Kiran Solanki receives the 2025 Brimacombe Medalist Award

Kiran Solanki, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, has been selected as one of only nine recipients of the 2025 Brimacombe Medalist Award by the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, or TMS.

The award celebrates individuals with a track record of excellence in business, technology, education, public policy, or science related to materials science and engineering. Solanki earned this recognition for developing bulk nanocrystalline materials, three-dimensional solid materials composed of nano grains, and modification techniques for traditional metals, leading to advancements in various fields, including space exploration.

His team specializes in designing new materials and enhancing existing ones for extreme conditions, like structural materials for a nuclear reactor. Supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, Solanki’s team developed a method to help the U.S. Navy combat corrosion effectively by studying materials’ joint degradation behavior. Through the project, he pioneered a collaborative approach that leverages materials science and electrochemistry, which investigates the effects of corrosion.

In 2018, in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory, Solanki designed an alloy of copper and tantalum capable of withstanding extreme temperatures as high as 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit.

Solanki has co-authored over 100 journal articles, and has received many prestigious awards, including the TMS Light Metals Division Young Leader Professional Development Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Award, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Orr Award for early career research excellence.

As he reflects on receiving the Brimacombe Medalist Award this year, Solanki can’t help but thank all the people who have supported him.

“I’m deeply honored to receive the Brimacombe Medalist Award from TMS, a community that has been pivotal in my professional growth,” he says. “I’m grateful to my mentors, colleagues, family and the entire TMS community for their unwavering support. I look forward to giving back and helping nurture the next generation of leaders in our field.”