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University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Professor Chad Duty has been named the next CEO of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation. The appointment will become effective April 1, 2023.

Duty is a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering within UT’s Tickle College of Engineering and a joint faculty member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Chad Duty headshot from MABE taken in the Communications Studio on October 25, 2022. Photo by Steven Bridges/University of Tennessee
Duty

“I’m excited for this opportunity to build upon IACMI’s accomplishments over the last several years. We have a great team and outstanding partners who are pursuing highly innovative approaches to advanced composites that will help to secure the future of American manufacturing,” said Duty.

IACMI—The Composites Institute is a 130-plus member community of industry, universities, national laboratories, and federal, state and local government agencies working together to accelerate advanced composites design, manufacturing, technical innovation and workforce solutions to enable a cleaner and more sustainable, more secure and more competitive U.S. economy.

Duty comes to IACMI with more than 20 years of research experience in advanced manufacturing spanning technologies in thin film processing, printed electronics, solar energy and additive manufacturing of polymer composites. From 2004 until he joined UT in 2013, Duty served as an ORNL research scientist in the Materials Science and Technology Division. He began his career as a senior aeronautical engineer at Lockheed Martin. He has a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech.

“We are pleased to welcome Chad as the next CEO of IACMI,” said Maha Krishnamurthy, interim president of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation. UTRF is the sole corporate member of Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation, the nonprofit organization that operates IACMI. “Chad’s strong background in advanced manufacturing research, technical management, strategic planning, industrial collaborations, and working with a variety of stakeholders and funding agencies makes him well positioned to lead this organization in the future,” said Krishnamurthy.

Dale Brosius, IACMI’s chief commercialization officer and interim CEO, will continue to lead the full-scale daily operations of the institute until Duty assumes the CEO role. Brosius will continue in his roles as CCO and executive director of the IACMI Consortium.

Since 2015, IACMI has managed more than 60 collaborative and industry-led technical projects with greater than $200 million collectively in research and development value, leading to the commercialization of at least 15 new products. More than $400 million has been invested in a broad system of open-access facilities for demonstration at scale in eight states through the initiative. IACMI has engaged more than 9,000 individuals in composites training and STEM outreach and has placed more than 100 university interns.

Through collaboration with industry, academia and national laboratories, IACMI projects have demonstrated faster cycle times and lower costs for composite materials and structures, decreased carbon intensity and increased recyclability of composites.

About IACMI The Composites Institute

IACMI is managed by the Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation, a not-for-profit organization established by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation. A Manufacturing USA institute, IACMI is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office as well as key state and industry partners.

CONTACT:

Tyra Haag (865-974-5460, tyra.haag@tennessee.edu)