Researchers from the Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology (ICMT) out of Ohio University (Athens, Ohio, USA) have been awarded the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) International 2021 Distinguished Organization Award by the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). The Distinguished Organization Award recognizes outstanding contributions, made over a sustained period of time, to the fields of corrosion science or engineering.
“The Association Awards are an opportunity to celebrate those individuals who have made significant contributions to our industry, whether it be in corrosion science, engineering, education, or extraordinary service to the association,” says Tim Bieri, chair of AMPP. “It is an honor to recognize the extraordinary efforts and achievements of our members like Ohio University who have done so much to advance the association and the industry.”
In previous years, the organization formerly known as NACE (currently AMPP) has recognized individual ICMT professors and students for its awards. For example, Ohio University professors Mark Singer and Srdjan Nesic have each received the H.H. Uhlig Award, given in recognition of outstanding effectiveness in post-secondary corrosion education, and Nesic was also given the Willis Rodney Whitney Award for significant contributions to corrosion science. In addition, several student researchers from the ICMT have received accolades, with the most recent being the Outstanding Student Award presented to current Ph.D. student Fazlollah Madani Sani in 2020.
“NACE recognizes that we have a trend of turning out excellent graduates year after year, and that there is longevity and stability in what we do. I’m very proud of that,” says Nesic, who also serves as director of the ICMT.
Established in 1993, the ICMT is a National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center whose mission is to better understand and combat corrosion in multiphase systems such as oil and gas. The work of Nesic and Singer, along with graduate students and researchers from the ICMT, focuses on identifying ways to combat corrosion to infrastructure on behalf of industrial clients.
“Corrosion is everywhere,” says Singer. “It is the tendency of every metallic structure around us to return to its ore mineral state, which is often not good news since it also comes with a degradation of its mechanical properties. You need to make sure those are maintained so that they continue to work as intended.”
Under Nesic’s leadership, the ICMT operates six large project teams comprised of graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and other personnel. The majority of ICMT research activities are performed by students, who gain valuable hands-on experience conducting research for companies while also fulfilling the academic requirements for their masters and doctoral degrees.
“The projects and challenges the students work on come straight from the industry, and then the students meet with their sponsors to get direct feedback,” says Nesic. “[ICMT] is a football field-sized lab with a lot of equipment and they get to do things that very few other students can do in their laboratories because we have the equipment which enables us to simulate the real-life problems that companies have.”
“This experience prepares students very well for the next step because they have learned from working with us how to apply the right set of tools and knowledge,” adds Singer.
Source: OHIO News, www.ohio.edu/news.