Established in 2017, the Robert D. Pehlke Lectureship in Materials Processing brings in world experts on topics about or concerning materials processing. Traditionally held in the spring, the two-day event consists of a special, invitation-only dinner and engaging public lecture. Past lecturers, listed below, are buzzmakers in a variety of materials fields, from molten metals to functional fabrics.

About Professor Pehlke

A native of Michigan, Professor Bob Pehlke received his B.S. from U-M in 1955 and an S.M. and Sc.D. from MIT in 1958 and 1960, respectively. He studied at the Technical Institute, now RWTH Aachen University (Germany), as a Fulbright Fellow during his graduate studies. Professor Pehlke joined the U-M faculty in 1960; he served as chair of the Dept. of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from 1973-84.

Professor Pehlke made many key contributions to the science and technology of metallic materials. His early work clarified several of the critical reactions between liquid steel and gaseous elements and contributed important insights into steel making. Professor Pehlke was a pioneer in the computer modeling of metal casting processes. His work incorporated the modeling of heat transfer, the application of solidification theory, and the practical aspects of industrial casting processes, which were critical for the development of the commercial computer-aided design packages now used around the world. Professor Pehlke is well-known for his outstanding experimental research in liquid metal processing, and he is an internationally recognized expert in the continuous casting of steel.

In 2017, Professor Pehlke generously endowed two gifts for MSE: the Robert D. and Julie A. Pehlke Endowed Fellowship Fund for MSE graduate students and the Robert D. Pehlke Lectureship in Materials Processing. The inaugural lectureship, which Professor Pehlke attended with his immediate family, was held September 13-14, 2018. Sadly, it was the first and only lectureship Professor Pehlke was able to attend as he passed in the Fall of 2019. 

It is this remarkable legacy that we celebrate and carry on through the Robert D. Pehlke Lectureship in Materials Processing.

Past Honorees of the Pehlke Lectureship:

2024: Michael Cima, Professor, MIT - "Translational Biomedical Engineering" [Photos] [Lecture]

2023: Yoel Fink, Professor, MIT - “Computing fabrics” [Photos] [Lecture]

2020: Donald Sadoway, MSE chair, MIT - “Towards Profitable Sustainability via Liquid-Metal/Molten-Salt Electrochemistry" (lecture presented April 2022) [Photos] [Lecture]

2019: Diran Apelian, Distinguished Professor, UCI -  "Aluminum Alloy Design Strategies for Enhanced Performance” [Photos] [Lecture]

2018: Ron Radzilowski, Principal Research Engineer with AK Steel Corporation and former Pehlke PhD advisee, “Emerging Technologies and Process Innovations in the Steel Industry” [Photos]