David R. Forrest, Sc.D., P.E.

David Forrest is now retired from federal service, presumably sunning himself on a beach somewhere. Previously, he was a Technology Manager at the Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office in Washington, DC where he developed original programming on Atomically Precise Manufacturing, covetic nanomaterials, Flash Processing, high performance gas separation materials (i.e., splitting air), and advanced material processes. The program on covetics with Argonne National Lab and National Energy Technology Lab Albany successfully solved key problems to deliver up to 50% improvement in the thermal and electrical conductivity of copper, aluminum, and steel; ongoing efforts continue to move the technology to commercialization in partnership with industry. The program in atomic precision is leading to unprecedented separation capabilities in membranes for low energy desalination, groundwater cleanup, and petrochemical separations. Atomically precise membrane systems for cheap removal of greenhouse gases from air are in the pipeline to be funded (yes, global warming can actually be solved, not just protested). Atomically precise catalysts are being developed for low temperature ammonia production, low energy hydrocarbon production, better cold water detergents, and so much more. Flash Processing is poised to provide cheap high strength cold stampable steel to automakers, improving energy efficiency fleet-wide by taking out over 100 pounds per car. Small but determined Global Research & Development, LLC is poised to deliver low cost, order of magnitude performance improvement in splitting air into oxygen and nitrogen at much lower temperatures than anything on the shelf for oxygen enriched air for power plants and (I hope someday) blast furnaces. Not bad for six years, eh? That was all me, orchestrating this symphony of projects that would not have happened otherwise. I also managed the High Performance Computing for Manufacturing program, and was Office Program Manager for SBIR.

I earned a doctorate degree in materials engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993 and am a Fellow of ASM International. At the Department of Energy, I received an Energy Rock Star award in 2015, the Assistant Secretary Outstanding Impact Award in 2016, and the Assistant Secretary career service award in March 2019.

The Longer Version in third person

Dr. Forrest was a metallurgist since 1978, starting at Republic Steel Corporation's Enduro Division Massillon Plant where he performed failure analyses of stainless steel sheet products and quality control work in the company's hot strip mills. In 1979 he moved to Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, PA where he worked in the Bethlehem Plant on the failure analysis of tool steels and the quality assurance of hardened steel rolls. In both the Bethlehem Plant Experimental Dept. and Homer Research Laboratory he developed methods to improve the mechanical properties of heavy forging steels for power generation equipment and nuclear pressure vessels. His principal accomplishments were: (1) quantifying the relationships between processing, microstructure, and the mechanical properties of forgings for nuclear reactor and power generation applications; (2) becoming the first researcher at Bethlehem to apply regression analysis and linear programming to optimize the composition and processing of these forgings; and (3) solving the 20-year problem of the cause of sporadic impact properties in a nuclear pressure vessel steel.

In 1985, he left Bethlehem to pursue a doctorate degree at MIT, working with Prof. Julian Szekely. There, he developed mathematical models for electromagnetically driven fluid flow and heat transfer, and designed and built a prototype system for measuring electromagnetically driven flow in a transparent fluid using laser velocimetry. In 1991, he was a finalist in NASA's Astronaut Candidate Program.

Dr. Forrest worked for Allegheny Ludlum Corporation at the Technical Center in Brackenridge, PA, from 1991 to 1999. In Allegheny's Product Research & Development Division, his research involved determining structure/ processing/ property relationships in temper rolled stainless steels and grain oriented silicon steels, as well as the application of computational thermodynamics to steel systems. He wrote original software that optimized temper rolling schedules for the customer's property specifications. In the Process Research & Development Division he worked on the mathematical modeling of steelmaking processes (developing AOD and BOF thermodynamic models), and on heat transfer and deformation models for titanium pack rolling. In 1996, he developed and implemented a web-based system for the dissemination of technical documents using Hyperwave software. In 1999 he won the Allegheny Ludlum Technical Achievement Award for developing an ultrasonic system to measure the microcleanliness of steel on a routine production basis, saving the company $500,000/year in quality costs and opportunities.

Dr. Forrest worked for Baverstam Associates from 1999-2001 where he performed both market analysis and technology-focused analysis in advanced materials and processes ranging from battery sealants to optoelectronic crystals to Gallium and Germanium markets.

He was a materials engineer and materials modeling technical expert with the Welding and NDE group at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (Carderock Division) from 2001-2012. There, he was the principal architect of and project lead for an Accelerated Insertion of Materials system (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering). He improved HAZ toughness in HSLA-65 based on original code he wrote to model tandem arc welding, and performed deformation and heat transfer modeling of forging, extrusion, and friction stir welding. He guided the development of a portable, lightweight friction stir welding system with Fred Callahan at Engineering Consulting Services/and George Talia at Wichita State University (RIP). He began performing research on covetic nanomaterials at Carderock, and contributed significantly to the scientific understanding of covetic nanocarbon metals.

In 2012 he moved to the Dept. of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office where became a Technology Manager in the R&D Projects group. His programmatic focus included metal processing, covetic nanomaterials, atomically precise membranes for high efficiency separations, atomically precise catalysts for efficient clean energy chemical reactions, and integrated nanosystems. He managed the SBIR program for AMO as well as the High Performance Computing for Manufacturing program. The program on covetic nanomaterials successfully demonstrated a 50% increase in the electrical conductivity of copper.

Dr. Forrest is also known for his technology analysis work in the area of molecular manufacturing. He is a former President of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the development of molecular nanotechnology by directly funding critical research. His policy work includes an analysis of the metal industry’s impact on global warming, collaborating on the Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, and presenting more than 20 briefings on molecular manufacturing systems (including at the National Academies, a U.S. Senate panel, and to Congressman O'Halleran).

He has bachelor's (Lafayette College, 1978), master's (Lehigh University, 1985), and doctorate (MIT, 1993) degrees in metallurgical and materials engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania, and is a Fellow of ASM International. He is originally from the town of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and he now enjoys escaping the corrupt city politics of Washington, DC as often as possible in favor of off-the-beaten-track global excursions with his wife, Dr. Dina Mukhamedzhanova.