Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Thompson elected to National Academy of Engineering

 

R. Bruce Thompson, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering October 12, 2003. Thompson received this prestigous election for his outstanding contributions to nondestructive evaluation, materials processing, and life-cycle management, and for the development of novel ultrasonic technology.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 as a partner organization to the National Research Council, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences, originally chartered by Congress in 1863. The purpose of the National Academy of Engineering is "to promote the tehcnological welfare of the nation by marshalling the knowledge and insights of eminent members of the engineering profession." Election to the Academy is considered to be the highest honor the profession bestows on its practitioners.

Thompson received his B.A. from Rice University in 1964, and his masters in physics and Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1971 respectively. He began his work in nondestructive evaluation as soon as he left graduate school in 1970, applying expertise that had been originally developed using ultrasonic phenonmena in signal processing devices.

Thompson's early work was performed at the North American Science Center (later acquired by Rockwell International), where he investigated the use of ultrasonic waves to detect flaws in materials. He came to Iowa State University in 1980, where in 1985 he helped establish the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, today the second oldest research center in the NSF's Industry/University Cooperative Research Program. Thompson joined Iowa State's Department of Materials Science & Engineering in 1986.

Thompson was named CNDE director in 1997. During his tenure, the CNDE has continued to distinguish itself as the world's foremost NDE research center. From an original base of fourteen, today more than twenty companies and government agencies support the center's "generic pre-competitive research" on a subscription basis.

Thompson, in 2001, received the David R. Boylan Eminent Faculty Award for Research, the highest recognition conferred by the Iowa State University College of Engineering.

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