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Dr. Bhakta Rath Receives the National Materials Advancement Award Dr. Bhakta Rath, head of the Naval Research Laboratory's Materials Science and Component Technology Directorate, has been recognized with the National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies. Dr. Rath received the award on December 5, 2001, at a reception at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The National Materials Advancement Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated their outstanding capabilities in advancing the effective and economic use of materials and the multi-disciplinary field of materials science and engineering generally, and who contribute to the application of the materials profession to national problems and policy. Dr. Rath is recognized for being a leading scientist and executive in the materials field for four decades. He has been a formulator and implementer of materials science policy in and for the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and in connection with international bodies in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and China. Dr. Rath received his B.S. degree in physics and mathematics form Utkal University in Cuttack, India, his M.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University and his Ph.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology. Following several years as a tenured professor at Washington State University, Dr. Rath worked as a research scientist at the Edgar C. Bain Laboratory for Fundamental Research of U.S. Steel Corporation and the McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratory. He joined NRL in 1976 and was selected as an Associate Director in 1986. Dr. Rath has received a number of honors and awards, including Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive Award (1999), the Distinguished Award for outstanding contributions to basic and applied research in materials science (1996), the George Kimball Burgess Memorial Award (1992), the Charles S. Barrett Award from ASM International (1991), the Leadership Award from the Materials Society (TMS), the S. Chandrasekhar Award and Medal, and the Award of Merit for Group Achievement from the Chief of Naval Research. The American Society for Materials International (ASM) and The Metals, Minerals and Materials Society (TMS) have jointly recognized him with the TMS/ASM Joint Distinguished Lectureship in Materials & Society Award and the 2001 ASM Distinguished Life Membership Award. Dr. Rath is a Fellow of the Materials Society, the Washington Academy of Science, the American Society for Metals, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and the Academy of Metallurgical and Materials Engineers. He serves as a member of the advisory boards and review boards for several government agencies and a number of universities, as a member of the editorial board of five international scientific journals, and as Executive Chair for materials research, appointed by the Undersecretary of Defense, on Science & Technology collaborations with TTCP countries (U.K, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
The Federation of Materials Societies is a consortium of technical and professional societies and
associations whose constituencies include scientists, engineers and other professionals active in the
areas of materials policy as well as R&D, processing, manufacturing, recovery, and resource
availability.
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Alumni awarded, inducted into societies Dr. Jack G. Simon (B.S. EMY 1963) received the 2001 Affiliate Council Gold Award from the Engineering Society of Detroit. Cicely Coppock, a May 2001 MSE graduate, was the female Michigan Tech Fund Merit Award winner in 2001. The awards are presented each year to a senior man and woman at MTU who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the University. ASM News story Dr. Bhakta Rath (M.S. EMY 1958) received the 2001 Distinguished Life Membership Award from ASM. Thixomat, Inc. received the ASM 2001 Engineering Achievement Award. Thixomat is chaired by former MTU president Ray Decker. The co-founder and director is Dr. Robert D. Carnahan (B.S. EMY 1953) . Dr. John Opie (B.S. EMY 1961) received an honorary doctorate from MTU and was the commencement speaker at the May 2001 ceremony. |
Dr. Kwai Chan (Ph.D EMY
1980) received the TMS 2001
Champion H. Mathewson Award
recognizing the year's most
noteworthy contribution to
metallurgical science. Kwai Chan is an institute scientist at the Southwest Research institute.
Dr. Chan earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University in
1976, 1978, and 1980, respectively.