duces leading materials scientists
from around the world who happen
to be females. Here we speak with
Amber N. Black,
an applications
engineer for PTR – Precision Tech-
nologies Inc.
What does your typical workday
look like?
No two days are the same,
which is part of what I love about my job. Some of the things
I do on a daily or weekly basis include: Check on projects
currently being welded in our contract welding shop; dis-
cuss new projects with potential customers; answer ques-
tions from engineers who call me to ask about electron
beam welding because it is not a common process; work
with my operators to develop welds for any new parts;
work to improve longstanding welded parts; and provide
documentation that our welds are sound and developed to
specification.
What’s been your biggest technical challenge?
Welding the “unweldable” metals continues to be a
challenge we attempt to solve. I’ve done extensive research
and testing on gamma-prime strengthened superalloys in
an effort to weld without microcracking. Hardened, car-
burized, or nitrided alloys can also cause issues. I’ve been
working with local heat treatments to try to overcome the
weak welds and cracking issues that often occur.
What part of your job do you like most?
I enjoy hands-on work on the floor to bring a part from
conception to reality. We need to figure out tooling to hold
it together, any issues with weld geometry during develop-
ment, and how to overcome issues stemming from the orig-
inal design.
What do you least like to do?
Paperwork! A lot of engineering involves appropriate
documentation and as a critical element of many engi-
neered parts, the welding process has a lot of necessary
paperwork. But that doesn’t mean I like to do it.
What is your engineering background?
I have a bachelor’s in materials science and mechani-
cal engineering from UConn and a Ph.D. in engineering sci-
ence from Penn State.