In Overview
Kaufman received his BS in metallurgical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1952 and a ScD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955. [2] Kaufman’s first thermodynamics work was the modeling of the thermodynamic properties of the Fe-Ni system, while a student at MIT, beginning in about 1953. [3] Kaufman completed his doctorate under Morris Cohen, a charismatic steel metallurgist, on the topic of simple equilibrium calculations directed at practical problems of the steel industry. [4] In 1967, Kaufman began to face opposition, in his calculations of binary phase diagrams using an ideal solution model, from solid-state physicists who preferred to use first-principles calculations of electronic band structures instead of thermodynamical inputs. In the end, however, he prevailed.
Kaufman received his BS in metallurgical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1952 and a ScD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955. [2] Kaufman’s first thermodynamics work was the modeling of the thermodynamic properties of the Fe-Ni system, while a student at MIT, beginning in about 1953. [3] Kaufman completed his doctorate under Morris Cohen, a charismatic steel metallurgist, on the topic of simple equilibrium calculations directed at practical problems of the steel industry. [4] In 1967, Kaufman began to face opposition, in his calculations of binary phase diagrams using an ideal solution model, from solid-state physicists who preferred to use first-principles calculations of electronic band structures instead of thermodynamical inputs. In the end, however, he prevailed.
CALPHAD method
The method developed by Kaufman is named as CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams). [5] Later he worked closely with Dr. Mats Hillert, who also completed the Sc.D. in Morris Cohen's group at MIT, on further development of the CALPHAD approach. Kaufman founded the Mens Lab to apply thermodynamics to practical engineering applications. Besides, he founded the CALPHAD inc for organizing the activities of the CALPHAD research community, such as the annual CALPHAD conference. Kaufman also founded the CALPHAD journal, which is published by the publisher Elsevier. The CALPHAD method is nowadays considered as one of the most powerful tools for materials design, and is adopted widely in both academia and industry. Kaufman was always active in research, and considered as the leader of the CALPHAD research community beyond all doubt. The last time he attended the CALPHAD conference was 2012 in University of California, Berkeley, and the last paper published by him is a short viewpoint on CALPHAD and its vital role in the Materials Genome Initiative, written jointly with John Ågren, who was a doctoral student of Mats Hillert at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. [6]
References
1. (a) Note: He was buried in Jerusalem, Israel, Dec. 3rd, 2013. Larry Kaufman is the pseudonym of Lawrence Kaufman.
(b) Kaufman, Larry and Bernstein, Harold. (1970). Computer Calculation of Phase Diagrams: with Special Reference to Refractory Metals. Academic Press.
(c) Turchi, Patrice E.A. and Gonis, Antonios. (2002). CALPHAD and Alloy Thermodynamics, (section: Computational Thermodynamics, by Z-K. Liu, pgs. 205-14). The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.
(d) Raabe, Dierk. (2004). Continuum Scale Simulation of Engineering Materials, (pgs. 3-4). Wiley-VCH.
(e) Turchi, Patrice E.A.; Gonis, Antonios; Rajan, Krishna; Meike, Annemamrie. (2005). Complex Inorganic Solids: Structural, Stablity, and Magnetic Properties of Allows, (section: Current and Future Application of CALPHAD Technology, by Larry Kaufman, pgs. 73-86). Springer.
2. Larry Kaufman, Lecture: “Calphad Thermodynamics”, Recipient: 2002 William Hume-Rothery Award.
3. Hillert, Mats;Ågren, John; Brechet, Yves; Hutchinson, Christopher; Philibert, Jean-Marc. (2006). Thermodynamics and Phase Transformations: the Selected Works of Mats Hillert, (section: A Short biography of Mats Hillert, pgs iii-iv). EDP Sciences Editions.
4. Cahn, R.W. (2001). The Coming of Materials Science, (pgs. 482-83). Pergamon.
5. Home – Calphad.org.
6. Kaufman, L. and Ågren, J. (2014). "CALPHAD, First and Second Generation – Birth of the Materials Genome", 70 (1) (pgs. 3-6).
