Chief Science Officer

Education
Sc.D. Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974
M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970
B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970

Summary
Gregory B. Olson, Sc.D. is a co-founder of QuesTek Innovations LLC and an internationally-recognized leader and pioneer in the field of computational materials design. During 2012-13 he's focusing on further advancing QuesTek by taking a 1-year entrepreneurial sabbatical leave from Northwestern University, where he has been a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering since 1988, and was named the first Wilson-Cook Professor of Engineering Design for the McCormick School of Engineering in September 1999. He is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, a member of the University’s Materials Research Center (MRC), a co-Director of the University’s Materials Technology Laboratory, and the Director of the MRC’s Steel Research Group (SRG), a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, industry-supported research program that focuses on applying scientific principles to design new classes of high performance ultra high strength steels.

As QuesTek’s Chief Science Officer, he helps oversee QuesTek’s application of the systematic, science-based approach for designing materials that he developed, which calculates optimum composition and processing routes to achieve desired material properties. Novel concepts generated by his research include: a) barrierless classical heterogeneous martensitic nucleation via defect dissociation; b) the concept of coherency dislocations in interphase boundaries and its application to the mobility of martensitic interfaces; c) a theory of transformation plasticity and its influence on flow stability with application to ductility and fracture toughness. His current areas of research include: general kinematic theory of interphase boundary structure; the mechanism and kinetics of coupled diffusional/displacive transformations, the electronic basis of embrittlement mechanisms in metals; the “first principles” design of new materials; structure and mobility of crystal interfaces; structure/mechanical property relations; application of high-resolution microscopy and microanalysis; and applications of materials science to molecular biology. Beyond materials design, his research interests include phase transformations, structure/property relationships, and applications of high resolution microanalysis.

Honors, Awards and Patents
He has received numerous honors and awards, including for example: Member of National Academy of Engineering (2010); ASM Gold Medal (2010); TMS-AIME Structural Materials Division Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award (2005); Fellow of ASM (1990); Fellow of TMS-AIME (2001); ASM Campbell Memorial Lecturer (2006); and Advisory Board, Journal of Computer-Assisted Materials Design. He has been awarded more than 17 U.S. patents.

Professional Associations
He is active in numerous industry, technical and professional associations including for example: ASM International, including Chairman of ASM’s Phase Transformation Committee (1987–1990); The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS); The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME); Materials Research Society (MRS); American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Chairman, Organizing Committee, International Conference on Martensitic Transformations 2008 (ICOMAT-08).

Publications and Presentations
He is the author of two books, a contributor to more than 10 books, and the author of more than 200 publications which have appeared in leading industry journals or periodicals such as Journal of Computer-Aided Material Design, Computer Coupling of Phase Diagrams and Thermochemistry, Heat Treating, Advanced Materials & Processes, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, International Journal of Fatigue, Materials Science & Technology, Journal of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Materials Transactions, Materials Research, Acta Materiala, and Science.