NETL Associate Laboratory Director for Research and Innovation Bryan Morreale will join other Lab representatives to showcase the latest developments under way to tackle the nation’s energy and supply chain challenges during the 2022 Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) technical meeting and exhibition, scheduled for Oct. 9-12 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

MST&T is the long-standing, recognized forum for fostering technical innovation at the intersection of materials science, engineering, and application. Each year, the conference brings together scientists, engineers, students, suppliers and business leaders to discuss current research and technical applications and to shape the future of materials science and technology.

The event's technical program addresses structure, properties, processing, and performance across the materials community. Its exhibition showcases a wide variety of equipment and services to the automotive, aerospace, instrumentation, medical, oilfield, and energy industries.

Morreale will represent NETL during a keynote panel on advanced materials on Tuesday, Oct. 11 titled, “Building a Resilient, Sustainable Materials Industry Amidst Global Upheaval.”

Shifts in global trade relationships, political upheaval, the pandemic, Russia’s war in the Ukraine, massive inflation and the push for supply chain sustainability have caused widespread disruption across every industry. Many companies are seeking to diversify their supply chains, looking for both local and international resources to de-risk their materials supply and to lower costs and increase sustainability. In critical sectors like batteries, semiconductors and other technology-led industries, the U.S. finds itself catching up with overseas competitors.

“Panels such as these are important to demonstrate the complexity of the problems we face as we strive to meet the needs of our economy, environment and consumers,” Morreale said, “but, they also present great opportunities to highlight NETL’s role in overcoming these hurdles. Between developing better alloys that make energy conversion processes operate more efficiently, producing graphene from unconventional carbon resources and harnessing new resources for the production of rare earth elements, the Lab is leading the way to develop the technologies of tomorrow.”

NETL scientists will conduct numerous presentations throughout MS&T, highlighting categories such as advanced manufacturing of solid oxide fuel cells, new acoustic wave sensors for methane detection in energy infrastructure, carbon steel corrosion protection and the production of high-performing alloys, among many others.

“We look forward to MS&T every year, because this conference is the perfect place for NETL to network from other federal laboratories and learn from the other talented researchers and scientists hard at work in industry and academia,” said James Ferguson, NETL state & local partnerships manager. “The challenges we face going further into the 21st century are too great for any one entity or organization to address on their own, so events like MS&T22 are all the more important as our Lab embraces collaboration with new partners.”

First established in 2003, MS&T is organized by a joint partnership of leading materials science-related societies: the American Ceramic Society, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology and the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.