The EAB is comprised of MSE alumni who meet annually on campus around Homecoming in the fall.

The mission of EAB is to enhance the department’s position as a premier research and higher education program by advising the MSE Chair on matters such as strategic planning, curriculum feedback, alumni engagement, and talent acquisition and retention.

 Former EAB members can be found here.

2024 MSE EAB Members

Tom Battle 

Extractive Metallurgy Consultant

Tom Battle is a native of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He entered the Michigan College of Engineering in 1976, and decided to major in Materials Engineering after finding MME 250 fascinating. He graduated with dual degrees in Engineering and Astronomy in 1981. After achieving a Masters in Metallurgical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, he came back to Michigan in 1983 to conduct his PhD research for Professor Robert Pehlke, modeling micro-scale phenomena during solidification of metals.

After a post-doctoral fellowship at Thames Polytechnic in the United Kingdom, he began a 25-year career in industry. For the first 18 he was a research engineer in the White Pigments and Mineral Products business of DuPont, in Delaware and New Jersey. His focus for DuPont was on the production process of titanium dioxide pigment from the ore - ranging from long-term research to day-to-day support of plant operation.

In 2008, Tom and his family moved from southeastern Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina, when I began working in the technical center for Midrex Technologies, a worldwide leader in the development of ironmaking technology. He was involved in raw material testing, as well as interactions with clients ranging from iron ore suppliers to Midrex Plant operators worldwide. Since 2015 he has been an independent engineering consultant.

Tom commenced his volunteering and leadership roles after being nominated as an officer for the Michigan Metallurgical Society; later he led the organization. He was encouraged by his professors to get involved with professional societies as well. Over the years, he has been involved with AIST and ASTM, but mostly with his home society, The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS). His 30+ years of volunteering culminated with the 2020-2021 presidency of the society - in the footsteps of fellow Michigan luminaries Wayne Jones, John Allison, and Liz Holm.

Keith Bowman

Dean, College of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Dr. Keith J. Bowman is dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), one of the fastest rising engineering and computing colleges at a U.S. public research university. He began his academic career in 1988 as a Purdue University Assistant Professor after receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan. He served as a visiting professor and received Alexander von Humboldt stipends for research at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany in 1996 and 2002 and he served as a visiting professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia in 2003.  From 1996 to 2004 he served as graduate program chair of the Purdue School of Materials Engineering (MSE) during a substantial retooling of the program to more strongly emphasize doctoral degrees. In 2005-06 he served a one-year appointment as Interim Head of MSE and from 2007 to 2011 served as Head of the Purdue School of Materials Engineering.  He was named a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in 2000 and has held several division and society-wide positions. Awards at Purdue University include receiving the MSE Best Teaching Award in 1992 and 1995 and Purdue’s highest teaching award, the Charles Murphy Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1995.  In 2003 Professor Bowman’s name was added to the Purdue Book of Great Teachers.  In 2007 he received the Purdue College of Engineering Mentoring Award and he became the first Professor of Engineering Education (by courtesy) from MSE.  In 2012 he was invested as the first Duchossois Leadership Professor in the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Armour College of Engineering soon after joining as chair of Mechanical (ME), Materials and Aerospace (AE) Engineering. Prior to UMBC he served two years as dean of the College of Science & Engineering at San Francisco State University.

Jeff Carbeck

VP of Corporate Innovation, Eastman

Jeff Carbeck is a chemical engineer, materials scientist and entrepreneur. He is currently VP of Corporate Innovation with Eastman, a management consulting start-up. Prior, he was a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Princeton. In 2006 he joined Nano-Terra as its Chief Scientist and also co-founded Arsenal Medical and served as its Chief Technology Officer. In 2012 480 Biomedical was spun out from Arsenal Medical. In 2009 he was a Clean Energy Fellow with the New England Clean Energy Council and also joined MC10 as it Chief Technology Officer. Soon after starting his career as an entrepreneur, the Boston Business Journal recognized him as one of the 40 outstanding professionals under the age of 40. He is currently a Subject Matter Advisor for Deloitte Consulting, where he has multiple client engagements and is also co-author of Deloitte eminence studies on advanced materials: Reigniting Growth — Advanced Materials Systems (2012), and Driving Innovation — Advanced Materials Systems (in press). He also serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Emerging Technologies Agenda Council and the forum’s Working Group on Emerging Technologies for Energy Harnessing. He is a member of the University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer National Advisory Board and the Department of Material Science and Engineering’s External Advisory Board He attended the University of Michigan (BSE), MIT (PhD), and Harvard for two years of post-doctoral research with George Whitesides.

Aaron Crumm

Co-Founder, Adaptive Materials (AMI)

Aaron Crumm’s Ph.D. work at the University of Michigan led to his founding of Ultra Electronics, Adaptive Materials, Inc. (AMI), an alternative energy market leader. Aaron’s simple, yet radical, business proposition was to develop a portable solid oxide fuel cell system that ran off of readily available fuel. Aaron’s work has attracted more than $50 million in contracts to support the growth of AMI. His success in leveraging research grants as part of AMI’s business acceleration strategy was integral to the company’s ability to remain privately-held and focused on fuel cell product development. The company was acquired by defense industry giant Ultra Electronics in 2010. AMI has been recognized for its dynamic growth with Ann Arbor SPARK FastTrack, Inc. 5,000, and Inc. 100 Energy Company awards. Aaron has also been individually recognized as an entrepreneur with multiple awards including Executive of the Year in 2011. Prior to founding Adaptive Materials, Aaron gained insight into electric power generation as a nuclear engineer. He earned his bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Michigan. Aaron is a highly regarded and respected speaker at many alternative energy symposiums and fuel cell conferences. Aaron takes a very active role in the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship’s programs and education as its first entrepreneur in residence. Beyond teaching courses, he serves as an advisor to student startups, and specially supports projects looking to translate technology into the energy industry.

Raymond F. Decker

Chief Technical Officer of Thixomat/nanoMAG

Dr. Raymond F. Decker is Chief Technical Officer of Thixomat/nanoMAG, Adjunct Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at The University of Michigan, member of the Board of Managers of QuesTek® Innovations, LLC. and member of Board of Molded Magnesium Products, LLC. Ray earned a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from The University of Michigan. He has been honored by U-M with its Sesquicentennial Award in 1967, Distinguished MSE Graduate and Engineering School Alumni Service Awards. He served as a Lt in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, as Vice President of Corporate Technology of INCO, Ltd, as Vice President of Research of Michigan Technological University and then was Founding Chairman of Thixomat, Inc. Dr. Decker was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1980 and is Fellow, Honorary Member, Gold Medalist, Engineering Materials Achievement Award winner and past Campbell Lecturer of ASM International and Robert Mehl Medalist of TMS. The commercialization of Thixomolding was recognized by the Mobile Innovation Award of Mobile Computing and by the INC 500 award. In technical endeavors, Ray is co-inventor of Maraging Steels and co-inventor of Mg alloys for biomedical applications, including light weight orthopaedic knee braces and bioabsorbable implants to fix bone trauma. His early specialty was strengthening mechanisms in Nickel-Base Alloys for which he was designated as Honoree of the 2008 Seven Springs Superalloy Symposium of ASM International/TMS.

Ray is Past President of ASM International, member of the Detroit Chapter and Past Chairman of ASM Materials Education Foundation and is currently serving on the Foundation Board, wherein his passion is Teachers Camps and the Foundation's new initiative on Technology Workforce Development.

Dan Gamota 

Daniel Gamota is vice president of the Hardware Innovation Group at Jabil. He is leading several international sites that are developing and deploying hardware innovations in medical, industrial, energy, consumer, aerospace, automotive, and defense products. Prior to joining Jabil, Gamota was director and fellow of the technical staff at Motorola. He was elevated to IEEE Fellow and was named a Dan Noble Fellow at Motorola (top 0.1% of engineers) for his contributions to the fields of manufacturing, microelectronics, nanotechnologies, and printed & flexible electronics. Gamota was named a Motorola Master Innovator (47 granted patents), was the author of more than 100 publications, received a R&D 100 Award for printed electronics enabled printed active displays, earned the inaugural FlexTech Alliance Industry Leadership Award for flexible hybrid electronics, and received the IPC President’s Award for pioneering contributions to printed electronics standards. He was appointed the US Technical Advisor for the International Electrotechnical Commission Printed Electronics Standards Committee (IEC/TC 119), is chair of IPC Printed Electronics Standards Working Groups, is chair of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) Flexible Hybrid Electronics Roadmap Working Group, was chair of the IEEE Organic and Molecular Electronics and the Nanotechnology Standards Working Groups, and is a member of the San Jose State University Engineering Industry Advisory Council. Gamota earned a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Jason Hertzberg (MSE EAB Chair)

Vice President, Director of Mechanical Engineering Practice, and Principal Engineer at Exponent

As Vice President, Director of Mechanical Engineering Practice, and Principal Engineer at Exponent, Dr. Jason Hertzberg has lent his expertise in solving complex technical problems in a variety of industries. These include consumer products; medical devices; industrial equipment and systems; and technology product development.

His contributions on the consumer products side of his work are especially valuable. These include testing and analysis of new products before they are introduced into the marketplace, substantiation of product performance claims, and failure analysis of field-returned products, to name just a few. In addition, he has led recall-related investigations for a wide range of products including children’s and infants’ toys; child care products; and medical diagnostic equipment.

Dr. Hertzberg also investigates and addresses issues related to the mechanical behavior and degradation of a range of materials, including metals, polymers, and welded components.

In addition, he has co-authored the 5th Edition of his text, Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Material. The book combines continuum aspects of mechanical behavior and a materials science approach to problem solving.

Jerry Hoffman

Former Howmet Turbine, Meritor Automotive

Jerry Hoffman, an Ann Arbor resident since 1972, was born in Indiana, and has spent almost all of his life in Michigan. He grew up on a farm in southwestern Michigan, attended a community college for two years, served in the U.S. Army Special Forces for six years, and moved to Ann Arbor to attend the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. He received a BSE in Engineering Science, a BSE in Materials and Metallurgy, and an MSE in Engineering Materials.

After graduating in 1976, he joined an aerospace company, Howmet Turbine Components Corporation. In his 16 years there, he managed various production and process engineering departments. He then joined an automotive supplier, Varity Kelsey Hayes, moving from managing assembly manufacturing departments to managing a plant that he saved from closure, which greatly helped the local economy. He moved on to corporate, managing plants in North America and Europe. Before retirement in 2009, he managed the heavy vehicle industrialization group of Meritor Automotive. Since retirement, he coached for the Huron High School Crew team and is currently coaching for U-M Men’s Crew and the Ann Arbor Rowing Club. He has a U.S. Rowing Level 2 coaching certificate and is an active sculler with the Ann Arbor Rowing Club. Jerry is a lifetime member of the U-M Alumni Association as well as a member of the U-M Alumni Club of Ann Arbor and the U-M President’s Club. He is an active supporter of U-M athletics. He and his wife worked with the volleyball coach and a team of volleyball supporters to develop a strong booster club. Jerry looks forward to working with this group of fellow U-M and College of Engineering supporters.

John R. (Chip) Keough

Proprietor, Joyworks LLC, Ann Arbor.   Director, Lightspeed Concepts, Inc.

Born in 1955, John graduated from the University of Michigan in 1977 with bachelor degrees in both Mechanical and Materials & Metallurgical Engineering. In 1980 he became a Registered Professional Engineer.

 As a student, John worked part-time as a machine builder at his family’s industrial furnace company (now AFC-Holcroft). Later he served as the foundry technician at the U-M’s Cast Metals Laboratory. From 1978 to 1980 he worked at General Motors’ (Pontiac, Mich.) gray iron foundry in various technical and supervisory roles. From 1980 to 1984 he was the Principal Engineer in the Directionally Solidified and Single Crystal Casting Group at TRW’s Turbine Components Division plant in Minerva, Ohio.

In 1984 he joined his father, Bob, and his brother, Bill, in the family-owned business, Atmosphere Group Inc., and subsequently founded a new division, Applied Process Inc., a heat treating facility specializing in the Austempering process. In 1993 John became CEO and owner of Applied Process Inc. Over the next 20 years, Applied Process Inc. added affiliates AP Westshore Inc. and Monster Parts™ Division in Wisconsin and technical licensees in Australia, England, China (2), and India. In 2014 AP took on a majority interest equity partner, High Street Capital. John and his family maintain a significant minority share and he is a board member and a consultant to the company through his business Keotech, Inc.. John is also Proprietor of Joyworks LLC, a prototype design and casting studio (specializing in casting conversions) located in Ann Arbor.

John has authored numerous papers, co-authored one book, written, edited, and authored chapters in many more, and given scores of technical papers on foundry and heat treat-related topics worldwide. He has received the Ductile Iron Society Award (1990), the American Foundry Society’s Wm. J. Grede Award (1998), an ASM International Fellowship (1998), the ASM International Detroit Chapter Shoemaker Award (2000), the American Foundry Society Marketing Committee’s 2001 Jack F. Steele Award, The Engineering Society of Detroit’s Affiliate Society Gold Medal (2002), the American Foundry Society’s Ray H. Witt Award (2003), University of Michigan Material Science & Engineering Alumni Award of Merit (2004), the American Foundry Society Award of Scientific Merit (2005), 2010 China Foundry Association Award of Merit and the FEF’s 2014 E.J. Walsh Award. John holds ten heat treat and/or foundry-related patents. His professional activities include:

• Past Director of the Ductile Iron Society
• ASM International Board of Trustees class of 2013-2016
• Adjunct Professor; University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering
• Foundry Education Foundation Key Professor- University of Michigan
• Member: ASM, AFS, SAE

John and his wife, Nancy, split their time between their homes in Ann Arbor and Leadville, Co. and the far-flung locations of their children and grandchildren. 

Dave Mortensen

Former Sales and Marketing Executive

Dave graduated from University of Michigan in 1972 with bachelor degrees in Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering.  After 6 years as a helicopter pilot in the navy, he returned to Michigan and earned an MBA with concentrations in marketing and finance.  In 1980, he joined GE Lighting and held a number of new product development, product management, marketing and sales management positions with emphasis on OEM customers.  He left GE in 1993 to lead an OEM sales group selling power supplies to lighting fixture manufacturers.  Then he held the senior sales and marketing position in a number of companies manufacturing hydraulic, pneumatic and power transmission products selling through industrial distributors.  He had international experience in Europe, Brazil, Viet Nam and China.   He retired in 2012.  Dave is an avid golfer and lives in a golf community in Scottsdale.

  Mark Nichols

 Manager, Coatings, Surface Engineering and Process Modeling Research | Manufacturing Research Dept.  |  Ford Research and Advanced Engineering Ford Motor Company

After receiving his B.S.E. from U-M in 1987, Nichols went on to earn an M.S. from the Univ. of Illinois in 1989, followed by a Ph.D. from U-M in 1992. All his degrees are in MSE. Dr. Nichols joined the Ford Research Laboratory in 1992 to work on the durability of elastomers. His current research is focused on automotive coatings. Topics of particular interest include:  coating weatherability, corrosion, the fracture behavior of coatings and films, color science, and functional surfaces. In addition, Dr. Nichols is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Coatings Technology and Research. Dr. Nichols is the co-author of two books; Mechanical Properties of Coatings, 2^nded., and Organic Coatings: Science and Technology, 4^thed.; has published over 75 peer-reviewed research papers; and holds 13 U.S. patents. Dr. Nichols was the 2008 recipient of the Henry Ford Technology Award, Ford’s highest technical achievement, for his role in the development and implementation of a 3-wet paint process at Ford. Dr. Nichols has won several external awards from the American Coatings Association including the Industrial Excellence Award, the Roon Award, and the Distinguished Lecturer Award. Dr. Nichols was the 2019 (Spring) recipient of MSE's Distinguished Alumni Lecture Award.

Irene Peterson

Principal Research Scientist at Corning Research and Development Corporation

Irene Peterson is a Principal Research Scientist at Corning Research and Development Corporation, in the Process Research group. She studies the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase reactions in ceramic materials, and also provides technical support to glass production plants in the United States, Europe and Asia. Among the many different products she has worked on are ceramic filters for exhaust filtration and glass for display and pharmaceutical applications. She received the President’s Black Belt Award for Innovation. She recently developed a new class on glass science and technology for Corning Community College with her colleagues.
Irene is an active member of the American Ceramic Society, and serves as the Secretary of the Glass and Optical Materials Division. She frequently organizes sessions and gives invited lectures at international conferences.
Before joining Corning, Irene was a post-doc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she worked with Brian Lawn on fracture mechanics. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1995, as a student of Professor T.Y. Tien.

Ron Radzilowski

Founder and CEO
Alpha Venture Materials, LLC
Consultancy, NSF I-Corps PFI Mentor

 Ron Radzilowski is retired after serving as a principal research engineer for the Research & Innovation Center at AK Steel Corporation in Dearborn, Michigan.  Ron provided metallurgical support and direction to senior and operations management, and apprised them of innovative processes, new products and services which may have significant impact on the global operations of AK Steel. Dr. Radzilowski was a liaison between the AK Steel RIC and university research centers, the U.S. Dept. of Energy – Advanced Manufacturing Office, and the National Laboratories for conducting leveraged research projects.  Ron focused his activities on emerging technologies for producing both ferrous and non-ferrous materials. He is past chair of the Joint Policy Council of the Auto/Steel Partnership to promote application of 3rdGen AHSS in automobiles, past-chair of the ASM International Emerging Technology Awareness Committee, and past chair of the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Committee on Manufacturing Technology from 2013 to 2020.

Dr. Radzilowski has performed fundamental and applied research on solid electrolytic materials for high energy density batteries, low cost high purity silicon for solar cells, high temperature gas-metal kinetics in steels and superalloys, and joining of dissimilar materials for lightweighting in the transportation industry. Currently, he has collaborated with the University of Florida and ORNL on the effects of high magnetic fields on the microstructure and properties of metallic alloys, and with the University of Tennessee and the NSF on Multi Principal Element Alloys (aka High Entropy Alloys).  In recognition of his accomplishments in adapting metallurgical principles to the production of ferroalloys, superalloys, stainless steels, and advanced high strength steels, Ron was elected a Fellow of ASM International in 2009. Ron Radzilowski, Murray Small and Robert Pehlke received the Extractive Metallurgy Science Gold Metal Award from The Metallurgical Society of AIME in 1976 for fundamental work on high temperature liquid-gas reactions. Ron gave the 75^th Annual William Woodside Lecture to the ASM Detroit Chapter in May 2017. Ron was the inaugural Robert D. Pehlke Lecturer in Materials Processing in September 2018. Ron gave the Association of Iron & Steel Technology Detroit member chapter keynote address at the AK Steel Night meeting in March 2020. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Mu – past president of the Michigan Gamma Chapter, Sigma Pi Sigma – Physics Honor Society, and Sigma Xi – The Scientific Research Society of North America.  Dr. Radzilowski also devoted time to mentoring high school teachers and students by having participated in the annual ASM Materials Teachers Camp, and the senior practicum at the Henry Ford Academy.  

After earning a B.S. in chemistry at the University of Detroit, Dr. Radzilowski received an M.S. in chemistry, an M.S.E. in materials engineering, and a Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering at U-M.

Neil Weissman

Managing Director of Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors

Neil Weissman (BSE ’95) currently serves as managing director of the Weissman Eppler Investment Group of Wells Fargo Advisors in Ann Arbor— although his career originally took a very different path. After earning a master’s in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 1996, Weissman embarked on a seven-year career in the automotive industry, first with Ford Motor Co. and then with parts supplier Collins & Aikman Corp. In 2004, he made the transition to asset planning and wealth management, joining Becker Ventures, a boutique family business in Troy, as executive vice president. In 2008, he joined Telemus Capital Partners, a large RIA in Ann Arbor before being recruited to Wells Fargo in 2011. In his almost seven years with Wells Fargo, Weissman has been a repeat recipient of Wells Fargo Advisors' Premier Advisors designation, a distinction held by a select group of financial advisors within Wells Fargo Advisors, as measured by business production, completion of educational components and professionalism. Weissman was recently named one of the 2021 Best in State Wealth Advisors by Forbes.

Weissman is also a member of the Crain's Detroit Business "40 Under 40" Class of 2010, in which he was honored for his charitable fundraising and his success as a wealth manager.

Outside of the office, he is a member of the executive board for the Friendship Circle, a West Bloomfield-based nonprofit that helps families of individuals with special needs, and also serves on the advisory board for the ChadTough Foundation, a local organization whose mission is to fund research and raise awareness for pediatric brain cancer.

Weissman lives in Canton, with his wife Stacy and their two children, Lainey and Kylie.

Jim Yurko

Director of Product Design, Alloy Engineering, Apple Inc.

Jim Yurko (B.S.E. '97) earned a Ph.D. in Metallurgy from MIT. Prior to joining Apple, Jim served as Vice-President of Technology at Materion Corporation and co-founded Boston Metal Inc. in 2012. Jim’s career has focused on materials design and process development including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, magnesium, zirconium-bulk metallic glasses, beryllium, and other systems. He is active in TMS, serving previously as chair of the Process Technology and Modeling Committee, and was awarded the Vittorio de Nora Prize for Environmental Improvements in Metallurgical Industries in 2012 and the Brimacombe Medal in 2016.