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Randolph
E. Kirchain
Associate
Professor of Materials
Science and Engineering Systems
Dr.
Kirchain received a Ph.D. from MIT.
His research focuses on the environmental
and economic implications of materials
selection.
The
choice of material potentially has
sweeping implications on the realization
of a product. Materials affect not
only properties, but also dictate
available production processes, and
therefore the physical constraints
within which a designer must work.
Similarly, the synergism of design,
materials, and process affect the
environmental impacts associated with
a product’s manufacture, its
use, and its ultimate disposal. As
such, understanding the implications
of a material selection decision requires
understanding throughout the design
and production systems.
To
address this, Dr. Kirchain’s
research deals with two broad topic
areas: 1) the development of methods
to model the cost of manufacture,
using limited design information and
2) the sustainability of current and
emerging materials systems. To these
ends, Dr. Kirchain has focused on
automotive manufacturing systems,
including working on projects for
all three major automobile manufacturers.
These projects include extensive study
of the functioning of the system for
reclaiming materials from end-of-life
vehicles. The specific focus of this
work has been to understand the economic
implications of changing vehicle composition
and emerging policy strictures on
the successful operation of this system.
Dr.
Kirchain’s teaching responsibilities
include ESD.123 – Industrial
Ecology and ESD.80 – Seminar
in Technology Policy Research.
Updated
March 2009
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