New Corrosion and Reliability Engineering Program gains momentum

The University of Akron’s newly approved corrosion engineering program recently received a $1.825 million funding boost and added a renowned materials performance and reliability expert, Joe H. Payer, to its faculty.

Expected to launch in fall 2010, the baccalaureate program in corrosion engineering is the nation’s first such program. Among recent developments, Payer’s appointment as professor of corrosion and reliability engineering represents a significant advancement for a program still in its early stages, according to Dr. George K. Haritos, dean of the UA College of Engineering.

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“Professor Payer’s seminal contributions to the field of materials performance and reliability have earned him a stellar international reputation and stature among the very best in the world," Haritos says. "His leadership and accomplishments in research, education, training and technology transfer have focused on reducing the tremendous costs of corrosion through better corrosion control for reliability and safety. His joining The University of Akron team has provided a major boost to our efforts to provide our students, industry and government partners a corrosion and reliability engineering program of the highest possible quality.”

Payer comes to UA from Case Western Reserve University where he was a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Case School of Engineering Materials Performance and Reliability Program. Payer, who received his undergraduate degree and doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Ohio State University, also served previously at Case Western Reserve as director of the Department of Energy Corrosion and Materials Performance Cooperative, director of the Yeager Center for Electrochemical Sciences and as professor and chairman of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

At the same time as Payer’s appointment comes the latest funding to the program from the Department of Defense Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight. Through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, along with Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio’s 17th Congressional District and former representative of Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, Ralph Regula, the agency’s total support of the program is $2.325 million to date. Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown supported a request for program funding for fiscal year 2010.

“The Department of Defense is investing in the development of this baccalaureate program in order to create a pipeline of corrosion engineering graduates equipped to design and implement practices, which will mitigate and/or prevent corrosion, thus protecting the integrity of both our defense systems and our national infrastructure,” Haritos says.

Sue Louscher, project director for UA’s Corrosion and Reliability Engineering program (UA CAREs), says the Department of Defense Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight was created as a direct mandate from Congress for the DOD to address the $20 billion cost of corrosion to the U.S. military annually. Trained corrosion engineers represent a key “nonmaterials solution” to the nation’s corrosion problem, she adds.

Housed within the College of Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the UA CAREs program will incorporate a multidisciplinary curriculum designed to train engineers who understand the origins and manage the effects of corrosion, estimated by the Government Accountability Office to cost the U.S. economy about $400 billion a year.

Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.