The committee will prepare a report that provides guidance for long-range planning in the fields of condensed matter and materials physics. These include the fundamental science underpinning advanced technologies in microelectronics, magnetism, polymers, superconductivity and many other materials-related fields. Specifically, the committee will prepare an assessment of condensed matter science as it relates to the most pressing national strategic needs.
Roberto is currently vice-chair of the Solid State Sciences Committee of the National Research Council and chair-elect of the Division of Materials Physics of the American Physical Society. He was president of the Materials Research Society in 1991, and served four years on its executive committee. Roberto has organized and co-chaired a number of conferences related to materials.
He joined the Solid State Division in 1974, serving in various research and research management positions before being named director in 1990. Roberto is responsible for a broad, interdisciplinary research program in materials physics, including solid state theory, neutron scattering, synchrotron x-ray and photon research, surface and interface science, ion beam and plasma processing and fusion reactor materials. He has been a guest scientist at Kernforschungsanlage Juelich and the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik in Germany.
A 1968 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering, Roberto earned a doctorate in 1974 in applied physics from Cornell University.
Roberto lives in Farragut with his wife, Jane, and two sons, Andrew and Timothy.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.