Wilson-Cook Chaired Professor in Engineering Design

BS and MS, materials, 1970
ScD, materials, 1974 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Contact Info

Find out more about Professor Olson's Research

Dynamic multilevel structure: systems design of materials

     We are integrating fundamental principles of processing/structure/property/ performance relations within a systems engineering framework. Science-based design produces dynamic, multilevel, structured systems for new materials. Mechanistic models for both displacive martensitic and diffusional precipitation reactions are provided from theoretical and experimental study of first-order phase transformations in model alloy systems. We apply kinetics-based constitutive relations for martensitically transforming materials to numerical modeling of shape memory behaviors and transformation toughening mechanisms in ductile solids. These incorporate interactions with microvoid nucleation processes and plastic flow localization.

Our interdisciplinary collaborations include quantum-mechanical investigations of the chemical basis of intergranular fracture resistance. We integrate principles into materials system designs through computational thermodynamics and numerical kinetic modeling. Prototype high-performance alloy steels have demonstrated record property combinations, and the design methodology is now being extended to intermetallic composites, ceramics, and polymers, including biomimetic design concepts.

Associations and Awards

• NSF Research Creativity Award, 1983
• Army Materials Special Service Award, 1988
• Fellow, ASM, 1990
• Director of the multi-institutional Steel Research Group featured on a PBS-TV Infinite Voyage special, 1991
• SERC Visiting Professor, Cambridge University, 1992
• J. Wallenberg Foundation Award, Sweden, 1993
• M. R. Tenenbaum Award of ISS-AIME, 1993
• NASA Technology Recognition Award, 1994
• ASM Alpha Sigma Mu Lecturer, 1996
• Technology of the Year award, Industry Week, 1988
• Fellow of TMS-AIME, 2001
• Advisory Board, Journal of Computer-Assisted Materials Design

Selected Publications

First-principles determination of the effects of phosphorus and boron on iron grain boundary cohesion [with R. Wu and A. J. Freeman]. Science 265(5170): 376-80 (1994).

Computational design of hierarchically structured materials. Science 277(5330): 1237-42 (1997). /p>

Designing a new naterial world, Science 288(5468): 993-8 (2000).