Group Members

Marc Meyers with his brother Pedro and Dr. Fernando Lins from the Ministry of Mines and Energy at the Brazilian Society for Materials (ABM) meeting.

Profs. Miguez, Kestenbach, and Meyers in Brazil. Prof. Miguez is an expert on ballistics ( Military Institute of Engineering) and Prof. Kestenbach is a superb electron microscopist.

Dr. Reiner Menig (Bosch, Germany) and Future Dr. E. Strutt. Dr. Menig received a best thesis award from the U. of Karlsruhe for his work (carried out at UCSD) on abalone. FDr. Strutt is developing a process to produce NiTi-TiC cermets by combustion synthesis and quasi-isotropic consoilidation.

Professor Meyers ( in his younger days) with an underperforming graduate student. He mellowed (and shrank) considerably since then.

Dr. Meyers preparing an explosive device to drive metal plate at 2 km/s on a target. Tantalum specimens are embedded into metal base.The goal of this experiment is to determine the effect of shock loading on the microstructure and performance of tantalum, which is used in explosively forged projectiles (EFPs) used by the Army to "neutralize" combat tanks.Explosive device consists of plane wave lens ( two emulsion explosives; designed by M. Yoshida at New Mexico Tech during his visit to that institution) and main charge of Composition B. Explosive event was coordinated by Mr. Fred Sandstrom.

Gil Hegemier, Penny Goldsmith, Vitali and Olga Nesterenko, Alain Molinari, and Werner Goldsmith celebrating at Piattis

Qing and Betsy Xue at a social occasion

Monument to "Pioneers in Steelmaking" conceived and developed by Pedro and Marc Meyers and erected at entrance of the Barbancon steel mill in Monlevade, Brazil ( their home town). This first integrated steel mill in Latin America was built in Monlevade in the 1930's by ARBED engineers, technicians, and workers  under the direction of Louis Ensch, a Luxembourgish pioneer. The sculpture shows an iron worker working a Krupp rolling mill. The steel rod had to be turned 180 degrees in the rolling process. This was accomplished by holding the rod with tongues and reinserting it in mill. It was a dangerous operation that caused several deaths and injuries. As a child, Pedro and Marc spent many hours watching this operation under the careful watch of their father.

The background of the picture shows the "fazenda" built in the early 1800s by the French engineer  (politechnicien) Jean de Monlevade. He built a small steel forge in the Piracicaba Valley using the rich local ore reserves.

In a scene reminiscent of Dante's "Divine Comedy", Marc Meyers guides colleagues and ladies to academic excellence in Cambridge punting adventure (Photo courtesy of M. Worswick)

Seminar at Rice University, at Professor Brotzen's house. This outstanding scholar spent several years in Brazil prior to WW2 traveling by burro through the north of Minas Gerais, a region infested by cangaceiros (the Brazilian equivalent of bandits). In those days there were no roads between these isolated towns and the only transportation means was on horseback. These people adhered to a strict code of honor and Prof. Brotzen was never bothered, although the heard many shots being fired. After WW2, he got his Ph.D. and started a long and sucessful career at Rice. He is still active at 90. On the same picture are Carlos Meyers, Michael Carroll, and the chair of the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Dept., Tayfun E. Tezduyar
and his wife.

Professor Gilman during a visit to UCSD

Marc Meyers with Professor Merzhanov and other participants of the South Caucasus International Symposium on SHS, Tbilisi, March 2005

First exposure to armor and ballistics; Pedro and Marc on top of a US tank in Bastogne , thirty  miles from their forefathers home towns ( in the Luxembourg Ardennes).