The Division of Materials Physics provides a forum for physicists involved in materials research and co-sponsors an annual meeting attended by more than 5,000 scientists from the United States and around the world. Roberto will serve four years on the executive committee of the division, becoming chairman in 1997.
As director of ORNL's Solid State Division, Roberto oversees materials physics research programs that focus on characterizing and understanding the properties and interactions of a wide range of materials used in advanced energy technologies. The division maintains interdisciplinary research programs in solid state theory, neutron scattering, synchrotron x-ray and photon research, surface and interface science, ion beam and laser processing, superconductivity, and the synthesis and processing of advanced materials.
Roberto joined ORNL in 1974, serving in various research and research management positions before being named director of the Solid State Division in 1990. His research interests are x-ray and neutron scattering, particle-surface interactions, and ion beam and plasma processing.
Roberto graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering. He received a doctorate in applied physics from Cornell University in 1974.
Active in the materials community, Roberto serves on the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Research Council and is a member of the Materials Science Council of the Southeastern Universities Research Association. He was president of the Materials Research Society in 1991 and served four years on the MRS executive committee.
Roberto has co-chaired many national and international conferences including the Fifth International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions in Controlled Fusion Devices in 1982, the fall meeting of the Materials Research Society in 1986, and the Washington Materials Forum in 1991. He has also been a guest scientist at Kernforschungsanlage Juelich and Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, both in Germany.
The author of more than 60 research publications, Roberto is also chairman of the advisory review board for the Journal of Materials Research and has served on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Nuclear Materials.
Roberto lives in Farragut with his wife, Jane, and their two teen-age sons, Andrew and Timothy.
You can learn more about materials physics research and many other exciting projects by visiting ORNL on Oct. 21, 1995, during its Community Day event. Many of our facilities will be open to the public that day. For additional information, call ORNL Public Affairs, 865-574-4160.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, which also manages the Oak Ridge K-25 Site and the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.