A tribute to the legacy of former A. James Clark School of Engineering Dean Dr. George E. Dieter, Jr. This lecture series is a collaboration between the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, which welcomes thought leaders and innovators in Dr. Dieter's fields of mechanics and materials.
The Lasting Legacy of George Dieter
April 16, 2025
3:30-4:30 p.m. Reception to follow.
Stanley R. Zupnik Forum
A. James Clark Hall
Tresa M. Pollock
Alcoa Distinguished Professor of Materials
University of California Santa Barbara
Abstract: Aircraft, spacecraft and rockets connect people and goods across vast distances, enable global satellite communication, facilitate fundamental scientific discoveries and empower exploration of the solar system and beyond. The operating environments of these advanced systems require materials that can tolerate extremes of temperature, loading and surrounding chemical environment. Designing materials to survive in these environments has traditionally been a slow, expensive process that requires understanding and control down to the atomic level as well as a detailed understanding of potential failure modes. This motivates new experimental and computational tools that can accelerate this process and aid in materials discovery. Examples of new tools will be discussed, including the new TriBeam tomography platform developed at UCSB for rapid acquisition of multimodal materials data. New insights on rare features of polycrystals that result in fracture and emerging new materials will be discussed.
Bio: Tresa Pollock is the Alcoa Distinguished Professor of Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Pollock’s research focuses on the mechanical and environmental performance of materials in extreme environments, unique high temperature materials processing paths, ultrafast laser-material interactions, alloy design and 3-D materials characterization. Pollock graduated with a B.S. from Purdue University in 1984, and a Ph.D. from MIT in 1989. She was employed at General Electric Aircraft Engines from 1989 to 1991, where she conducted research and development on high temperature alloys for aircraft turbine engines and co-developed the single crystal alloy René N6 (now in service). Pollock was a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University from 1991 to 1999 and the University of Michigan from 2000-2010. Professor Pollock was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2005, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2015, and is a DOD Vannevar Bush Fellow and Fellow of TMS and ASM International. She has served as Editor in Chief of the Metallurgical and Materials Transactions family of journals, was the 2005-2006 President of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and served as Materials Department Chair (2011–2017), Associate Dean of Engineering (2018–2021) and Interim Dean of the College of Engineering at UCSB (2021–2023).