The University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma is exceptionally proud of William Hofmeister, recently selected as a Fellow of the Society by ASM International’s Board of Trustees. The UTSI professor will travel to Detroit, Michigan in September to attend the ASM Awards Dinner, where his membership in the 2007 Class of Fellows will be conferred. ASM International cites their reason for adding Hofmeister to the elite group, “for contributions to the control, characterization and understanding of direct metals deposition processes, and materials processing in a microgravity environment.” ASM International is the largest materials society in the world, with 40,000 members in nearly 100 countries.

Hofmeister is the Director of the Center for Laser Applications at UTSI, home to several research labs, including UTSI’s new clean room. The CLA is currently involved in laser spectroscopy, the study of light interacting with atoms and molecules, and materials processing. CLA hosts several enrichment programs for area youth throughout the year, including three summer camps: ASM Materials Camp for high school students, Computational Science Camp for middle schoolers, and the ever popular “Mad Science” Camp for fifth graders.

The ASM citation for direct metal deposition recognizes Hofmeister’s work at Sandia National Laboratory developing a technology to create metallic objects directly from computer designs. This process is similar to the Star Trek “replicator” and can create complicated parts on demand. In the field of microgravity materials processing, Hofmeister participated in three space flight experiments in NASA’s SpaceLab. He recently co-authored a paper in Nanotechnology, The Institute of Physics publishing journal, on new technology for cooling computer chips and remains active in research on the nanoscale. Professor Hofmeister has current research projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA, and several private companies.

“Bill Hofmeister is one of the world’s leading experts in Materials Science and Engineering and one of the most enthusiastic men I have known in my entire career,” said UTSI Chief Operating Officer Don Daniel. “His energy is equally contagious with experts in the field and those of us who are not, but who certainly benefit from his outstanding work. It’s no surprise that he has been recognized by ASM and Nanotechnology magazine for his many contributions. He has certainly earned these accolades; UTSI is very proud of him and equally pleased for him.”

Dr. Hofmeister resides at Ledford Mill, with his wife Mandy and daughter Rebecca. His son Lucas is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Professor Hofmeister also has two grown sons: Matthew, a health care analyst in Nashville, and Richard, an architect in Los Angeles. His grandsons, Erich (5) and Charles (2) live with Richard in LA.

Dr. William Hofmeister