The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center Sewickley, PA
Dr. Brian Gleeson
Harry S. Tack Chaired Professor of Materials Science, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh
Titanic— The sinking of the RMS Titanic: Was metallurgical failure the cause?
Program Description
Dr. Brian Gleeson, the Harry S. Tack Chaired Professor of Materials Science and Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh, discusses how materials have advanced since the brittle steel that fails at low temperatures was used to build the luxury ocean liner that sunk in iceberg-strewn waters in 1912, killing 1,500 people.
Presented At
The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center Sewickley, PA
Film Synopsis
An epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" Titanic, at the time, the largest moving object ever built.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar-nominatee Kate Winslet light up the screen as Jack and Rose, the young lovers who find one another on the maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" R.M.S. Titanic. But when the doomed luxury liner collides with an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic, their passionate love affair becomes a thrilling race for survival. From acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron comes a tale of forbidden love and courage in the face of disaster that triumphs as a true cinematic masterpiece.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
About the Speaker
Dr. Brian Gleeson is currently the Harry S. Tack Chaired Professor of Materials Science in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also the Chairman of this department. Prior to taking the Chairman position in May, 2014, he served as Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Energy (2008-2014). Dr. Gleeson received his degrees in materials science & engineering (MSE) from the University of Western Ontario, Canada (BE in 1984; ME in 1986) and the University of California at Los Angeles (Ph.D., 1989). He was a postdoctoral fellow and then a faculty member in the MSE Department at the University of New South Wales, Australia, from 1990-1997. He moved to Iowa State University (ISU) in 1998, where, in 2006, he was appointed the Renken Professor of MSE. From 2001-2006 he also served as Director of the Materials & Engineering Physics Program at the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory, which is managed by ISU. In the fall of 2007, he moved to the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include the high-temperature degradation behavior of metallic alloys and coatings; phase equilibria and transformations; physical metallurgy, and diffusion and thermodynamic treatments of both gas/solid and solid/solid interactions. He is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal High Temperature Corrosion of Materials.