June 12, 2023
By Chloe Arrington

David L. McDowell, Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair in Metals Processing and Regents' Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been named the recipient of two prestigious awards: the 2023 International Congress on Fracture (ICF) Paul C. Paris Gold Medal and the 2023 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Worcester Reed Warner Medal. Both awards recognize outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of engineering.

“I am humbled and honored to receive both awards,” said McDowell. “I am also grateful for the contributions of my numerous grad students, postdocs, and collaborators over the years.”

The Worcester Reed Warner Medal is awarded to an individual for seminal contributions to the permanent literature of engineering. This award considers single papers, treatises, books or series of papers, and digital media that show to be highly influential to a generation of engineers, and that highlight progressive ideas, models, and methods relative to engineering. McDowell’s multiple publications over the last five years with contributions to fatigue, multiscale modeling, and plasticity of metals were among those awarded.

The Paul C. Paris Gold Medal is awarded every four years at the International Conference on Fracture as one of four gold medals bestowed by the ICF. McDowell has been awarded for his lifelong contributions to fracture and fatigue of materials and was invited to give the opening lecture at this year’s conference that took place in Atlanta, Georgia from June 11-16.

McDowell joined Georgia Tech in 1983 and holds appointments in both the Woodruff School and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. His research focuses on the development of physically based, microstructure-sensitive constitutive models for nonlinear and time-dependent behavior of materials, with emphasis on wrought and cast metals.

McDowell served as Director of the Mechanical Properties Research Laboratory from 1992-2012. In August 2012 he was named Founding Director of the Institute for Materials (IMat), a Georgia Tech interdisciplinary research institute charged with cultivating cross-cutting collaborations in materials research and education and developing the materials innovation ecosystem. Serving as IMat Director through 2020, McDowell oversaw the development of centralized campus materials user facilities and broad efforts to develop and incorporate integrated materials data science and informatics approaches in materials research.

McDowell has received many awards during his career including a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the Scientific Committee of Fatigue Damage of Structural Materials, the Khan International Medal for outstanding, lifelong contributions to the field of plasticity, and the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award, Georgia Tech’s highest annual award bestowed on a faculty member for sustained outstanding achievement in teaching, research, and service.

About ASME and the IFC

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real-world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education, and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.

Founded in 1965, the (ICF) is one of the premier international bodies promoting worldwide cooperation among scientists and engineers dealing with mechanics and mechanisms of fracture and strength of solids. The ICF, in cooperation with other bodies, organizes the International Conference on Fracture that is held every four years.