Sandia’s Al Romig receives National Materials Advancement Award

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —— Al Romig, deputy director for Integrated Technologies and Systems at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Sandia National Laboratories, will receive the National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies at a reception at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7.

The award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding capabilities in advancing the effective and economic use of materials and the multidisciplinary field of materials science and engineering generally, and who contribute to the application of the materials profession to national problems and policy.

The Federation of Materials Societies is a consortium of technical and professional societies consisting of scientists, engineers, and other professionals active in the areas of materials policy as well as research and development, processing, recovery, and resource availability.

At Sandia, Romig’s responsibilities include the leadership and management of development and engineering activities that provide science, technology, systems, and expertise in support of U.S. programs in military technology; proliferation prevention; technology assessments; counterintelligence; energy science, resources, conservation, and infrastructure assurance; and homeland security.

In governmental, national, and international policy settings, Romig is a leader in advisory boards and task forces. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is active on a number of National Academy of Engineering/National Research Council committees and boards. He also serves on the boards of Atomic Weapons Establishment Management Limited, a Lockheed Martin joint venture in the U.K., and Technology Ventures Corporation, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary dedicated to technology commercialization. In service to his profession, he has been honored as a Fellow and former president of the ASM International; Fellow of the Metals, Minerals, and Materials Society; and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

For his pioneering work in analytical electron microscopy and solid state diffusion, Romig has received several awards, including the Burton Medal in 1988, awarded by the Electron Microscopy Society of America to an Outstanding Young Scientist; the K.F.J. Heinrich Award in 1991, given by the Microbeam Analysis Society to an Outstanding Young Scientist; the ASM Silver Medal for Outstanding Materials Research in 1992; and the Acta Metallurgica International Leadership Lectureship for 1993-1994. He has also been named the 2003 ASM-TMS Distinguished Lecturer in Materials and Society.

Romig received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in materials science and engineering from Lehigh University in 1975, 1977, and 1979, respectively. He joined Sandia in 1979 as a member of the technical staff, Physical Metallurgy Division. After a variety of management assignments, he was named director for Materials and Process Sciences in 1992. From 1995 to 1999 he was director for Microsystems Science, Technology, and Components. From 1999 to 2003 he was Sandia’s chief technology officer and vice present for science and technology. In 2003 he was named VP for Nonproliferation and Assessments. He served in this capacity until attaining his present position in 2005.