WE Ph.D. student Will Siefert is awarded an AWS Graduate Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Will Siefert for being awarded an AWS Graduate Research Fellowship. The welding engineering graduate student will study complex mechanical behavior of dissimilar metal welds under the direction of Dr. Alexandrov Boian, director of the Center for Weldability Evaluation. These welds show extreme heterogeneity in all aspects, in the regions where two materials meet. This complicated behavior can be studied through Digital Image Correlation. The knowledge learned with this research can help explain the influence heterogenous mechanical behavior has on the failure mechanism highlighted in previous studies.

The Gahanna, OH native was originally a mechanical engineering major. He visited the WE facility with a friend his freshman year of college and was attracted to the small student-to-faculty ratio and program components. 

 "[WE] seemed like the perfect blend of science I needed — electrical, mechanical, and materials science. I switched my major from mechanical engineering to welding engineering that day and never regretted it."

Siefert's research will span three years with a $30,000 per year stipend. 

Will graduated with a B.S. in welding engineering in 2019. He will graduate with his doctoral degree in welding engineering in 2024. His older brother, John, also graduated with his B.S. in welding engineering from Ohio State (2008).

Will's career interest leans towards power generation research engineering, which was inspired by a co-op he had as an undergraduate student. 

The AWS Foundation Board of Trustees approved the fellowship on September 12, 2021.