iTSSe TSS 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 | A P R I L 2 0 2 2 3 5 iTSSe TSS Consortium for Thermal Spray Technology was established in 2002 with 10 leading companies. It allowed for the initiation of knowledge transfer from fundamental research to industrial practice. The Consortium continues to thrive today with 30 contributing members with a host of new initiatives in science, technology, and development of trained graduates in this unique field of materials enquiry (Fig. 4). The Center’s output is significant by all measures. Some 50 Ph.D. students, 40 M.S. students, and 30 post-docs were trained across different disciplines (Fig. 5). Hundreds of undergraduates participated and continue to participate in the Center activities learning to handle complex materials processing equipment and characterization methods. More than 500 K-12 students participated through the field-trip program. On the intellectual front, the Center output was significant with over 400 referenced publications, 12 book chapters, and seven patents, including three licenses. Acknowledgment has come in the form of several best paper awards, student prizes, and faculty recognitions. New scientific methodologies and technologies were tran- sitioned for industrial use through collaborative projects, field trip demonstrations, student internships, and spin-offs. Also notable are many of the Center participants and graduates who continue to contribute to the field, bringing scientific perspectives into everyday engineering. Over the last decade, the Center has continued to push both fundamental boundaries as well as expand engineering opportunities. Prominent areas of Fig. 3 — Under the auspices of DARPA, CTSR developed and commercialized direct write thermal spray technology that allows fine feature deposition of thick film electronics and sensors[2,3]. Fig. 4 — Current membership of the industrial Consortium for Thermal Spray Technology enabling knowledge transfer from fundamental research to industrial practice. Fig. 5 — A Center for Thermal Spray Research alumni reunion. FEATURE 5
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