Biography:

Dr. Mark F. Smith received his Ph.D. in metallurgy from Iowa State University in 1981 and has spent nearly 30 years in materials related R&D at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before entering management in 1999, Dr. Smith was best known for his pioneering work in thermal spray process diagnostics, modeling and control with more than 50 technical publications in this field.  He also helped found the ASM Thermal Spray Society, the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, and the International Thermal Spray Conference. 

In 2006, he was inducted into the Thermal Spray Hall of Fame. Dr. Smith is currently Deputy Director of Sandia’s Materials Science & Engineering Center, a 250-person organization that annually conducts ~ $60M of R&D to support US national security needs. Departments in the research group that Mark currently leads span a wide range of materials and process technologies, including organic materials, ceramics, thin film and vacuum technologies, electronics packaging, meso-scale manufacturing, friction and wear, joining technologies, failure analysis, and thermal spray coating. 

Technical activities span the full gamut from fundamental research, through development and prototyping, to low-volume specialized production.  Since 1993, Dr. Smith has also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at New Mexico Tech University.  Dr. Smith has also served on several national technical advisory panels and boards reporting to policy entities such as the National Research Council, the Office of the Vice President of the United States, and the National Security Council.  As 2010-11 President of ASM International, Dr. Smith is working to focus ASM on delivering greater tangible value to help make ASM members and the organizations they serve more successful.

Abstract:

Advancements in science and technology are playing an important role in the battle to enhance the safety and security of our nation.  This presentation discusses some unclassified examples of national security related research and development activities at Sandia National Laboratories, with special emphasis on the role of materials science and technology. 

Advances in materials and process science are enabling new high-technology local and remote sensors that will enhance our security by improving our ability to rapidly and inexpensively detect and identify potentially hazardous materials.  Hi-tech solutions are also being developed to render biological and chemical hazards harmless and to safely disable explosives.  This national security oriented presentation should be of interest to non-technical guests (spouses, parent/student night) as well as those engaged in materials related professions.

The “PAN Disruptor”, developed at Sandia to safely disable explosive devices, was successfully used at the cabin of the Unabomber.