Averback named MatSE interim head

Robert Averback, the Donald W. Hamer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering has been named as the interim head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE), effective June 15.

Averback replaces Ian Robertson, who served as the department head since 2004.

 "I wish to thank Professor Ian Robertson for his dedicated guidance and administration," said Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College of Engineering. "The department has prospered under his leadership, and I want to express my appreciation for all of his efforts. I also appreciate Professor Averback's willingness to serve as interim head as we begin a national search for Ian’s successor." 

Averback received his PhD for work in low-temperature, solid-state physics at Michigan State University. He became interested in materials science and ion-solid interactions while a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University. Before coming to the University of Illinois as professor in 1987, he was a staff physicist at Argonne National Laboratory for 13 years. Averback spent two years as a guest scientist at the Juelich Research Center in Germany.

His research program investigates the fundamental aspects of far-from-equilibrium materials, with emphasis on applications in extreme environments, such as ultra-high temperature, particle irradiation and stress. The work focuses primarily on self-organization, the kinetic and mechanical properties of nanostructured materials and defect properties in all hard materials. Additional work is performed on phase transformations in metals far from equilibrium and examines the structure and kinetic behavior of deeply undercooled liquid metals. The research program includes both experimental and computer simulation methods.

Averback was a co-recipient of the Department of Energy award for sustained outstanding research in 1985 for his work on radiation-induced segregation and was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Prize in 1993. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has served on the Board of Directors of the Materials Research Society. He has published approximately 300 papers in archival journals and is listed among the most cited authors in the Web of Science.

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