Clarkson University Center for Advanced Materials Processing and Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering Associate Professor Pier Marzocca delivered an invited plenary lecture in June at the Ninth International Congress on Thermal Stresses in Budapest, Hungary.

His lecture, titled "Nonlinear Aero-Thermo-Elasticity of Functionally Graded Structures," summarized the latest developments in advanced functionally graded materials and structures with applications in the aerospace area.

Marzocca was invited to speak to more than 150 scientists from all over the world as one of the leading scientists studying complex applied problems involving the interaction of multiple fields.

He studies the interaction of aerodynamics and thermal load, their effects on advanced composite structures, and how the next generation of composite materials structures can be better engineered, if the physics of these fields is properly modeled.

Functionally graded material (FGM) is characterized by the variation in composition and structure gradually over volume, resulting in corresponding changes in the properties of the material, and is designed for specific function and applications.

A typical example of FGM is mixtures of metal and ceramic materials used as thermal protection systems.

"There are applications where you need heat resistant, anti-oxidant properties, and low thermal conductivity on one side (of the structure) -- these are inherent properties of ceramics. While at the same time you need to retain mechanical strength, high thermal conductivity and high fracture toughness on the other side -- these are inherent properties of metals," says Marzocca. "FGM are advanced composite materials that will pave the future of aerospace, automotive, and urban environment."

Since 2003, Marzocca has been involved in the congress activities, serving as secretary of the congress in 2003 while at Virginia Tech and as congress co-chair in 2009, when it was hosted at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Marzocca's activities in materials have also been recognized by Springer Science + Business Media, a leading global scientific publisher.

Earlier in the year, he was invited to join a handful of scientists around the world to write the first Encyclopedia of Thermal Stresses, which will appear later in 2012.

The encyclopedia is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and engineers.

Marzocca has also served as an associate editor of the Taylor & Francis Journal of Thermal Stresses since 2008, and is on the editorial board of several other journals.