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Rising Materials Scientist Wins Metco Sponsored Young Professionals Award at ITSC 2015

Winterthur, Switzerland — July 23, 2015 — The Young Professionals Award (YPA) is sponsored by Oerlikon Metco and supported and organized by the German Welding Society (DVS) and ASM International. It has been a successful event since it was introduced in 2011 by Professor Kirsten Bobzin of the University of Aachen. The YPA aims to recognize bright young individuals who show promise in contributing to the advancements in surface engineering. The winner receives high recognition from industry leaders and is awarded a cash prize plus an all-expense-paid visit to an Oerlikon Metco facility.

Reza Rokni, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Materials Science and Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, received the Young Professional Award this year at the International Thermal Spray Conference (ITSC) 2015 for his outstanding presentation titled “The Effects of Post Cold Spray Heat Treatments on Microstructure & Mechanical Properties of 7075 Al Depositions”.

 “The Young Professionals Session is one of the most valuable events that we conduct at the ITSC,” says Richard Schmid, CTO at Oerlikon Metco, “It creates a high level of excitement within the student bodies. These students are the future of our industry; therefore, this is a worthy investment in our future.” This years’ award was presented by the session organizer, Professor Sanjay Sampath, Director of the Center for Thermal Spray Research at Stony Brook State University of New York, and Markus Heusser, Head of Business Unit Materials and Technology at Oerlikon Metco.

As part of the award prize, Mr. Rokni received an all-expense paid trip to New York where he had the opportunity to visit Oerlikon Metco’s Westbury facility and meeting with several management team members, including Oerlikon Metco (US) President Friedrich Herold and Materials R&D Manager Jing Liu, Coating Solutions Center Manager Chris Dambra. After touring the R&D, Engineering, Manufacturing Departments and experiencing firsthand the processes and operations of a production plant, he stated: “It was a great pleasure meeting everyone. I was pretty amazed by the friendly and multicultural environment and by the interesting projects Oerlikon Metco manages.”

Prior to achieving his Ph.D. degree, Mr. Rokni had published thirteen technical papers whereby he demonstrated exceptional qualities desirable in the next generation of innovative professionals. He is currently conducting post-doctoral research focused on surface modification processes, such as thermal and cold spray. “I am glad that I can stay in this area and can keep contributing to the knowledge and science of it,” he concludes.

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