CAVS professor keynote speaker for Powder Metallurgy Conference in Spain
November 5, 2006
In July 2006, Spain held the first ever Spanish Metallurgy Conference in Madrid at the University of Carlos III de Madrid and at Santander. In attendance was Bagley College of Engineering researcher and CAVS Director, Randall German.
The conference was broken into two different conferences, one at Santander for graduate students, faculty and new researchers, and the second in Madrid for researchers and metallurgy professionals to exchange research breakthroughs. The researchers came from across the globe from countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain and the United States.
German was selected as the keynote speaker for the conference as a continuation of a long-running collaboration between German and the University of Carlos III de Madrid. He holds an honorary doctorate from the university and was honored with the Randall German Stipend privately funded through the Santander Bank Group. The stipend provides funding to send visiting lecturers to the university and gives Mississippi State students an opportunity to study there as well. [Note: not many stipends of this caliber exist and therefore, are designated as rare honors.] German has lectured at the university on several occasions as well as hosted exchange students in the United States from the Carlos III de Madrid.
German’s presentation covered the business trends and engineering as well as applications and science in vehicular advancements in transitioning American automobiles from high-weight components, such as steel, to low-weight components such as aluminum and advanced materials. Research at CAVS (Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems) has already begun a cooperative project for Mississippi State University and the Department of Energy.
“I was able to get a head-start on aluminum powder metallurgy from the European community,” said German. “Higher fuel costs there have provided much motivation to shift from steel to aluminum. The quick catch up from meeting Spanish, German and British researchers was very helpful as we start our program here at Mississippi State.”