Article Authored by UA Researchers Named One of Year’s ‘Hottest’

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A research article authored by a University of Alabama professor and her former graduate student is among 2010’s “Top 25 Hottest Articles” appearing in the scientific journal Intermetallics, according to an online database regularly accessed by nearly 11 million users.

ScienceDirect lists an article written by Dr. Viola Acoff, professor and head of the department of metallurgical and materials engineering, and a former UA doctoral student, Dr. Gajanan Chaudhari, as the year’s 17^th most downloaded article from the journal.

The article, published in April 2010, details the pair’s research on an improved method for making titanium aluminide, an alloy used in aircraft construction. The new process is less costly than more traditional methods and improves some of the material’s qualities, including reducing its weight. Lighter aircraft are more efficient.

The journal’s most downloaded papers in 2010 include those published from as far back as 1996.

Since she began working at UA in 1994, Acoff has been awarded more than $5 million in external funding for her materials research. She has also been instrumental in developing and leading an effort to attract science faculty from historically black colleges and universities to the field of materials science.

Chaudhari earned his doctorate from UA in 2005 and returned to India where he is now an assistant professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee. The article is based on his dissertation work at UA.

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 2,700 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.