Writing Archival Papers K.T. Ramesh Alonzo G. Decker, Jr. Professor of Science and Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Johns Hopkins University

October 12, 2021 3-5 PM ET

K.T. Ramesh, the Alonzo G. Decker, Jr. Professor of Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, is a leading authority in the areas of impact physics and the failure of materials under extreme conditions. Ramesh is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and also holds joint appointments in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is the founding director of the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI), which develops science and technology to protect people, structures and the planet. HEMI brings together experts from Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, and Applied Physics Laboratory, as well as scientists and engineers from the federal government, U.S. national laboratories, industry, and research institutions across the world.

The seminar will begin at 3pm ET on October 5, 2021.

Please contact Rachel Wise for connection information.

Abstract: As money, time, and resources shrink, it is imperative we develop smarter ways to assess the performance and safety of new energetic materials. Development time from lab to production is on the order of decades. Our lab is focused on developing ways to screen new explosives molecules and formulations at the gram-scale or smaller.

Bio: Dr. Jimmie Carol Oxley is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Rhode Island (URI), the former co-Director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Excellence (CoE) in Explosive Detection, Mitigation, and Response, and co-Director of the Forensic Science Partnership of URI. Her Ph.D. in chemistry is from the University of British Columbia (Chemistry), and her first faculty position was at New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology (NMT). In 1995 she and her research group moved to URI, where her lab continues to study energetic materials. Dr. Oxley has organized numerous symposia and short courses for government and industrial laboratories on topics ranging from hazards analysis to bomb threats. She is the past chair of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Energetic Materials; co-founder of Life Cycles of Energetic Materials and the GRC on Illicit Substance Detection. Dr. Oxley has served on seven NRC panels/committees, a 2-year term on the NIST Organization of Scientific Area Committees on Fire Debris and Explosives, and a 3-year provisional term on the DoD Strategic Environmental R&D Program.

Join us for a seminar with Dr. Jon Belof, Material Dynamics and Kinetics Group Leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, titled “Metastable Phases Far from Equilibrium: A New Frontier in Dynamic Material Science".

The seminar will begin at 3pm ET on September 7, 2021.

Please contact Rachel Wise for connection information.

Abstract: One of the greatest challenges of modern science is the understanding of matter far from equilibrium.  Modern techniques of applying rapid compression – via drivers that have relative timescales varying by many orders of magnitude – offer the unique possibility of manipulating kinetic pathways with the goal of generating specific configurations of matter.  At LLNL we have been examining the theoretical underpinnings of transformational pathways far from equilibrium, with a focus on the nucleation and growth of potential metastable solid phases from liquid systems.  Through advanced simulation techniques developed recently, we have found several interesting features of phase transitions as they occur under extreme conditions, with predictions showing that metastable phases are indeed generated along compression pathways, that they might be stabilized, and suggestions for how new x-ray sources and experimental conditions can be brought to bear on these important, fundamental questions.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Jon Belof leads the Equation of State theory program within the Advanced Simulation and Computing area of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).  He is also the group leader for the Material Dynamics and Kinetics group in the Materials Science Division, group leader in the Energetic Materials Center, and principal investigator for several projects at LLNL focused on phase transformations, time-dependence, shock physics and complex hydrodynamic behavior.  He joined LLNL in 2010 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate and moved up the ranks, becoming a group leader of theoretical physics in the nuclear weapons program from 2016-2018.  Jon has a long track record of developing large-scale simulation codes to investigate new theories, with expertise in building world-class teams that innovate in order to meet strategic goals.  Jon has authored or co-authored > 70 papers and technical reports and > 80 invited and contributed talks.  From 1995-2005, Jon’s professional role was to provide technical leadership in the corporate/startup world, including as 9th employee of the national security company NETSEC, Inc.  Jon earned his B.A. in Chemistry (2005) and Ph.D. (2009) in Physical Chemistry from the University of South Florida and was a postdoctoral researcher first working with Draper Laboratory/USF on nanomaterials for the detection of chemical weapons and then went on to study high energy density physics as a postdoc at LLNL.  Dr. Belof has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award (2017), Kavli Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2019), NNSA Defense Programs Award of Excellence (2019) and Distinguished Alumni Award from USF (2020).