University of Alabama Professor Garry W. Warren, who teaches in the metallurgical and materials engineering department, has been named president of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society.

Warren joined the University’s metallurgical and materials engineering department in 1986 after teaching for many years at Carnegie Mellon University. Over the course of his career, he has published more than 80 papers on various topics related to chemical and process metallurgy.

Warren received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in metallurgical engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, according to the UA website. He spent several years working in the steel industry in Texas and then went on to earn his doctorate in metallurgy from the University of Utah.

Warren has been an active member of TMS for more than 30 years, during which time he has served as financial planning officer, director of publications, member of the executive committee and vice president.

Although his position as president of TMS is a large commitment, it will not change his role or involvement at the University.

“Becoming president involved a three-year commitment: one year as vice president, one year as president and one year as past president,” Warren said. “It will not change my role at UA, and I will continue to teach classes and carry out my other faculty duties.”

As president, he will lead the 15-member board of directors as they make decisions related to carrying out the society’s mission.

TMS is an international organization of more than 10,000 metallurgical and materials engineers, scientists, educators and students from 70 countries around the world.

“The mission of TMS is to promote the global science and engineering professions concerned with minerals, metals and materials,” Warren said. “TMS organizes many conferences which provide important opportunities for networking and information exchange, provides numerous scholarships and emphasizes the role that materials can play in providing solutions to timely global problems, such as energy, the environment and sustainability.”

TMS, with support from the Department of Energy, has initiated many programs in the past year with an emphasis on energy-related issues.

“The development of renewable energy sources and finding ways to lessen our requirement for imported oil depends heavily on being able to solve some tough materials-related problems,” Warren said.

Issues preventing the success of some alternative methods of automobile energy involve high cost of production and product longevity.

“One of the biggest obstacles to the success of electric vehicles is the cost and expected lifetime of lightweight rechargeable batteries,” he said. “Materials engineers are heavily involved in doing research that may solve this problem.”

In other industries, such as solar power, manufacturing costs keep the technology out of reach for most businesses and homeowners.

“If materials engineers could devise a method to produce semiconductors more cheaply, or if they could be made to work more efficiently it would be much easier to make this technology affordable to companies, city governments or even the average homeowner,” he said.

Students interested in joining the UA chapter of TMS may contact faculty advisor Nitin Chopra for more information.