2026 R.F. Bunshah Award & ICMCTF Lecture Recipient

Purpose

F. Bunshah Award and Honorary ICMCTF lectureship is intended to recognize outstanding research or technological innovation in the areas of interest to the Advanced Surface Engineering Division (ASED) of the AVS, with emphasis in the fields of surface engineering, thin films, and related topics.

Biography

Andrey Voevodin received a Metallurgy Engineer degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. degree in 1991. He currently serves as a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Associate Dean for Research in the  College of Engineering at the University of North Texas (UNT). Prior to joining UNT in 2015 as a Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department, he was a UK Royal Society research fellow at the University of Hull, followed by a role as a senior scientist and later research team leader in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio.

Andrey’s research , which spans thin films, coating technologies, surface engineering, tribology, thermal interfaces, electronics, high-temperature materials, and in-situ spectroscopic methods, is presented in over 360 authored and co-authored conference talks, 260 peer-reviewed publications, ten book chapters, and one book. His research has led to 16 patents and inventions. He delivered over 90 invited and plenary talks at materials conferences, including 12 at ICMCTF and AVS meetings.

Andrey holds multiple awards for research excellence and is a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society and a Fellow-Mentor of the Society of Vacuum Coaters. He has served the ASED/AVS community in various roles, including ICMCTF Conference General and Program Chair, Proceedings Editor, Treasurer, and ASED Chair. Andrey has advised over 40 graduate students and 35 post-doctoral scientists, many of whom are now active members in the ICMCTF/AVS community.

Abstract

“Chameleon” Adaptive Tribological Coatings: Lessons Learned and Future Outlook”

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 – 5:45 PM (PT)
Room: Town & Country A

Tribological contact surfaces, which can operate in oxidative and high temperature environments are of a practical importance for aerospace applications, where extremes of temperature, pressure, and environments limit liquid lubrication and requires solid lubricants and robust wear-protective coatings.  This presentation discusses surface engineering concepts for preparing self-adaptive coatings and contact surfaces, called “chameleon”, for friction and wear reduction under oxidative environments and high temperatures. Several key mechanisms, which can be self-evoked by the tribological contact mechanical, chemical, and temperature stimuli, are discussed, including straining, re-orientation, phase transformations, diffusion, and oxidation, and how these mechanisms can be guided to reduce friction and wear of contacts in environments with variable and cycled environments and temperatures.  Surface engineering concepts and coating designs which may allow for such mechanism operations are used as examples for the discussion.  These include composite coatings made of hard nano-crystalline carbide, nitride and oxide matrices with nano-sized inclusions of solid lubricants and transition metals capable of surface diffusion or forming high-temperature lubricating oxides, duplex coatings based on plasma electrolytic oxidation with controlled surface morphology and embedded adaptive lubricants, solid lubricants made of intrinsically layered solids allowing hexagonal plane reorientation and self-assembly, and other. Lessons learned in exploring and testing such conceptual mechanisms are applied to outline future perspectives and opportunities for engineering self-adaptive tribological surfaces.