The demand for lightweighting of our infrastructure and transportation equipment has seen a significant growth the last two decades; this need is expected to increase as reduction of carbon footprint and energy consumption will be major drivers in the decades ahead. Aluminum has played a pivotal role in this lightweighting movement and will continue to do so. There is a need for high performance Al alloys such as enhanced modulus, usage at elevated temperatures, and damage resistant alloys, etc. In this presentation a retrospective and a prospective view of alloy design for Al will be reviewed and discussed.

Diran Apelian is the Alcoa-Howmet Professor of Engineering and Founding Director of the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is also Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.
He received his B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from Drexel University in 1968 and his doctorate in materials science and engineering from MIT in 1972. He worked at Bethlehem Steel’s Homer Research Laboratories before joining Drexel University’s faculty in 1976. At Drexel he held various positions, including professor, head of the Department of Materials Engineering, associate dean of the College of Engineering and vice-provost of the University. He joined WPI in July 1990 as WPI’s Provost. In 1996 he returned to the faculty and led the activities of the Metal Processing Institute, which he founded. In 2019, he joined the faculty at UCI.
He is credited with pioneering work in various areas of metal processing – specifically in molten metal processing, alloy development, solidification and casting, surface engineering, spray casting/forming, and powder metallurgy. During the last decade, he has worked on sustainable development issues, and particularly, resource recovery, reuse, and recycling. Apelian is the recipient of many distinguished honors and awards – national and international; he has over 700 publications to his credit; and serves on several technical, corporate and editorial boards. During 2008/2009, he served as President of TMS. He served as Chair of the ASM Educational Foundation Board of Trustees (2016-2018). Apelian is a Fellow of TMS, ASM, and APMI; he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and the Armenian Academy of Sciences (AAS). He is a recipient of the 2016 Bernard Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering Education (with Kris Wobbe, Art Heinricher and Rick Vaz).