Former Lead Organizer of the Trends in Welding Research Conference

Dr. David received his Ph.D. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He was adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Colorado School of Mines, and a Visiting Professor at Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom.

Currently, he is a Corporate Fellow Emeritus and a consultant at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He joined ORNL in 1977 and in 2008 retired as a Corporate Fellow of UT-Battelle, and Group Leader of the Materials Joining Group. He is a Fellow of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), ASM International and the American Welding Society AWS). Last year, he was made Fellow of The international Institute of Welding (IIW). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, “Science and Technology of Welding and Joining,” published by the Institute of Materials, London.

He is the recipient of several major awards. To mention a few, The Arata Prize from the International Institute of Welding, Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Pittsburgh, the Elegant Work Prize of the Institute of Materials, London, for his publications on single crystal welding. In 1994, he was the recipient of the Champion H. Mathewson award from The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society and was awarded the 1981 Lincoln Gold Medal by the American Welding Society. He has contributed to over 300 papers in the fields of solidification and welding metallurgy and is the editor of ten international conference proceedings. His recent papers on welding and weldability of ferritic steels in particular P91 is cited very often.

Dr. Feng manages Materials Joining at ORNL where he leads both fundamental and applied R&D and technology innovations for diverse interdisciplinary subjects related to materials joining and allied materials manufacturing processes, with an annual R&D budget of ~$10 million. A proven leader in successfully developing major cooperative R&D initiatives between government agencies (DOE, DOD, NASA, NSF and NIST) and private industry companies from automotive, aerospace, nuclear, petrochemical and power generation industry sectors. Lead strategic growth of team and capability in highly competitive environment, as well as effectively direct, manage and deliver organizational performance of R&D organizations.

2019 AWS President

Dr. Thomas Lienert has a career in Materials Science, Welding Engineering and Laser-Materials Processing that spans over four decades. He runs his own consulting firm and is currently a Senior Scientist at Optomec, Inc. He held prior positions as an R&D Engineer 4 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, and as a Senior Research Engineer at the Edison Welding Institute. Dr. Lienert has earned a B.S. Degree in Welding Engineering, and M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Materials Science and Engineering, all from The Ohio State University. He has authored over 30 refereed journal articles, has written five book chapters, and has made over 140 technical presentations. He has four patents and has been a recipient of an R&D 100 Award. Dr. Lienert serves as the Review Editor for the Welding Journal Research Supplement and was the 2019 President of the American Welding Society (AWS). He has been named Fellow of both the AWS and ASM International.