Congratulations to Dr. Kelvin Xie, an Assistant Research Scientist working with Professor Kevin Hemker, on winning the 2016 TMS First Place Prize in the Best Poster Competition for Characterization of Minerals, Metals and Materials. Their work, titled “Microstructural Characterization of Boron-rich Boron Carbide by Transmission Electron Microscopy” unraveled that the formation of nano-scale planar defects and the attained mechanical properties of boron carbide can be controlled by carefully tuning the chemical stoichiometry. Boron carbide is an attractive body armor material and understanding the roles of stoichiometry provides an additional means to design even lighter and tougher body armor.
The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) is an international professional organization for materials scientists and engineers that encompasses the entire range of materials and engineering. It was founded in 1945 and is one of the largest materials science societies with over 12000 members and 4000 attendees for the annual meeting. For the symposium, 92 posters were reviewed and the best poster award is judged on the technical merit, originality, potential impact on the field and clarity of presentation.