BS/MS student Christopher DelRe is a recipient of the inaugural Alpha Sigma Mu Harry C. Rogers Scholarship presented by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Alpha Sigma Mu. Awarded at the Alpha Sigma Mu awards ceremony on October 13 in Pittsburgh, PA as part of the Materials Science & Technology 2014 conference (MS&T), the scholarship provides an award of $3,000.
A senior, Chris’s research involves synthesizing a cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries using conductive polymers. He completed two co-ops as a research analyst in a solid-state analysis group at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Chris is currently in the process of applying to Ph.D. programs in biomedical engineering. He is particularly interested in biomaterials and materials for drug delivery applications.
The scholarship is named for former faculty member Dr. Harry Rogers. A beloved professor who began his career with the department in 1969 in what was then the Department of Materials Engineering, Dr. Harry Rogers was a pioneer in ductile fracture. His seminal paper on "The tensile fracture of ductile metals," Trans. Met. Soc. AIME 218:498-506, 1960, marked the beginning of the modern scientific understanding of ductile fracture in metals and is considered to be an all time classic. He served as department head from 1987 to 1990 and was the department's first A.W. Grosvenor Professor, a title which he held until his retirement in 1991. In his honor, the Alpha Sigma Mu society established this scholarship jointly with the department for a deserving undergraduate student pursuing the study of materials science and engineering.