LLNL’s Kate Elder honored with Fulbright foreign scholarship

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) materials scientist Kate Elder has been selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and will conduct research in Finland.

Elder’s project, “Establishing Process-Structure Links During Additive Manufacturing of High Entropy Alloys,” will lead to the manufacture of lighter and stronger parts, perfect for high-temperature applications across many industries.

Specifically, the project will explore high-entropy alloys (HEAs), an alloy sub-field with promise of enhanced properties, that are expected to print with a different structure, and thus have different properties, than traditional alloys under additive-manufacturing (AM) conditions.

“I feel honored to receive the Fulbright-VTT Award in Science, Technology, and Innovation,” Elder said. “I am excited for the opportunity to continue our collaboration with VTT Technical Research Center of Finland in pursuit of cutting-edge research in the field of high-entropy alloys. As a Fulbright Scholar, I am proud to take on the role as a cultural ambassador for the United States and continue to foster the scientific relationship between Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.”

Elder’s project will use an integrated computational materials engineering framework, which is the combination of multiphysics and thermodynamic modeling, phase-field simulation and microstructure characterization, to investigate the microstructures that form during additive manufacturing of HEAs.

The project is a continuation of the work Elder did under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Strategic Initiative, “Rapid Design to Deployment of Tailored Alloys,” which focused on developing a materials acceleration platform to design alloys tailored to performance for high-entropy alloys. This project was conducted in close collaboration with the researchers at VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.

“I have always aspired to be an accomplished researcher in the field of computational materials science and learn about other cultures through international collaboration,” Elder said. “Receiving this accolade is a wonderful opportunity to do both.”

The Fulbright-VTT Award in Science, Technology, and Innovation is jointly funded by the Fulbright Finland Foundation and VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, where Elder will be working.

The Fulbright Program is devoted to increasing mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and people of other countries. Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program. As a Fulbright scholar, Elder will join the ranks of many distinguished program participants. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists and teachers. They include 62 Nobel laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 Fulbright scholars have participated in the program.