OVERVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES RESEARCH IN THE DIVISION OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Dr. John Vetrano
Program Manager for the Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects Program at the Department of Energy
Monday, February 28, 2011
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Qualcomm Conference Room (Jacobs Hall)
Abstract:
This presentation will provide an overview of research at the Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) with an emphasis on the Division of Materials Science and Engineering. BES supports basic research in materials science, chemistry, geosciences and biosciences, as well as the construction and operation of nearly two-dozen major scientific user facilities, including the nation's large synchrotron radiation light sources, neutron scattering facilities, electron-beam microscopy centers, and nanoscale science research centers. The major emphasis of the materials science and engineering program at BES is on fundamental experimental and theoretical research that provides the foundations for the discovery and design of new materials with novel functions and properties. Disciplinary areas supported include: materials physics; condensed matter physics; mechanical behavior; materials chemistry; biomolecular materials; x-ray-, neutron-, and electron-scattering sciences; and related disciplines where the emphasis is on the science of materials. Knowledge gained in the program is aimed at providing the scientific basis for a clean, sustainable, and secure energy future through materials innovation. The presentation will also discuss an outline of future initiatives and a description of the funding process.
Biosketch:
Dr. John Vetrano received his B.S. degree in Physical Metallurgy at Washington State University in 1984, and his Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbanna-Champaign in 1990. He joined BES in 2006 after spending 15 years at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Prior to that, he spent 15 months as a post-doctoral research scientist at the Max Planck Institut for Metallforschung in Stuttgart, Germany. In his current role at BES, Dr. Vetrano is the Program Manager for the Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects Program, serves as a liaison between BES and the technology programs at DOE (including Electrical Energy Storage, Hydrogen, and Nuclear Energy), and manages five of the Energy Frontier Research Centers. As a senior research scientist at PNNL, Dr. Vetrano worked in both fundamental and applied research. His research interests focus on linking microstructure to mechanical or physical behavior, with a concentration on interfacial processes utilizing high-resolution analytical transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with mechanical testing. His work encompassed behaviors such as superplasticity, stress corrosion cracking, recrystallization, solidification, and radiation damage.