Thermodynamics and kinetics research presented at 2016 Talbot Lecture

3/7/2016 MechSE Communications

  Professor Petros Sofronis (left) and Department Head Tony Jacobi (right) welcome Professor Reiner Kirchheim for the March 2016 Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture.The first of two Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lectures in 2016 featured an international scholar on thermodynamics and kinetics of materials.   

Written by MechSE Communications

 
Professor Petros Sofronis (left) and Department Head Tony Jacobi (right) welcome Professor Reiner Kirchheim for the March 2016 Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture.
Professor Petros Sofronis (left) and Department Head Tony Jacobi (right) welcome Professor Reiner Kirchheim for the March 2016 Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture.
Professor Petros Sofronis (left) and Department Head Tony Jacobi (right) welcome Professor Reiner Kirchheim for the March 2016 Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture.
The first of two Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lectures in 2016 featured an international scholar on thermodynamics and kinetics of materials. 
 
Professor Reiner Kirchheim presented his lecture, “On the atomistics and thermodynamics of chemomechanics of solids,” on March 4 in the NSCA auditorium. 
 
According to his abstract, “Plastic deformation and fracture of solids occurs by the formation, annihilation, and motion of lattice discontinuities or broken atomic bonds, respectively. For instance, vacancies and dislocations cause plastic flow or new surfaces are formed during fracture.”
 
“Professor Reiner Kirchheim is in one of the most complicated fields of material physics, and yet he can always explain it in such simple terms, bringing the essentials to the forefront. Perhaps even more impressive than his ability to break down the thermodynamics of defects is the respect he commands within the international community,” said Professor Petros Sofronis, who hosted Kirchheim. 
 
Kirchheim earned a PhD in physics from the University of Stuttgart in 1973. Since 2009 he has worked at the University of Göttingen as a Distinguished Professor of the State of Lower Saxony. In 2010 he was elected a member of the Max-Planck-Society, and since 2011 he has been a PI with the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER), a partnership with the University of Illinois and Kyushu University in Japan. Kirchheim is known for his research in the field of thermodynamics, kinetics of materials, and electrochemistry with special emphasis on hydrogen in metals, nanocrystalline alloys, and amorphous materials. 
 
Arthur Newell Talbot was named Professor of Municipal and Sanitary Engineering in charge of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Illinois until 1926, and regarded teaching as the most important aspect of his work at the university. The Arthur Newell Talbot Distinguished Lecture is made possible through the support of the Talbot family, in honor of their ancestor’s commitment to learning and teaching.
 
The second 2016 Talbot Lecture will take place on May 3. 
 
 
 

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This story was published March 7, 2016.