David K. Matlock Colorado School of Mines, USA
I joined the CSM faculty in 1972 as a member of the physical and mechanical metallurgy program. Since that time, the mechanical testing and forming laboratories have expanded to the point where we now have one of the most complete university laboratory facilities in the United States. This has had a substantial impact on our undergraduate, graduate, and research programs.
An understanding of the mechanical properties of materials is important to both metallurgical engineers and materials scientists alike. Our undergraduate program includes a balance of lecture and laboratory studies designed to link theoretical interpretation with directed laboratory projects. To properly understand mechanical properties, it is essential that students have meaningful laboratory experiences.
At the graduate level, I am active in a variety of metallurgy programs that emphasize both fundamental and applied studies. Some of my current programs include deformation behavior and formability of sheet steels, including coated sheet products; development of welding consumables to produce high-toughness welds in new high-strength structural steels; evaluation of the deformation behavior at interfaces in forming operations; and the analysis of fracture toughness in the new bar and forging steels.
