The W. David Kingery Award is a prestigious honor presented annually by the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) to individuals who have made significant lifelong contributions to the field of ceramic science and engineering. [1] The award is named in honor of W. David Kingery, a prominent figure in ceramics research, and is one of the highest honors bestowed in the ceramics community, celebrating sustained excellence in research, leadership, and education over the course of a career. [2]
The W. David Kingery Award was established in 1998 by ACerS to honor the memory and contributions of W. David Kingery, whose work transformed the field of ceramics. Kingery is often referred to as the "father of modern ceramics" due to his research in ceramic processing, especially in sintering, a process critical to the formation of dense ceramic bodies from powders. [3] His interdisciplinary approach, which combined elements of materials science, chemistry, and physics, revolutionized the manufacturing and application of ceramic materials.
Kingery's research extended beyond basic science to include practical applications, from high-performance materials used in aerospace and electronics to advanced ceramic technologies in energy production and medicine. [4] His influence as an educator was equally impactful, having authored several foundational textbooks in ceramics and materials science, including the influential Introduction to Ceramics. [5] Throughout his career, Kingery was a prominent advocate for the advancement of ceramic engineering and education, mentoring many future leaders in the field.
Recognizing the need to honor individuals who embody Kingery's legacy of excellence, ACerS created the award to highlight contributions that have a broad and lasting impact on ceramic science and technology. The award underscores the importance of long-term dedication to the field, whether through research, innovation, or service to the ceramics community.[ citation needed ]
The award is conferred based on a rigorous evaluation of the nominee's career achievements. [6] It recognizes individuals who have demonstrated sustained excellence and made significant, long-term contributions to the field of ceramics, which may include, but are not limited to:
While the award is open to candidates from both academic and industrial sectors, recipients typically have a body of work that spans decades, influencing not only their own area of expertise but also the broader ceramics community. [7] The award reflects both individual accomplishment and contributions that benefit society as a whole through the advancement of ceramic technology.
Many recipients of the W. David Kingery Award have been recognized for their pioneering research and contributions to ceramics, both in academic and industrial settings. These individuals have made advancements in areas such as ceramic processing, high-temperature materials, sintering technologies, and the development of ceramic materials for structural, electronic, and biomedical applications. [8]
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick.
Sintering or frittage is the process of compacting and forming a solid mass of material by pressure or heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. Sintering happens as part of a manufacturing process used with metals, ceramics, plastics, and other materials. The atoms/molecules in the sintered material diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles together and creating a solid piece.
Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials. This is done either by the action of heat, or at lower temperatures using precipitation reactions from high-purity chemical solutions. The term includes the purification of raw materials, the study and production of the chemical compounds concerned, their formation into components and the study of their structure, composition and properties.
Uma Chowdhry was an American chemist whose career was spent in research and management positions with E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. She specialized in the science of ceramic materials, including catalysts, proton conductors, superconductors and ceramic packaging for microelectronics.
The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a nonprofit organization of professionals for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications in which ceramic materials are an element. ACerS is located in Westerville, Ohio.
Alexandra Navrotsky is a physical chemist in the field of nanogeoscience. She is an elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Philosophical Society (APS). She was a board member of the Earth Sciences and Resources division of the NAS from 1995 until 2000. In 2005, she was awarded the Urey Medal, by the European Association of Geochemistry. In 2006, she was awarded the Harry H. Hess Medal, by the American Geophysical Union. She is currently the director of NEAT ORU, a primary program in nanogeoscience. She is distinguished professor at University of California, Davis.
William David Kingery was an American material scientist who developed systematic methods for the study of ceramics. For his work, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in 1999.
Bikramjit Basu is currently a full professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, specializing in Engineering Ceramics and Biomaterials Science. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for science and technology, the highest science award in India, for the year 2013 in engineering science category. The prize was awarded for his "outstanding contributions encompassing theory and experiments to significantly expand our understanding of the in vitro cell functionality modulation on engineered bio-materials using electric field simulation approach". With a team of clinicians and entrepreneurs, he is actively involved in translating his research into implantable biomedical devices for orthopedic and dental restorative applications and currently leading a center of Excellence at IISc, Bangalore. In 2015, he received the National Bioscience award. Besides, Prof. Basu is also involved in development of Zirconum diboride based UHTCs.
İlhan Arif Aksay is American materials scientist. He is the Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor in Engineering and Emeritus Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering within the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Michel Barsoum is an American-Egyptian material scientist and engineer, currently a distinguished professor at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the field of materials science and engineering and also a published author. In 2009, he became the holder of the A. W. Grosvenor Professorship at Drexel.
David R. Clarke is a material scientist and the inaugural Extended Tarr Family Professor of Material Science and Applied Physics at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). He is the principal investigator of the Materials Discovery and Applications Group.
Günter Petzow was a German materials scientist and the director at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research.
Katherine T. Faber is an American materials scientist and one of the world's foremost experts in ceramic engineering, material strengthening, and ultra-high temperature materials. Faber is the Simon Ramo Professor of Materials Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). She was previously the Walter P. Murphy Professor and department chair of Materials Science and Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University.
Wai-Yim Ching is a Curator’s Professor of Physics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He is also a group leader at the Electronic Structure Group (ESG) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and an invited speaker of the 57th Midwest Solid State Conference.
Dawn Austin Bonnell is the Senior Vice Provost for Research at the University of Pennsylvania. She has previously served as the Founding Director of the National Science Foundation Nano–Bio Interface Center, Vice President of the American Ceramic Society and President of the American Vacuum Society. In 2024, she was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Rishi Raj is an Indian university professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the pioneer of flash sintering technology and research.
Dana Grace Goski is a Canadian-born materials scientist, past president of The American Ceramic Society (ACerS), and vice president of research & development at Allied Mineral Products, Inc. During her tenure as ACerS president, she extensively supported the mission and activities of the Society's Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittee and the International Ceramic Arts Network (ICAN), the Society's member organization for clay artisans and potters.
John Ballato is an American materials scientist, entrepreneur, and academic. He holds the J. E. Sirrine Endowed Chair of Optical Fiber and is a professor of materials science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, as well as physics and astronomy at Clemson University. He has received many international recognitions for his research on optical and optoelectronic materials, particularly as relates to optical fiber.
Olivier Guillon is a French-German materials scientist and engineer. He is the Director of the Institute of Energy Materials and Devices (IMD-2): Materials Synthesis and Processing at Forschungszentrum Jülich and professor at RWTH Aachen University.
Nava Setter is a retired Israeli and Swiss materials scientist focusing on electroceramics including ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials, thin films and thick films of ceramics, and microsensors and microactuators. She is a professor emeritus at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and a visiting professor at Tel Aviv University in Israel.