Alexander Goldman, Ph.D. · Ames, Iowa
Work with me
Materials and manufacturing problems, taken from the question to the answer.
I do the metallurgy, run the machines, and write down what was found so somebody else can act on it.
What I take on
Alloy development
A composition designed for a property you name, then cast, extruded, heat treated and tested until the property is real rather than predicted. My own doctoral work is the example: a rare-earth-free magnesium family that gained strength and ductility together, with a patent application filed on it.
Process development for metal additive manufacturing
Laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition: parameters, the microstructure they produce, and the properties that follow. Includes the unglamorous half, which is deciding what to measure and how often.
Failure analysis and root cause
A part failed, or a batch drifted, and nobody can say why. I section it, look at it properly, and find the mechanism. Root cause analysis through microstructure, with Six Sigma DMAIC where a process rather than a part is at fault.
Characterization that answers a question
SEM, EDS, EBSD, FIB, TEM and XRD, plus tensile, compression and microhardness testing. Micrographs are easy to produce and easy to misread. The value is in which measurement settles the question, and what it does not prove.
Simulation next to the machine
Atomistic and process simulation, used where an experiment would be slow or blind. I write the tools as well: ptm-ipf turns atomistic output into the EBSD-style maps a metallurgist already knows how to read.
Building the capability itself
Specifying equipment, installing it, writing the procedures, and training the people. I built a micro-industrial laboratory from an empty room: vacuum induction melting, wire EDM, CNC, heat treatment, electropolishing and sample preparation.
How it usually starts
A conversation, then a small piece of work with a clear question and a written answer at the end. Longer arrangements grow from that, or they do not, and either is fine.
I am equally interested in earlier conversations: a founder deciding whether a material choice is viable, or an investor who wants a technical read on one.
Talk to me
Write to me. I answer.