HIGHLIGHTS ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MAY/JUNE 2024 52 In 1999, he became NSL’s majority shareholder and president. Somrack developed a strategic plan and implemented programs to grow NSL into a premier chemistry testing laboratory before selling the company in 2020 to May River Capital. Somrack was actively involved in working on test method development for additive manufacturing with metal powders. He has also been influential in bringing about substantial improvements and additional testing with ASTM, EU, and NIST/Brammer (Standard Reference Materials). As a child, Somrack was excited to accompany his father to ASM’s headquarters to observe the construction of the Dome. This was the beginning of his lifelong connection with ASM International. In 1994, Somrack joined the ASM Cleveland Chapter and as a committee co-chair was instrumental in developing a popular four-day training program showcasing various testing methods. Somrack served on the ASM Board of Trustees from 2018-2021, has been a Sustaining Member since 2005, and continues to work with the ASM Foundation and the ASM Finance and Investment Committees. He was a former co-chair of the Education Committee. NSL helped to establish and sponsor the DomesDay Competition and Somrack served as a judge for many years. He has published numerous articles and presented papers at various ASM chapter meetings. He has also received multiple awards for leadership and growth initiatives as well as the Cleveland Chapter’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016. Somrack received his bachelor’s in marketing from Myers University (now Dyke College) in Cleveland and his MBA from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Dr. Rahul Gupta Nominee for Trustee Rahul Gupta is the owner and managing director of ND Gupta Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., which specializes in heat treatment processes and manufacturing of steel castings. Gupta graduated in metallurgy from the College of Engineering Pune in 1984. He completed a master’s degree in engineering in 1989, having worked on superconductivity. He has experience in heat treatment, surface treatment, steelmaking, and foundry technology. A primary focus has been on the development of austempered ductile iron (ADI). In 2017, he designed and installed a continuous ADI furnace, which received the Innovation Award from ASM India Council. He has presented numerous conference papers on ADI, heat treatment of tools, and nitrocarburizing. BOARD NOMINEES At his foundry, he specializes in making challenging steel castings that demand properties such as high wear resistance and corrosion resistance. He has been an active member of the ASM Pune Chapter since 2003. Gupta has served as the chairman, vice chairman, secretary, and treasurer. He has coordinated various events and workshops for ASM. For more than 10 years, he has been a regular faculty member for chapter training programs on corrosion, failure analysis, casting, heat treatment, and metallurgy for the non-metallurgist. Gupta is also a visiting faculty member for metallurgy at the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and various engineering institutes. He has sponsored and supported many projects of engineering students. He has also helped them pursue careers in engineering by facilitating internship opportunities. An ASM presidential citation and medal were presented to him by Dr. Fredrick E. Schmidt, FASM, in 2018 and the Chapter Volunteer award was bestowed on him by Jon D. Tirpak, FASM, in 2016 for exemplary service toward ASM. Most recently, Gupta received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the College of Engineering Pune. Dr. Victoria Miller Nominee for Trustee Assistant Professor Victoria (Tori) Miller has served in the department of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida since September 2019. Prior to her appointment, she was an assistant professor at NC State University from 2017 to 2019, where she also served as the Material Advantage Chapter’s faculty advisor. Miller received her B.S.E. in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan in 2011 and completed her Ph.D. in the materials department at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016. After graduate school, she worked for one year at UES Inc. as a research scientist onsite in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. She previously worked at Ford Motor Company Research and Development, Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing North America, and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Miller’s research contributions primarily involve metals deformation processing, but all of her research bridges the gap in understanding between nanoscale interactions of crystalline defects and macroscopically observable behavior during deformation. Technical areas where she Gupta Miller
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