Professor Robert O. Ritchie is the H.T. & Jessie Chua Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also Senior Faculty Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an affiliated member of the UCSF/UC Berkeley Bioengineering group. He was Chairman of the UC Berkeley Materials Science & Engineering Department from 2005 to 2011.

Professor Ritchie received a B.A. degree (double first class honors) in physics and metallurgy in 1969, the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science in 1973, and the Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree in 1990, all from Cambridge University. Following periods as the Goldsmith's Research Fellow in Materials Science at Churchill College, Cambridge (1972-1974) and as a Miller Research Fellow for Basic Research in Science at the University of California in Berkeley (1974-1976), he joined the faculty in Mechanical Engineering at M.I.T. where he became the Class of 1922 Associate Professor in 1979. In 1981, he returned to Berkeley where he has been Professor of Materials Science since 1982. He was also Deputy Director of the Materials Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory from 1990 to 1994, and Director of the Center for Advanced Materials there from 1987 to 1995.

He has served as a consultant for both government and industry, including for Alcan, Allison, Boeing, Chevron, Exxon, GE, GM, Google, Grumman Aerospace, Instron, JPL, Northrop, Rockwell, Rolls-Royce, Sunpower, Teledyne, Westinghouse and numerous legal firms. He has also acted as a consultant in the medical field to Abbott Vascular, ATS Medical, Baxter, Cordis, Carbomedics, Edwards, Guidant, CV Medical, Medstone, NDC, Shiley, Sorin, and St. Jude Medical, on the mechanical integrity of cardiac valves, endovascular stents and other prosthetic devices. He is a World Premier Institute Professor at the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Japan, a member of the Rolls-Royce Materials, Manufacturing & Structures Advisory Board in the U.K., and has served on several National Research Council Committees including "Advanced Space Technology" and "Small Spacecraft Technology".

 

Education

1. B.A. (Physics & Metallurgy), Cambridge University, UK, 1969
2. M.A. (Materials Science), Cambridge University, UK, 1973
3. Ph.D. (Materials Science), Cambridge University, UK, 1973
4. Sc.D. (Materials Science), Cambridge University, UK, 1990

 

Professional Experience

1. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, 2010 to date
2. Professor of Materials Science, University of California at Berkeley, 1982 to date
3. Faculty Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1984 to date
4. Honorary Visiting Professor, School of Physics, Bristol University, UK, 2016 to date
5. Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, City University, Hong Kong, 2016 to date
6. Honorary Professor, Xi’an Jiatong, University, Xi’an, China, 2015 to date
7. Hononary Professor, Beihang University, China, 2009 to date
8. Hononary Professor, Central South University, China, 2010 to date
9. Hononary Professor, University of Birmingham, UK, 2011 to date
10. Head, Ceramic Materials, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2003-2006
11. Head, Structural Materials, Materials Sciences Division, LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory, 1995-2003
12. Honorary Visiting Professor, University of Plymouth, UK, 1992-2002
13. Director, Center for Advanced Materials, LawrenceBerkeley Laboratory, 1987-95
14. Deputy Director, Materials Sciences Division, LawrenceBerkeley Laborator, 1990-94
15. Visiting Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, 1994
16. Class of 1922 Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1979-81
17. Assistant Professor, 1977-78; Associate Professor, 1978-81; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
18. Miller Research Fellow, University of California at Berkeley, 1974-76
19. Goldsmith's Research Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge University, UK, 1972-74

 

Major Research Areas

1. Advanced metallic alloys: metallic glasses and high-entropy alloys
2. In situ, under load, high-temperature computed tomography: Ceramic-matrix composites (SiC-SiC), nuclear graphite
3. Nature-inspired structural materials
4. Mechanical behavior of hard mineralized tissue: bone, teeth;
5. High-cycle fatigue of turbine engine alloys: Ti-6Al-4V; Ni-base alloys; grain-boundary engineering;
6. Fatigue and fracture of ceramic and intermetallic materials: Toughening mechanisms in monolithic and composite materials (e.g., SiC, gamma-TiAl); layered structures; mechanisms of fatigue-crack propagation at ambient to elevated temperatures; role of microstructure;
7. Ceramic/metal interfaces: Fracture mechanics of bimaterial interfaces; strength and toughness of interfaces; interfacial subcritical crack growth; crack path considerations;
8. Damage-tolerance and life prediction in biomedical implants: Fracture and fatigue properties of metallic and pyrolytic carbon materials for stents and prosthetic heart valve devices;
9. Fracture and fatigue of silicon films for MEMS devices: Micro- and nano-scale fatigue testing; protective coatings;
10. Mechanical propertites of carbon nanotubes
11. Fracture and fatigue in shape-memory alloys and bulk amorphous metals

 

Awards and Fellowships

1. Fellow (Foreign Member) of the Royal Society (FRS), London, UK, 2017
2. Morris Cohen Award (TMS), 2017
3. Member of the European Academy of Sciences, 2015
4. Acta Materialia Gold Medal, 2014
5. Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, 2013
6. David Turnbull Award (MRS), 2013
7. Life Member of TMS, 2012
8. Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2011
9. A. Cemel Eringen Medal (Society of Engineering Science), 2010
10. Fellow of the Materials Research Society, 2010
11. Robert Franklin Mehl Award (TMS), 2010
12. Edward DeMille Campbell Memorial Lectureship Award (ASM), 2010
13. Alexander von Humboldt Senior U.S. Scientist Award, 2009
14. Sir Alan Cottrell Gold Medal (International Congress on Fracture), 2009
15. Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, 2009
16. Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2009
17. A.A. Griffith Medal and Prize (Institute of Materials, London, UK), 2007
18. Woehler Medal (European Structural Integrity Society), 2006
19. Nadai Medal (ASME), 2004
20. Fellow of TMS, 2004
21. ASTM Fatigue Lecturer, 2004
22. Fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK, 2003
23. Fellow, RoyalAcademy of Engineering, UK, 2002
24. Member, National Academy of Engineering, 2001
25. Honorary Member of Gruppo Italiano Frattura (Italian Fracture Group), 1999
26. Distinguished Structural Materials Scientists / Engineer Award (TMS), 1996
27. Rosenhain Medal, Institute of Materials, London, UK, 1992
28. Most Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment Award in Ceramics, Dept. of Energy, 1989
29. Honorary Fellow, International Congress on Fracture, 1989
30. Fellow, Amercian Society for Materials (ASM Intl.) 1988
31. Curtis W. McGraw Research Award, American Society of Engineering Education, 1987
32. George R. Irwin Medal, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 1985
33. Champion H. Mathewson Gold Medal, TMS-AIME, 1985
34. Named as one of America's Top 100 Young Scientists by Science Digest magazine, 1984
35. Fellow, Institute of Materials, London, UK, 1983
36. Most Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment Award: Metallurgy, Dept. of Energy, 1982
37. Marcus A. Grossman Award, Amercian Society for Metals (ASM), 1980

 

Named Lectures

1. Air Products Distinguished Lecturer (Pennsylvania State University), 2014
2. 19th Annual James F. Bell Lecturer (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD), 2013
3. Brotz Lecturer (Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI), 2011
4. JP Den Hartog Memorial Lecturer (MIT, Cambridge, MA), 2011
5. University of Miami, College of Engineering Distinguished Speaker (Miami, FL), 2010
6. George Weatherly Distinguished Lecture (Composites at Lake Louise, Canada), 2009
7. ICF-12 Honor Lecture (International Congress on Fracture, Ottawa, Canada), 2009
8. Stanford & Betty Penner Lecture (University of California, San Diego), 2008
9. Frontiers of Engineering Distinguished Lecture (Hong KongPolytechnicUniversity), 2007
10. Hong Kong Society of Theoretical & Applied Mechanics Distinguished Lecture (HKUST), 2007, 2010, 2013
11. Dow Lecture (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL), 2007
12. Arthur Newell Talbot Lecture (Theor. & Appl. Mech., University of Illinois), 2006
13. Hsun Kee Lecture Award (Institute of Metals Research, Shenyang, China), 2006
14. Kreidl Memorial Lecture (Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories), 2005
15. IBM Distinguished Lecturer (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), 2004
16. C. J. Beevers Memorial Lecturer, International Fatigue Congress, 1999
17. Southwest Mechanics Series Lecturer, 1997-98
18. Van Horn Distinguished Lecturer (CaseWestern ReserveUniversity), 1997

 

Selected Professional Activities

1. Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Advanced Light Source, LBNL, 2013 to date
2. World Premier Institute Professor, International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Japan, 2011 to date
3. Member, Rolls-Royce Materials & Structures Advisory Board, 2011 to date
4. Departmental Academic Advisor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2009 to date
5. President, International Congress on Fracture, 1997-2001
6. Member, U.C. San Francisco/U.C. Berkeley Bioengineering Faculty, 1995 to date
7. Member, National Research Council Committees on Advanced Space Technology, 1992-1994, Small Spacecraft Technology, 1993-1994, and New Materials for Civil Aircraft, 1994-1995
8. Governor, International Congress on Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 1987-95
9. Associate Editor, Materials Transactions, 2001 to date; Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2000 to date; Transactions of ISI Japan International, 1997 to date; Engineering Failure Analysis, 1994 to date; Physiochemical Mechanics of Materials, 1993 to date; Mechanics of Materials, 1987 to date; Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 1979 to date; International Journal of Fatigue, 2002 to date; International Journal of Fracture, 2002 to date; Journal of Engineering Materials & Technology, 1984-90; Journal of Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 1999 to date; Metallurgical Transactions, 1982-92
10. Co-chairman, Gordon Research Conference on Physical Metallurgy, 1992

 

Publications

http://www2.lbl.gov/ritchie/People/RITCHIE/ROR_PUBLICATIONS.pdf