Alan W. Cramb

Alan W. Cramb is Dean of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and subsequently spent seven years conducting research within the steel industry. In 1986 he joined Carnegie Mellon University and became the co-director of the Center for Iron and Steelmaking in 1990. He then helped the Center transition from a local to a fully international center with a worldwide membership. In 2000 he became Head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department where he was responsible for updating the undergraduate experience, developing the department's leadership role, both locally and nationally, and ensuring was a strong interdisciplinary focus in the department's research portfolio.

He is the author of over 170 publications and 2 patents. He was the recipient of the American Iron and Steel Institute Medal in 1985 and 1986 and the Robert Woolston Hunt Award of the Iron and Steel Society in 1987. He was named an Iron and Steel Society Professor in 1992 and was awarded the Benjamin Richard Teare Award at CMU for excellence in engineering education in 1995. Cramb was the recipient of the Posco Chair for Iron and Steelmaking in 1997 and was the President of the Iron and Steel Society in the year 2000. He was awarded the Benjamin Fairless Award of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers in 2003, and he currently serves as President of AIME. He was also chairman of the University Materials Council and a board member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Cramb's research is focused on issues related to solidification phenomena, especially during the casting of steels, specifically, solidification phenomena in liquid oxides, interfacial separation at liquid-liquid interfaces, refining limits in clean steel production, initial solidification phenomena and the development of strip casting.

He has supervised 15 Doctoral and 35 Masters students and has hosted more that 25 visiting international researchers within his group during his time at CMU. He has given more than 100 presentations worldwide and has taught short courses in Europe, South America and Asia on Solidification and Clean Steel Manufacture.