WESTERVILLE, OH – The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) today announced the names of the organization's two newest Distinguished Life Members.
David B. Marshall and Koichi Niihari are the 2011 recipients of the Distinguished Life Member Award, the highest honor accorded members of ACerS. The award is given in recognition of an individual's eminent contribution to the ceramic and glass profession.
"The Society's Distinguished Life Member is presented annually to the organization's most inspirational members, who paved new roads in their technical or business fields while contributing to the growth and programming of the organization, and guiding its younger leaders," said ACerS President Marina Pascucci.
Marshall and Niihara will be inducted as Distinguished Life Members at the Society's Annual Awards and Honors Banquet on Oct. 17, 2011, in Columbus Ohio.
David B. Marshall Marshall is a Principal Scientist at Teledyne Scientific Company in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He joined the company (then Rockwell Science Center) in 1983. His research interests have focused on strengthening, toughening, and reliability of ceramics and ceramic composites. In recent years, he has worked with the Air Force, NASA and industry to develop textile based composites for turbine, scramjet and rocket combustion components, and thermal protection systems for spacecraft.
Marshall leads the National Hypersonic Science Center for Materials and Structures, a multi-university partnership funded by Air Force and NASA. The center is charged with developing key materials that can withstand the harsh environmental, thermal and mechanical demands of hypersonic flight. Other interests include ultra hard tooling materials for friction stir welding of steels.
Dedicated to excellent scholarship, Marshall has authored or coauthored more than 200 research papers, two of which are among the ten most cited papers published in the history of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Koichi Niihara Niihara is president of Nagaoka University of Technology in Nagaoka, Japan, a post he has held since September 2009. Prior to this, he served for five years as a professor and academic leader of NUT. From 1989 to 2005 he was a professor at the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University, Japan, and was awarded the title of emeritus professor in 2005. He has also been a visiting professor at Virginia Tech and a professor in the Physics Department of the National Defense Academy, Japan.
Niihara has conducted innovative research in many ceramic materials fields, including the fabrication of extremely strong and tough materials. He invented new evaluation techniques to gauge fracture toughness of ceramics, and his 'Niihara's Equation,' has gained common recognition among ceramic researchers worldwide.
Niihara also pioneered the "nanocomposite" concept, championing the idea that incorporation of nanoparticles in a matrix could improve the mechanical/physical properties of ceramic and other materials. More recently, Niihara has been a leading proponent for multifunctional materials, including ones for use in sensory-type applications.
Niihara has been described by his colleagues as "one of the most creative, productive and visionary ceramists in the world." He has published more than 1000 papers in scientific journals and holds more than 140 patents.
He is a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society and is a past president of the International Congress on Ceramics. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and an Academician Member of the World Academy of Ceramics.
About ACerS
Founded in 1898, The American Ceramics Society is the professional membership organization for international ceramics and materials scientists, engineers, researchers, manufacturers, plant personnel, educators and students. Drawing members from 60 countries, ACerS serves the informational, educational, and professional needs of its 6,000 members and provides them with access to periodicals and books, meetings and expositions, and technical information. ACerS also maintain an extensive materials-science website (www.ceramics.org) that provides online access to its journals, publications, science and career forums and specialized technical knowledge centers.