February 26, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) engineering Professor J. Barry Andrews, Ph.D., has been named chairman of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the UAB School of Engineering. He has been interim chairman of the department since August 2001.
Andrews earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from UAB in 1970 and has been a member of the faculty since 1976. He also has a master’s and Ph.D. in materials engineering from the University of Florida.
“I’m thrilled I've been given the opportunity to lead the department I’ve been a member of for so many years,” Andrews said “We already have many exciting projects in place with federal agencies, Southern Research Institute and industry that showcase the many talents of our faculty and students. We will continue this forward progress through research that keeps faculty and students on the cutting edge of engineering knowledge by expanding our efforts in the composites area as well as the metals casting and solidification areas. We also will be enriching the classroom and laboratory experience for students through the addition of faculty.”
“We are very fortunate to have someone of Dr. Andrews’s caliber as a professor in the school and even more fortunate to have him accept the position as chairman of the department,” said UAB School of Engineering Dean Linda Lucas, Ph.D. “He has excellent research credentials from his years of work with NASA and he exemplifies everything we could ever want in a professor — exceptional teaching ability and outstanding research. I am thrilled he has accepted the position.”
Andrews has spent the last 18 years working on NASA-sponsored research involving immiscible alloys — substances made of materials that separate into two different liquids as they cool, much like oil and water separate when you try to mix them. The alloys are difficult to process into useful microstructures in gravity, but in low-gravity conditions — such as those in space — the materials stay mixed and more evenly distributed when cooled. Gaining an understanding of the solidification process will allow scientists to create new alloys that might have applications in superconductors and even nuclear reactors.
Since his work began with NASA in 1985, Andrews projects have flown aboard the space shuttle several times. He also holds the honor of being the first investigator to receive approval for an experiment to be conducted aboard the international space station. That project is tentatively scheduled for 2005.
Andrews is a recipient of UAB’s Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching and the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and has been an industrial consultant to a number of industries in the Birmingham area.
He is active in numerous professional and honorary organizations including, ASM International, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Foundrymen’s Society, The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Sigma Mu, Society of Sigma Xi, Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society and Phi Kappa Phi. He has published more than 80 articles in professional journals and has presented at more than 150 conferences and technical proceedings.