MS&T '08 Short Course

Computational Design of Materials
October 9-10 • 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location:         Hilton Pittsburgh
Fee:                 $425 Member; $528 Nonmember; $159 Student
Instructors:   Gregory B. Olson, FASM, FTMS; Northwestern University
                    Charles J. Kuehmann, Ph.D., FASM; QuesTek Innovations LLC

Course Overview
A systems approach to materials design based in computational thermodynamics will be presented. Software tools will be demonstrated and their application illustrated in case studies. Case studies will emphasize metal alloys.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Represent a material as a multiscale interactive system and organize a computational design approach;
• Map microstructural requirements to fundamental parameters accessible through computational thermodynamics;
• Integrate multiple models in the parametric design of material composition and processing conditions;
• Structure an approach to computational acceleration of component-level process optimization and material qualification.

Who Should Attend?
Researchers and materials developers with an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering and an interest in predictive science-based design of materials.

Course Outline

1. Materials as systems
2. Parametric representation of process/structure/property/performance relations
3. Computational tools for thermodynamics-based materials design
4. Model integration in design
5. Case studies in parametric materials design
6. Interdisciplinary computational modeling for materials design
7. New capabilities in accelerated materials development and qualification

About the Instructors
Gregory B. Olson, FASM, FTMS, is Wilson-Cook professor of engineering design and professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University; director of the Materials Technology Laboratory/Steel Research Group; and a founder of QuesTek Innovations LLC. He received his doctorate in 1974 in materials science from MIT and was employed at the university in a series of senior research positions before joining the faculty of Northwestern in 1988. The author of more than 200 publications, Professor Olson’s research interests include phase transformations, structure/property relationships, applications of high resolution microanalysis, materials design and the concurrent engineering of materials and structures.

Charles J. Kuehmann, Ph.D., was appointed president and CEO of QuesTek Innovations LLC in 2001. He earned his doctorate at Northwestern University in materials science and engineering in 1994. Dr. Kuehmann has held engineering positions at General Dynamics and Allied Signal Garret Turbine Engine Company, and he founded a technical services firm in 1987. Dr. Kuehmann became a founding member of QuesTek Innovations LLC in 1996.  He has applied computational material systems design techniques, pioneered by Northwestern's Steel Research Group, to applications such as: high-temperature ferrous superalloys, surface-hardening gear and bearing steels, ballistically tolerant armor steels, weldable high-strength plate steels, Ni-base superalloys, ultrahigh-strength stainless steels and high performance Al alloys. Dr. Kuehmann holds a number of patents in these areas.