Dr Ali Erdemir

Dr. Ali Erdemir was born in Adana, Turkey. He completed his undergraduate education in Metallurgy at the Istanbul Technical University (1972-1976) and then moved to the United States for graduate education. He enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where he completed his Master’s and Ph.D. Degrees in Materials Science and Engineering in 1982 and 1986, respectively. In 1987, he joined the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, and worked on a broad spectrum of tribology projects until 2019. In 2020, he accepted an academic position at Texas A&M University as the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Eminent Professor and then as the Halliburton Chair in the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Dr. Erdemir has dedicated his entire professional life (over 35 years) to the design, discovery, and development of novel materials, coatings, and lubricants, aimed at enhancing energy efficiency, durability, and environmental compatibility of a wide range of moving mechanical systems. His research has consistently focused on reducing these systems' energy and carbon footprints, contributing to global sustainability goals. Some of his major accomplishments include (1) the discovery of near-frictionless carbon films and work on superlubricity, (2) the discovery of boron-based solid lubricants and lubrication additives, (3) ultrananocrystalline-diamond and nanocomposite carbide-derived carbons, (4) superlubricious graphene films, (5) catalytically active nanocomposite coatings, lubricants, and additives, (6) large-scale ultra-fast boriding, (7) upcycling of waste plastics into high-performance lubricants, and (8) novel lubrication and materials solutions for electric vehicle applications.

Dr. Erdemir's sustained and pioneering research accomplishments over the past three decades have had a global impact. His work has been recognized with prestigious awards and memberships, including his election as a member of the National Academy of Engineering-USA, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors-USA, and the European Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the World Academy of Ceramics, and the Science Academy of Turkey. Dr. Erdemir also has to his credit the International Award of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the Distinguished Tribologist Award of the Japanese Society of Tribologists, and the Mayo D. Hersey Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and six R&D-100 Awards from the R&D Magazine. He served as the President of the International Tribology Council from 2017 to 2022 and STLE from 2016 to 2017. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ASME (also an Honorary Member), ASM-International, STLE (also an Honorary Member), and American Vacuum Society. He has authored or co-authored more than 250 refereed journal articles and presented over 250 plenary, keynote, and invited talks around the world. He holds 36 US patents.