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‘ENCOURAGING TO SEE’: USACA and its members work closely with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL), which collaborates with industry, government, and academia to turn science into operational advantages for the armed forces.
Chris Haines, a Senior Metallurgist at DEVCOM ARL, has been an active participant in recent USACA meetings and working group discussions. His portfolio covers nanomaterials, advanced materials development, pyrotechnics, optical materials, and armor ceramics.
We caught up with Haines, who holds a doctorate in ceramics and material science engineering from Rutgers University, to learn more about his background and what he sees on the horizon for advanced ceramics and other materials.
USACA: Tell us a bit more about your professional journey and current work.
CH: I first stepped into metallurgy in my previous position at DEVCOM – Armaments Center. By training I am a ceramist and materials scientist, but I quickly found out that working in an organization built around guns and ammunition that metals were king. The niche that I carved out for myself revolved around both nanoscale and nanostructured metals.
My current portfolio is high-throughput materials discovery. I manage a Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA) called High-Throughput Materials Discovery for Extreme Conditions (HTMDEC), which focuses on accelerating the pace at which we can discover, innovate, and transition new materials to soldiers.
USACA: What do you see on the horizon as game-changing technologies, materials, or manufacturing processes?
CH: Some of the most intriguing research I have been following revolves around the new class of materials known as “high entropy ceramics.” The subset that I feel has a lot of promise is the compositionally complex carbides. I believe there is potential for many new ultra-high-temperature ceramics to be discovered in this space. In my opinion, this is an area that is ripe for high-throughput, data-driven, computationally designed materials.
USACA: Where do you see the biggest gaps in the S&T or industrial base?
CH: One of the biggest gaps is in high-temperature testing. This includes mechanical testing, oxidation testing, and erosion/ablation testing. These tests can be extremely expensive and are extremely difficult to do in a high-throughput manner.
I have also seen the number of ceramic science and ceramic engineering departments at U.S. universities fall into the low single digits over the past two decades. I believe this is a direct result of fewer ceramic processing jobs in the industrial base. However, there was a recent announcement of a ceramics program being set up at USACA member Colorado School of Mines, which is encouraging to see.
USACA: How have you benefited from USACA events?
CH: I attended and briefed some of our ARL research efforts at a USACA meeting in 2023 and have received additional briefings from subcommittees on some areas of potential interest to ARL, including the current state of boron carbide production. USACA meetings provide a good overview of the current state-of-the-art in advanced ceramics research and development in the United States.
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