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For release August 24, 2005
New Laser Materials Expert at Space Institute
Sees UTSI as ‘Gateway’ to Advanced Materials
Dr. William Hofmeister, an expert in laser
materials processing and materials science, wants to see The
University of Tennessee Space Institute become “Middle
Tennessee’s gateway to advanced materials.”
Hofmeister, a new full-time research professor at UTSI, also
says the Institute’s collaborations with Oak Ridge’s Center for
Nanomaterials Science, UT’s Materials Science Department, and
two of Vanderbilt’s research facilities will “keep UTSI in touch
with the latest in nanomaterials.”
“Dr. Hofmeister is a tremendous asset for the Institute,
especially at this time when we are emphasizing materials
processing and research,” said Dr. John E. Caruthers, UT
associate vice president and UTSI’s chief operating officer.
Hofmeister was a research professor at Vanderbilt University for
nearly 20 years where he worked on a variety of materials
related topics with the NASA Center for Space Processing,
Diamond Microelectronics Group, Vanderbilt Institute for
Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE), and the Vanderbilt
Institute for Integrative Biosystem Research and Education (VIIBRE).
He conducted research on nucleation and solidification,
synthesis of diamond films and carbon nanotubes for field
emission, and fabrication of hybrid bio-silicon devices for
sensors and medical research.
A past chairman of the Solidification Committee of TMS,
Hofmeister has published more than 90 papers and edited four
books in the field of materials science.
Hofmeister is no stranger to aeronautics and aerospace. He
obtained his private pilot’s license at 17 and began his career
in materials science at Pratt-Whitney Government Products
Division where he worked on F-100 turbine engine development for
the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Project
Agency.
Professor Hofmeister participated in three space flight
experiments sponsored by NASA to study effects of fluid flow on
nucleation. The space flight experiments were conducted by
“telescience” operation in low earth orbit using modeling and
simulation software that Hofmeister developed for the
experiments. He was principal investigator for the TEMPUS
Incandescence Measurement Instrument Project, which designed and
implemented an infrared pyrometer on the existing space lab
flight hardware. He is now working with NASA Langley to develop
free-form fabrication using an electron beam process for future
NASA missions.
In studying solidification kinetics, Hofmeister pioneered the
use of ultra high-speed thermal imaging in the observation of
solidification at high undercooling. He developed a thermal
imaging array to track solidification at 50 meters per second.
He also used this equipment to study the impact, spreading, and
solidification of molten metal drops. Hofmeister was the first
to report the ability to form superconducting materials directly
from the undercooled melt.
“John Sumgeresky, a colleague of mine from Sandia National
Laboratory, saw a presentation of the thermal imaging work and
asked if it could be applied to the Laser Engineered Net Shaping
(LENS ) process he was working on in Albuquerque,” Hofmeister
recalled. This conversation led to the development of thermal
imaging tools for scientific understanding of the direct metal
deposition processes. Hofmeister then used these tools for
closed loop feedback control of the process, significantly
increasing the uniformity of deposited materials.
“Thermal imaging and vision-based process control will enhance
UTSI’s Laser Induced Surface Improvement process,” says
Hofmeister. “We plan to make UTSI a major player in the area of
Laser process control.”
The professor also has experience with nanotechnology. He holds
a patent for carbon nanotube catalysts used in field emission
and developed a nanopourous membrane for the planar perfused
bioreactor that VIIBRE uses in cancer research.
#
Dr. William Hofmeister shows Dr. John Caruthers a hollow airfoil
created with a process that Hofmeister helped develop at Sandia
National Lab. The process uses high power lasers to melt and
solidify metal powders into 3 dimensional shapes.
– UTSI Photo
Writer: Weldon Payne (931) 393-7222
wpayne@utsi.edu
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