Chairman's Exemplary Faculty Prizes
Diran Apelian
Emerson said, "Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm." When enthusiasm is coupled with ingenuity, an insatiable appetite for knowledge, and a drive to attack important problems, remarkable things can happen. In a nearly four-decade career in industry and academia (nearly half of which has been spent at WPI), Diran Apelian has helped transform the aluminum casting industry, created the largest industry-university alliance in North America, and had an enduring impact on the fields of materials processing and engineering education, including a profound influence on hundreds, if not thousands, of students. He is, in short, the epitome of the exemplary faculty member.
Apelian's interest in metals was sparked early. Born in Egypt to Armenian parents, he came to America with his family at the age of 15. A high school mathematics teacher, anticipating the Space Age demand for new alloys, urged Apelian to consider metallurgy as a career. Apelian earned a B.S. in metallurgical engineering at Drexel University and an Sc.D. in materials science and engineering at MIT. He then joined Bethlehem Steel's Homer Research Laboratory, where he helped develop lighter, fuel-saving alloys for cars.
In 1976 he accepted a faculty position at Drexel, where in less than a decade he would become Howmet Professor of Materials Engineering and head of the Materials Engineering Department. He would rise to the post of associate vice president for academic affairs at Drexel before leaving in 1990 to become provost at WPI, a post he held for six years. At Drexel, Apelian launched the Aluminum Casting Research Laboratory (ACRL) to create an academic home for an industry destined to play an increasingly important role in a variety of areas. The ACRL moved with him when he joined WPI.
After six years as provost, Apelian returned to teaching and research at WPI and founded the Metals Processing Institute (MPI) as an umbrella for a growing number of research centers dedicated to serving the research needs of the metals community. Today, with five centers and more than 100 corporate partners, MPI is the nation's premier research center in this field. An accomplished researcher himself, Apelian has made a major impact on a number of areas within materials processing, including solidification processing, spray casting, and plasma processing. His pioneering work has resulted in more than 500 publications, 10 patents, and 11 books, which he co-edited.
Apelian's prominence in the metals research community has earned him widespread recognition. In 2008 he was elected the 52nd president of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), an international professional organization. Previously, TMS had honored him with the Acta Materialia Inc. J. Herbert Hollomon Award, the Brimacombe Prize, the Bruce Chalmers Award, and election as a TMS Fellow, its highest award. In 2008 Apelian received one of the highest honors accorded engineers in the United States, election to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
In addition to his research and his success with MPI, the NAE recognized Apelian for his advocacy for redefining engineering education. He has written and lectured widely on this topic and used his TMS presidency to advance his views before a national audience. In 2008-09, he put his ideas into practice by co-developing "Making our World: Sustainable Development for the 21st Century," one of WPI's Great Problems Seminars, in which students explored some of the major challenges of the 21st century using materials science and sustainability as unifying themes.
For his extraordinary achievements as a researcher and educator, his national leadership in metals processing, and his tireless devotion to the cause of innovation in engineering education, WPI is pleased to present to Diran Apelian the 2009 Chairman's Exemplary Faculty Prize.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: May 14, 2009 10:14:44