International Visiting Scholars provide a valuable resource for School of Engineering
Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering was host to three visiting scholars during the 2024-25 fall semester, two of whom conducted research as they were preparing to complete their PhD studies and another who served as an adjunct instructor.
Feroz Khan, from city of Dacca in Bangladesh, came to Alfred during the summer as a visiting scholar. Khan, who Steven Tidrow, Inamori Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, described as renowned in the field of magnetics, served the fall semester as an adjunct instructor in the engineering graduate program.
Two other scholars spent much of the fall semester working on research ahead of completing their doctoral studies. Ximena Velasquez Moya, who is working on her PhD in physics from Colombia National University in Bogota, and Angelica Benitez Castro, a Colombian national earning her PhD in materials science and engineering from CINVESTAZ in Mexico, conducted research focusing on electro-ceramics. Velasquez Moya conducted research on multi-ferric materials, used for multipurpose electronic devices—including communications—that utilize magnetic, ferroelectric, and dielectric properties. Benitez Castro performed research on ferroelectric materials, used for multipurpose electronic devices, including memory, which utilize ferroelectric and dielectric properties. Khan played an important role in reinforcing the efforts through the intersection of his expertise in magnetics with expertise of ferroelectrics within the Laboratory for Electroceramics of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
Tidrow, who oversees the electroceramics lab in the McMahon Engineering Building, explained that visiting scholars benefit from their time at Alfred University because they are able to access the state-of-the-art research facilities here. “There are a lot of resources here that they don’t have” at their home institutions, he said. Another significant benefit to the students is the opportunity to work with faculty in the Inamori School who are experts in their fields.
Valasquez Moya and Benitez Castro both returned to their home institutions Jan. 1, and Feroz Khan to his Dec. 30. Like previous international visiting scholars, they may have the opportunity to return to Alfred University to serve as adjunct instructors, post-doctoral researchers or in other capacities.
“We have made an effort to host (international) visiting scholars,” Tidrow said, noting that there was a pause because of COVID. “They (scholars) benefit from their time here and it provides us with resources for conducting research and getting papers published. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.”
Tidrow explained that the international visiting scholars, Valesquez Moya and Benitez Castro, are leaders in the Material Advantage chapters at their respective home institutions. Material Advantage is a student program specifically created for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in materials science, engineering and other related technical engineering programs at universities around the world. Jazmin Tidrow, originally from Colombia, has been instrumental in developing Material Advantage chapters in Latin America. Mrs. Tidrow and Professor Holly Shulman, ceramic engineer and director of the Space Material Institute in the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University, plan to expand development of Material Advantage chapters to Africa in 2025.
Among the benefits of student membership in Material Advantage is access to four materials-related professional societies—The American Ceramic Society (ACerS), Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST), ASM International formerly American Society for Metals, and The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS)—at a single-membership fee, including scholarship and networking opportunities, access to journals, reduced conference registration fees, etc.
The visiting scholars work with engineering students toward becoming members of Material Advantage, said Tidrow, who is adviser to the Alfred University Material Advantage chapter. Students in Material Advantage provide some services to fellow engineering students, such as tutoring, which supplement those provided by the university’s Center for Academic Success. Students provide outreach to K-12 students to continue to develop the pipeline of students capable of supporting science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) disciplines. Students also have the opportunity to write proposals to The ACerS Ceramic, Glass, Industry Foundation (CGIF) to support outreach activities.
Currently, about 35 to 40 students participate in Material Advantage. Most are part of the Mug Drop Club, in which students design and fabricate mugs for participation in the mug drop competition held annually at the Material Science and Technology (MS&T) conference. In the mug drop competition, students assess the strength and reliability of their mugs by dropping them from increasing heights.
The Mug Drop Club was initiated this fall by students Mathew Bittel and Aidan Pendergast, who participated in the Summer Research Institute and last fall and took part in the mug drop competition at MS&T 2024 conference held in Pittsburgh, PA.
Tidrow said that “these are but a few examples of the special intersections occurring, where Alfred University leads the way, toward supporting growth of youth and educational and economic sustainability and security.”