Feb_March_AMP_Digital

HIGHL IGHTS 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 | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 8 7 6  MEMBERS IN THE NEWS Birt Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List Aaron M. Birt was selected as a member of the Forbes 2018 30 under 30 list in Manufacturing and Industry, a category that highlights young inno- vators who are creating the products, methods, and materials of tomorrow. Birt’s Ph.D. research at Worcester Poly- technic Institute focused on commer- cializing laser-assisted cold spray, a manufacturing process that deposits metal powders at supersonic speeds onto laser heated sur- faces. His startup, Kinetic Batteries, received a $40,000 grant to commercialize the technology. Birt served as a student board member on both the ASM Board of Trustees (2015- 2016) and the ASM Heat Treating Society (2013-2014). Benafan’s Team Wins R&D 100 Award Othmane Benafan, a materials and mechanical engi- neer at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, recently led a team to earn an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine for their breakthrough innovation with shape memory alloys (SMA) used to break apart rocks on the moon and Mars. Originally developed for use in space, the Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters (SMARS) system offers an environmen- tally friendly method for splitting apart rock formations in a controlled manner without the use of explosives or hydrau- lics. Benafan is currently the vice president of ASM’s Inter- national Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST). Eason Builds UNF Library The University of North Florida (UNF) just built a brand new state-of-the-art materials characterization facility. Although UNF does not have a materials science major, as the facility director, Paul Eason saw the need to include more materials science reference books, as the faculty from engineering, chemistry, and physics have a strong interdis- ciplinary research focus in materials. With part of the funds used to set up the lab, he purchased the A SM Handbook Complete Print Library to place in the conference room. Sev- eral other references were added to support users of the center in determining best methods for testing and charac- terization across a wide array of materials and applications. Birt Fang Elected to NAI Zhigang Zak Fang, FASM, was elected to the rank of Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for his metallic material innovations. He is professor of metallurgical engi- neering at the University of Utah. Fang was selected because he “has demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitat- ing outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic devel- opment, and the welfare of society.” Fang has led multiple, large federally-funded research programs and developed novel materials and processes in the areas of titanium primary metal production, titanium powder metallurgy, functionally graded hard metals, nano powder synthesis, nano-sintering, and metal hydrides for hydrogen as well as thermal energy storage. Fang From left, Othmane Benafan and his colleague Timothy Halsmer test SMARS in the Simulated Lunar Operations lab at NASA Glenn.