UA Engineering Professor Recognized as ‘Young Leaders’ International Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Gregory Thompson, assistant professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at The University of Alabama, was recently selected as a 2008 The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society Young Leaders International Scholar.

The award provides Thompson with a travel reimbursement to the Japanese Institute of Metals’ annual meeting in Tokyo where he will present his paper, “Mechanistic Formation and Composition Distribution in FePt Nanoparticles.”

In 2006, Thompson was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award for $500,000. Thompson received a TMS Young Leader Internship Award in 2005. In 2004, Thompson served as the lead principle investigator for an NSF Major Research Instrumentation Award for $1.3 million to purchase a field-emission transmission electron microscope.

TMS Scholars are chosen by members of the Young Leaders Committee based on their demonstration of leadership and presentation skills, and experience in presenting technical papers.

The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, known as TMS, and the Japan Institute of Metals established the Young Leaders International Scholar Program to promote young member activities, and strengthen the collaboration between the two organizations. This collaboration has resulted in an exchange program, which offers select young members the opportunity to present papers at the international sessions at each organization’s meeting.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 2,300 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.