"The Hydrometallurgical Extraction and Recovery of High Purity Silver"
Date: Tuesday, February 17
Speaker: James E. Hoffmann, President, James E. Hoffmann and Associates Company  

About the Topic
A new process is available for the recovery of silver from a variety of silver chloride-bearing inputs. The process consists of the following steps: 

• Silver extraction by ammoniacal leaching
• Ion exchange purification of the ammoniacal leach filtrate
• Precipitation of silver chloride and recovery of ammonia
• Conversion of silver chloride to silver oxide
• Reduction of silver oxide to metallic silver with sucrose

Areas for discussion will include the solubility of silver chloride in aqueous ammonia, the chemistry of the formation of explosive silver nitride, the economics and energy intensity of ammonia recovery, and the chemistry of the aqueous reduction of silver oxide to high purity silver.

"The Theory and Application of Nitrogen Species Catalyzed and Alkaline Sulfide Hydrometallurgical Systems"
Date: Tuesday, February 17
Speaker:  Dr. Corby Anderson, Director and Principal Process Engineer, Center for Advanced Mineral and Metallurgical Processing, Montana Tech
Luncheon Cost: $50

About the Topic
This presentation will focus on the two unique yet industrially proven hydrometallurgical systems. The fundamentals behind both will be elucidated. Historic and current applications for treatment of copper concentrates will also be illustrated.

TMS/Acta Materialia Distinguished Lecture Series
Date: Sunday, February 15

Title:  "Are There Ways to Synthesize Materials Beyond the Limitations of Today?"
Speaker:  2009 Robert Franklin Mehl Award Recipient, Dr. Herbert Gleiter
Institute of Nanotechnology, Research Center Karlsruhe, Germany
About the Topic: The properties of materials are controlled by the following two factors: the arrangement of the atoms, e.g., in the form of a crystalline lattice, and the chemical composition, e.g., in the form of a solid solution. If new types of atomic structures would be generated and/or components would be alloyed that are considered today to be immiscible, it would open the way to novel materials with new properties.

Title: To be Determined
Speaker:  2009 Acta Materialia Gold Medal Recipient, Prof. Y. Austin Chang
Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin

Title: To be Determined
Speaker:  2009 Acta Materialia Materials in Society Recipient, Dr. Carolyn Hansson, Materials Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada  

"Nano Approaches to Using Light Metals Magnesium and Aluminum in Hydrogen Storage"
Date: Wednesday, February 18
Speaker:   Rajeev Ahuja, Physics and Materials Science, Uppsala University, Sweden
Luncheon Cost: $50

About the Topic
A fundamental understanding of the role of catalysts in dehydrogenation of MgH2 nanoclusters is provided by carrying out first principles calculations based on density functional theory. It is shown that the transition metal atoms Ti, V, Fe and Ni not only lower desorption energies significantly but also continue to attract at least four hydrogen atoms even when the total hydrogen content of the cluster decreases. In particular, Fe is found to migrate from the surface sites to the interior sites during the dehydrogenation process, releasing more hydrogen as it diffuses. This diffusion mechanism may account for the fact that a small amount of catalysts is sufficient to improve the kinetics of MgH2, which is essential for the use of this material for hydrogen storage in fuel cell applications. Further, the role of catalysts in dehydrogenation of AlH3 has also been studied.

"Women in Science and Engineering: A Personal Perspective"
Date: Monday, February 16
Speaker:  Professor Dawn A. Bonnell, Materials Science, University of Pennsylvania
Breakfast Cost: $0

About the Topic
Professor Bonnell will discuss the current status of women's roles in science and engineering as well as historic trends. The potential impact of unconscious bias and policies to mitigate against its effects will be covered as well. This presentation will be a personal perspective rather than a sociological study, although it will rely heavily on quantitative data from several sources.

"Atomistic and Mesoscale Modeling of Materials: Towards Predictive Tools for Materials Design"
Date: Monday, February 16
Speaker:  TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award Recipient
Professor Alejandro Strachan, School of Materials Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Lecture Cost: $0
Luncheon Cost: $40

About the Topic
An accurate prediction of materials behavior from first principles requires the characterization of a wide range of phenomena with disparate temporal and spatial scales from electrons and atoms to devices. No single theory or computational model can capture all these phenomena with the required level of accuracy. Thus, a mutliscale, multiphysics approach involving a combination of theories and computational techniques is necessary. This lecture will cover some of the most powerful and widely used techniques for materials modeling:

• First principles quantum mechanics
• Large scale molecular dynamics simulations
• Mesoscale modeling and strategies to bridge between them

Examples will be given to characterize thermomechanical, chemical and structural properties of a variety of materials, from metallic and semiconductor nanowires to electroactive polymers and structural materials. Recent progress made by the National Science Foundation’s Network for Computational Nanotechnology will also be covered in the development of resources for online learning, collaboration and modeling in nanotechnology.