Materials Research Lecture

Materials by Design started with a simple precept; with the advent of computational tools for thermodynamic, kinetics, and mechanics, can we design materials is the same way that mechanical and electrical components were being designed?  Combining systems engineering principles, optimization schemes and advanced computational modeling for process-structure and structure-properties relationships, computational materials design accelerates new materials development to the point that they can be engineered concurrently with higher level mechanical and electronic systems. I'll review a seminal example for the design of corrosion resistance ultrahigh-strength steels for aircraft landing gear, from concept to flight. In addition I'll touch on path to the future of materials design and the challenges for materials in our complicated and warming world.  

More about the Speaker: Dr. Charlie Kuehmann has been a leader in computational materials design since it's inception.  In creating the first company dedicated to commercializing computational materials design, he's innovated the first materials and alloys from this new technology; from high-performance steels for race cars, aluminum alloys for aircraft, gear materials for helicopters, high-temperature alloys for turbine engines, and even bubble-gum.  As the computational materials design revolution has gained momentum, and been embraced by government and private R&D organizations through the Accelerated Insertion of Materials and Materials Genome Initiative, Dr. Kuehmann has brought the technology to the consumer electronics industry and most recently to electric vehicles and spacecraft.  Dr. Kuehmann currently leads the materials engineering organizations at both Tesla and SpaceX, driving material solutions to enable the world's transition to a sustainable future, the commercialization of space and a multi-planetary civilization.