Shechtman, Dan

Dan Shechtman is a materials scientist and professor at the Technion (Ṭekhniyon, Makhon ṭekhnologi le-Yiśraʼel) in Hafia, Israel, and at Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. Shechtman joined the materials science faculty at the Technion in 1975 where he pursued studies in metallic multilayers, phase transition, the rapid solidification of metallic alloys, and the structure and properties of CVD diamond wafers. In 1982, Shechtman's discovery of the icosahedral phase in rapidly solidified aluminum transition metal alloys opened up the field of quasicrystals. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2011) for this accomplishment. Shechtman was appointed Professor (2004-current) in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Iowa State University, where he teaches and conducts research for approximately four months out of the year.