DOE Scientist Earns Chairman's Award from Propulsion and Power Systems Alliance

Washington, D.C. — A researcher at the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has been presented with the Chairman’s Award by the Propulsion and Power Systems Alliance (PPSA). Mary Anne Alvin, a physical scientist in NETL’s Office of Research and Development, was recognized for her lead role in revitalizing the PPSA Materials Technical Area Team. This prestigious award is only given during a year when outstanding service is observed.

The PPSA was formed in 1999 with the mission of improving coordination and collaboration among government agencies to better leverage existing federal investments in aerospace propulsion and power research and technology. The U.S. Department of Energy, along with three other member agencies—the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration—signed the agreement that created PPSA. The alliance has 12 technical area teams responsible for determining, planning, and executing collaborative efforts in areas such as combustors, materials, modeling and simulation, mechanical components, thermal management, and turbines.

William Koop, chair of the PPSA Leadership Team, presented Alvin with the Chairman’s Award at a PPSA meeting held in Columbus, Ohio, on September 2–3, 2009. Upon bestowing the honor, he said that Alvin "has established a viable, productive, and highly regarded collaborative program for advanced turbine materials between NETL and the Institute for Advanced Energy Studies (IAES)." This NETL-IAES effort, which began in 2007, is developing thermal barrier coating systems and advanced aerothermal cooling concepts for future land-based gas turbines operating at temperatures above 1,300 ºC, as well as non-destructive evaluation techniques for addressing the residual life of thermal barrier coatings and metal airfoils.

Alvin joined NETL in 2005 and currently serves as the research group leader for Advanced Turbine Materials Development. She has more than 30 years of experience in advanced power generation and is internationally recognized for her technical contributions in hot gas particulate filtration.

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Mike Jacobs, FE Office of Communications, 202-586-0507