Sampath had the opportunity to spend several weeks this past summer at the National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS) in Tsukuba, Japan, participating in research discussions and collaborative interactions. Prof. Sampath’s trip was sponsored by the NIMS visiting researcher program through their international center. Dr. Seiji Kuroda, Managing Director of the coatings and composies center at NIMS hosted the visit. During his trip Prof. Sampath had the opportunity to meet Prof. Teruo Kishi, President of NIMS. Prof. Kishi has significantly expanded the role of NIMS through wide ranging international interactions. In fact Prof. Kishi is an old acquaintance of CTSR having visited the laboratory in the late 1990s while he was a Professor at University of Tokyo. The MoU will enable Stony Brook graduate students and researchers to spend extended periods at NIMS conducting experiments and accessing unique facilities. Dr. Kentaro Shinoda from NIMS is now a post-doctoral fellow at CTSR.

CTSR Welcomes New Faculty Member: Dr. Christopher Weyant

In August 2008, Chris Weyant joined the Center for Thermal Spray Research as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Chris earned his B.S. in Engineering Science at Pennsylvania State University in 1996 where his thesis research was conducted in the corrosion resistance of non-equilibrium aluminum-molybdenum alloys. With an interest in graduate education in materials science, he went to the Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia to earn his M.S. degree. After U.Va., Chris worked as a materials engineer at Capstone Turbine Corporation in Chatsworth, CA where he was involved with the materials issues of small gas turbine engines. In addition to conducting failure analysis and being part of the materials selection for a new gas turbine product, he had his first exposure to plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings.With a strong desire to continue his graduate education, in 2000, Chris started a Ph.D. program in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. His dissertation research concentrated on the development of a plasma- sprayed tantalum oxide-based environmental barrier coating for silicon nitride-based gas turbine components. As part of this research, Chris investigated the effects of alloying additions on the coatings’ microstructural evolution, and determined through-thickness residual stresses using high-energy X-rays at Argonne National Laboratory. Upon completion of his Ph.D. in 2004, Chris began as a postdoctoral appointee at the Thermal Spray Research Laboratory of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM and subsequently accepted a position with Honeywell Aerospace’s Advanced Materials and Processes Laboratory in Morristown, NJ. During his time at the lab, he was Honeywell’s liaison to CTSR’s industrial consortium. With a desire for a career in an academic research environment, Chris returned to Northwestern University as a Research Associate in 2006. Chris is excited to become part of the incredible legacy of thermal spray research at Stony Brook University. He looks forward to using his breadth of experience to broaden the research endeavors in CTSR while also continuing strong research ties with industry.