WARRENDALE, PA—The Materials Research Society (MRS) David Turnbull Lectureship recognizes the career of a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to understanding materials phenomena and properties through research, writing and lecturing, as exemplified by David Turnbull. This year's award will be presented to Robert O. Ritchie, University of California, Berkeley, for his "pioneering contributions to, and teaching us all how to think about, the mechanistic role of microstructure in governing fatigue and fracture in a variety of materials systems, and communicating his scientific insights to the world audience through eloquent lectures and seminal publications."
Ritchie will deliver the David Turnbull Lecture, Real-Time Imaging of the Structure and Mechanical Properties of Engineering and Biological Materials at Multiple Length-Scales, at the 2013 MRS Fall Meeting on Tuesday, December 3, at 12:15 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Boston Hotel. He will be presented with the 2013 David Turnbull Lectureship Award at the Awards Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, also in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Boston Hotel.
Ritchie's ability to simplify and categorize very complex fracture and fatigue behavior into understandable and tractable regimes that can be modeled are a hallmark of his contributions. He brought a new understanding to the fundamental mechanisms of fatigue in a wide range of engineering materials, from metallic alloys (specifically aluminum, titanium, nickel, and especially steels), intermetallics (e.g., ?-TiAl), ceramics (PSZ, Al2sO3, Si3N4, and SiC), and the interfaces between them. In particular, he helped elucidate the role of microstructure, loading parameters, and environment on fatigue crack growth behavior. His research led to a new understanding of both the intrinsic fatigue processes ahead of a growing crack and the extrinsic (shielding) processes acting behind the crack tip. These could then be separated, quantified, and modeled. This seminal work helped create a new framework for understanding the fracture and fatigue properties of a wide variety of materials. Furthermore, Ritchie has made very significant advances in applying this understanding to predicting fracture and fatigue in engineering structures and biomedical devices, including the structural integrity of cardiac valve prostheses.
Ritchie received his B.A. degree in physics and metallurgy, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science, and a Doctor of Science degree from Cambridge University. He has served as a consultant for both government and industry and has also acted as a consultant in the medical field on the mechanical integrity of prosthetic devices .In addition, he has served as a member of several National Research Council Committees including "Advanced Space Technology" and "Small Spacecraft Technology." He has been a teacher and mentor for a generation of students, first at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and subsequently as the H.T. & Jessie Chua Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Ritchie is Senior Materials Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of the associated Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a member of the University of California, San Francisco/University of California, Berkeley Bioengineering Group. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Academy, among numerous other honors.
About the Materials Research Society
MRS is an organization of over 13,000 materials researchers from academia, industry and government worldwide, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life. MRS members are students and professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans 90 countries, with approximately 45 percent of members residing outside the United States.
MRS serves and engages members across generations to advance their careers and promote materials research and innovation. The Society produces high-quality meetings and publications, assuring that members of all career stages can present and publish their most important and timely work to an international and interdisciplinary audience. MRS continues to expand its professional development portfolio, as well as promote diversity and inclusion in the scientific workforce, with career services for researchers worldwide. The Society advocates for the importance of scientific research and innovation to policymakers and the community. And the MRS Awards program honors those whose work has already had a major impact in the field, as well as those whose work shows great promise for future leadership.
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