Purpose
R. 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
Yip-Wah Chung is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and (by courtesy) Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University. Raised in Hong Kong, Yip-Wah earned his BS and MPhil from the University of Hong Kong. He completed his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 1977, following which he joined Northwestern University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where he has been ever since. Throughout his tenure, he held significant roles such as Director of the Center for Engineering Tribology at Northwestern (1987-1992), Department Chair (1992-1998), and Program Officer at the US National Science Foundation (2003-2005). Yip-Wah has been honored as a Fellow of ASM, AVS, and STLE. His other accolades include the Innovative Research Award from the ASME Tribology Division and the Technical Achievement Award from the National Storage Industry Consortium for his development of nitrogenated carbon overcoats for computer disk drives.
He has published over 250 papers, 13 patents, one monograph, one textbook on surface science, and one on materials science and engineering. Additionally, he co-edited a six-volume Encyclopedia of Tribology. Yip-Wah serves on editorial boards of the Journal of Materials Processing Technology, International Materials Review, Surface and Coatings Technology, and Tribology Letters.
Dedicated to service within the AVS community, he held various positions including Chair of the AVS Illinois Chapter (now Prairie Chapter) from 1992 to 1994, AVS Board of Directors member from 1999 to 2000, Chair of the Advanced Surface Engineering Division from 2003 to 2004, and Program Chair in 2013 and 2017. He also served as the General Chair of ICMCTF in 2014 and 2018 and as Secretary of the ASED executive committee from 2007 to 2021.
His ongoing research focuses on surface science and tribology, coatings, and the design and development of high-performance alloys. Beyond academia, Yip-Wah holds several FAA pilot and instructor certificates, including commercial multi-engine instrument and remote pilot licenses, often indulging in recreational flying over the US Midwest.