Colloquium: C. Barry Carter, TEM, Ceramic Materials, Reactions

Professor & Head, Department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut

Abstract

Phase transformations occur by the movement of interfaces. In the field of Ceramic Materials, the classic example of such a reaction, epitomized by the work of Herman Schmalzried and Fred Pettit but, perhaps, led by R. E. Carter of GE Schenectady, is the reaction between magnesia and alumina: MgO and Al₂O₃. The rate of reaction was shown more than 40 years ago to follow parabolic kinetics, and more recently that it may not. In this talk, I will illustrate various alternate routes to study such reactions and consider the new information that can thus obtained. En route, we’ll consider, in random order, a few missed opportunities, the benefits of using more than one type of microscope, and the advantages of spending time in more than one school. I’ll draw a few conclusions such as ‘interfaces are important’, ‘TEM is the essential tool for nanotechnology’ and ‘ceramic materials are real gems’.

Bio

 

Barry Carter is a Professor at UConn and Head of the Department of Chemical, Materials & Biomolecular Engineering. Before moving to UConn in 2007, he spent 16 years the 3M Harry Heltzer Multidisciplinary Endowed Chair in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. Prior to that he spent 14 years in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Cornell University leaving there as a full Professor. Barry earned his bachelor’s degree at Cambridge University, his master’s at Imperial College and his doctorate at Oxford University, then another doctorate at Cambridge. He has published ~300 scientific journal papers and co-authored 2 textbooks. He was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985 and a von Humboldt Senior Award in 1997. He was the 2004 Jubilee Professor at Chalmers University in Göthenburg and a Visiting Fellow at Peterhouse in Cambridge during 2005. He is a Fellow of AAAS, MRS, MAS, ACerS and RMS. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Science (>26,000 cites in 2010), which has more than doubled its IF since he took this position in 2004. He chairs the MRS Awards Committee, was the 1997 President of MSA, and is the current President (2011-14) of the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy.