A panel of international judges has selected Subra Suresh, the Ford Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as the 2006 recipient of one of the most prestigious and multinationally coordinated prizes in materials science and engineering: the Acta Materialia Gold Medal.
The medal selection is co-sponsored by 30 different professional societies from around the world, each of which may nominate a candidate for the award through a rigorous internal selection process. In a rare occurrence, Suresh was simultaneously nominated by two different international materials societies as their unanimous choice, after a selection process conducted independently by their own awards committees.
In announcing Suresh's selection for the award, the sponsoring nonprofit organization, Acta Materialia Inc., noted: "During a career spanning three decades, he has made pioneering contributions to metallurgy, materials science and engineering, engineering mechanics, fracture mechanics, fatigue of materials, thin films, and cell and molecular biomechanics. His students and associates now occupy prominent positions in academia, industry and government around the world."
Suresh also holds appointments in the Division of Biological Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
Suresh will receive the 2006 Acta Materialia Gold Medal and a cash prize at the 2006 fall meeting of the Materials Research Society in Boston. On that occasion, he will also deliver the Acta Materialia Gold Medal Lecture.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 14, 2005 (download PDF).
