University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering

Ernest Christian Hartmann

[title]
To Ernest Christian Hartmann, engineer, research administrator, industrial executive, for his outstanding leadership in the direction of engineering research work in the field of engineering materials.

Director of Research, Aluminum Company of America, New Kensington, Pennsylvania

  • BS, Civil Engineering, 1924
  • MS, Civil Engineering, 1927

Mr. Hartmann is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the structural uses of aluminum alloys. He joined the Aluminum Company in 1929 as a research engineer at a time when the principal alloy made by the company was known as Duralumin. He became chief of the Engineering Design Division at the Research Laboratories in 1943, was appointed Assistant Director of Research in 1955, and Director in 1962.

In his role as research engineer Mr. Hartmann has pioneered in the development of scores of new alloys of aluminum and has led the work in their use in structures and machines. Of very great importance was his role in the development and application of aluminum alloys to the construction of the giant fleet of aircraft that were so decisive in the winning of World War II. Mr. Hartmann’s contributions to the development of new theories on behavior of a wide variety of alloys have been unique and have set an outstanding example of the importance of work by research engineers in the new field of materials research.

Current as of 1965.