Dennis M. Kochmann - Everyone Starts Small: How Metals Learn to Behave

Ever wondered where metallic materials get their unique properties from? Why are some materials strong and others fail quickly? Why can we deform some easily while others are hard to change? Why do some damp vibrations and others seem to swing forever? To understand why materials behave the way they do, we need to zoom deep into the lower length scales, deep into what is invisible to the naked eye.  Our journey into the micro- and nano-scales of materials reveals billions of tiny defects which in turn are made up of billions of atoms. It is this complex structure from the atomic scale all the way up to the macroscale which gives rise to the mechanical material behavior we experience in everyday life. And our journey won't stop there: understanding the link between structure and properties allows us to create new materials for today's and tomorrow's challenges in science, technology and society, which involve increasingly complex applications and extreme environments.

This lecture is the Richard C. Biedebach Memorial Lecture.

Presented by: Caltech Committee on Institute Programs