The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has named scientists Amanda Petford-Long, Orlando Auciello and Ali Erdemir as Distinguished Fellows, the laboratory's highest scientific and engineering rank.
The Argonne Distinguished Fellow title is comparable in stature to an endowed chair at a top-ranked university and recognizes exceptional contributions in a person's field. The rank is given for sustained outstanding scientific and engineering research and can also be associated with outstanding technical leadership of major, complex, high-priority projects.
Argonne named three outstanding scientists as Distinguished Fellows this year. From left: Amanda Petford-Long, Orlando Auciello and Ali Erdemir.
Amanda Petford-Long
Petford-Long is the Director of Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, a Department of Energy national user facility that provides capabilities explicitly tailored to the creation and characterization of new functional materials on the nanoscale. She holds a doctorate in materials science from University of Oxford (1985) and a bachelor’s degree in physics from University College, London (1981).
Her research interests include the dependence of magnetic, transport and optical properties of layered ferroic films on microstructure and fabrication parameters. The physical properties of the films are correlated with microstructure, magnetic domain structure and composition profiles, determined using a range of high-resolution electron-microscopy and position-sensitive atom probe techniques, including Lorentz microscopy for imaging magnetic domains.
Orlando Auciello
Orlando Auciello is a senior physicist at Argonne, working in the Materials Science Division and the Center for Nanoscale Materials. He graduated with a master’s degree (1973) and a doctorate (1976) in physics from the Physics Institute “Dr. Balseiro” (Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina).
Auciello is directing several basic and applied research programs in different fields, including the science and technology of multicomponent oxide thin films and application to devices such as ferroelectric memories, nanoscale CMOS devices, photovoltaic energy generation/storage devices, high-frequency devices and piezoelectric thin films for MEMS/NEMS devices.
His research also includes the science and technology of a novel ultrananocrystalline diamond film, developed and patented at Argonne, and its application to multifunctional devices such as RF MEMS/NEMS, electron field emitters, implantable biomedical devices (artificial retinas), biosensors and mechanical pump seals.
Ali Erdemir
Erdemir is a senior scientist with Argonne’s Energy Systems Division. He earned a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy from Istanbul Technical University (1976), Istanbul, Turkey, and a master’s degree (1982) and a doctorate (1986) in materials engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.
His research interests include surface engineering, tribology, lubrication, superlubricity, nano-structured and nano-composite coatings, biomaterials, physical and chemical vapor deposition, surface texturing, surface analysis, diamond and diamondlike carbon films, engine tribology, invasive and implantable medical devices, nanolubrication and various manufacturing technologies such as metal-cutting and forming. His contributions in these areas have resulted in several breakthrough discoveries and have had a significant positive impact on further understanding of the fundamental friction and wear mechanisms of numerous novel materials, coatings and lubricants, many of which are now used by industry.