RQ12 2005          Jeju Island, Korea          David J. Turnbull, Robert J. Cahn, T. Masumoto

RQ13 2008          Dresden, Germany         H.S. Chen

RQ14 2011          San Salvador, Brazil       Srinivasa Raganathan

RQ15 2014          Shanghai, China             Frans Spaepen, P. Hideo Shingu

Dieter M. Herlach

(Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Germany)                                                          

Dieter Herlach began his research at RWTH Aachen, working with Wassermann and von Löhneysen on metallic glasses and amorphous spin glasses. His first journal paper (1981) was on ‘Phonon scattering by electrons and low-energy excitations in a metallic glass’ [Solid State Commun. 39 (1981) 591], and an early paper ‘The evaluation of hyperfine field distributions in overlapping and asymmetric Mössbauer spectra: a study of the amorphous alloy Pd77.5–xCu6Si16.5Fex’ [J. Phys. F 13 (1983) 675] is now very well cited (205 cites). His work on containerless solidification started when he moved to the DLR (then the DFVLR) near Cologne. The key first paper ‘Containerless undercooling of bulk Fe-Ni melts’ [Appl. Phys. Lett. 49 (1986) 1339] now has 72 citations. This work was at first largely based on electromagnetic levitation (EML). Dieter is prominent in developing this and other methods to achieve containerless undercooling and solidification. Dieter’s work has also greatly advanced our understanding of the properties of liquids, particularly undercooled liquids: enthalpy, specific heat, surface tension, viscosity, liquid-liquid phase separation, short-range ordering.

Dieter’s publication record is excellent. Looking at the Web of Science on today’s date, he has 291 papers, attracting some 350 citations per year, and with a Hirsch index of 44. His most cited publication is his review ‘Nonequilibrium solidification of undercooled metallic melts’ [Mater. Sci. Eng. R 12 (1994) 177] (375 cites).

Dieter has consistently been a leader in his field in particular he has, as sole author or as the leader of co-authors, been responsible for several key review articles that have served to define the field and identify key issues for future research. Throughout his carrier he has led many prominent research collaborations, ranging from an early EU Brite-Euram project to DFG Schwerpunkt programmes. His efforts have been very influential, for example in attracting support for comparative studies of metallic and colloidal systems. Most importantly he is the eminent person in the field of containerless processing and solidification – thereby setting priorities for future research funding. Additionally he has chaired European Space Agency, and other, committees and working groups.

Hans Warlimont

Professor Hans Warlimont was born on September 4, 1931, in Osnabruck, Germany. A diplome in metallurgical engineering, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from Max Planck Metal Research, Stuttgart, Germany in the year 1959. After a brief stay of three years at United State Steel Corporation he came back to Max Planck Institute and headed the research group on metals from 1962 to 1974. During this period he has carried out outstanding work on Martensitic Transformation and order disorder transformation. During this period he developed a strong interest in the field of rapid solidification as well as an interest to translate the basic research to application. He moved in 1972 to head the research Division in Swiss Aluminium where he stayed for three years. In 1977, he moved to as director of research to Vakuumschmelze and played a leadership role in the development and application of metallic glass. He served as Science director of Institute für Festkörper und Werkstofforschung, Dresden, Germany from 1992 to 1998. Following this, he was closely associated with DSL Dresden Materials Innovation GMBH till 2010.

Although in early years, Professor Warlimont has contributed significantly to the martensitic transformation of copper based alloys and the basic understanding of order–disorder transformation, his fascination of the discovery of metallic glass by Prof. Paul Duwez and the subsequent development drew him to this field. He started playing a significant leadership role in the late seventies and eighties not only through research and development of the science of metallic glass and its applications but also to the RQ community. He contributes along with Dr Herzer to the development of the nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials and the leadership role that he played in the development of the successful product by the Vacuumschmelze. Even in later years, he tried developing newer catalyst through rapid solidification processing.

He made a significant effort in nourishing and sustaining the RQ community by organising one of the most successful RQ conferences in Wurzburg, Germany in 1984 and played a pivotal role from the late seventies to late nineties.  He was an active member of the international committee in the eighties and nineties and contributed significantly to the continuing progress of the RQ conferences and the bond that it has created in the community.