Engineering society elects Army researcher as fellow

By ARL Public AffairsJune 16, 2017

Engineering society elects Army researcher as fellow
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dr. Mark Horstemeyer (brown shirt) presents Dr. Mark Tschopp with an American Society of Mechanical Engineers Fellow certificate during a gathering at Starkville, Mississippi, May 11, 2017. Horstemeyer nominated Tschopp for the honor. Tschopp worked ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Engineering society elects Army researcher as fellow
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- A distinguished engineering society recognized an Army materials engineer for having made "noteworthy invention, discovery or advancements," specifically citing significant achievements in research and development.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers elected Dr. Mark Tschopp, a researcher with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, as a fellow in an announcement earlier this year.

The society has more than 95,000 members. Only 3.6 percent of members attain the rank of fellow. The ASME Committee of Past Presidents confers the honor on "worthy candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements," according to the organization's website.

Tschopp serves as team leader of the Alloy Development and Design team at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has spent more than four years at the laboratory. Tschopp previously worked in casting research and development at GM Powertrain. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and served as a research faculty member at Mississippi State University.

"Early in my career is was exposed to the concept of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering and Materials by Design," Tschopp said. "The goal of these concepts is to accelerate the design cycle of materials to qualify, certify and insert them into application through an integrated computational and experimental approach. Many of these efforts will have to be a team effort involving S&Es of different disciplines and backgrounds - I simply look forward to being a part of these efforts and seeing these efforts reach their full potential."

Tschopp has published more than 160 journal papers, book chapters, conference papers and technical reports with more than 2,300 citations for the more than 85 peer-reviewed journal papers in materials science, mechanics and design, according to Google Scholar.

At present, he has presented more than 130 presentations and seminars at national and international conferences, including giving more than 80 invited talks and seminars. In 2016, ASM International recently selected Tschopp for the ASM Silver Medal Award, given to one recipient each year.

One of the society's strategic goals is to be the "essential resource for mechanical engineers and other technical professionals throughout the world for solutions that benefit humankind," wrote Executive Director Thomas G. Loughlin in a congratulatory note to Tschopp.

In 2009, while working as research faculty member at Mississippi State University, Tschopp crossed paths with Dr. Mark F. Horstemeyer, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering.

"We had have frequent interactions since then and have worked on a number of projects together, resulting in over 20 peer reviewed and conference publications together," Horstemeyer wrote in a letter nominating Tschopp as a fellow. "I am truly impressed with his passion for research, his ability to communicate the work and his enthusiasm with helping other researchers."

"I was certainly very excited to hear that I was elected a Fellow of ASME," Tschopp said. "I was just as excited to be presented the prestigious honor by a mentor, Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, surrounded by ARL colleagues and former colleagues at Mississippi State."

Becoming a fellow is a career award and it's nice to be recognized for technical contributions and service to the area of mechanics and materials science, he said.

"The research and the people at ARL motivate me as both a researcher and a leader," Tschopp said. "On the research side, the ARL mission to discover, innovate, and transition sums it up for me.

Tschopp said he is motivated to discover the fundamental relationships governing materials science and mechanics.

"I am motivated by the opportunity to develop new innovative techniques for attacking technical challenges in these areas," he said. "I am motivated to transition the created science and technology both to the Army as well as the research community. I understand that the path forward in these areas is through working as a team and I am motivated to work with internal and external S&Es to achieve this mission."

Tschopp takes a pragmatic view on his career, he said.

"I just want to look back (at some point far in the future) and know that I have performed to the best of my abilities to contribute to the mission of ARL," Tschopp said.

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The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, currently celebrating 25 years of excellence in Army science and technology, is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to provide innovative research, development and engineering to produce capabilities for decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the Joint Warfighter and the Nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

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