the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center (T.I.C.) : Ekeberg Prize 2021 – Winner

The 2021 Anders Gustaf Ekeberg Tantalum Prize (‘Ekeberg Prize’) was awarded to a US-Japanese team led by Dr Jason M. Davis of the Center for Materials Processing and Tribology at Purdue University, IN, USA, for its paper “Cutting of tantalum: Why it is so difficult and what can be done about it” published in the journal International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture.

The Ekeberg Prize is awarded annually for excellence in research and innovation of the element tantalum (Ta) and is sponsored by the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center (T.I.C.), the global trade body representing the tantalum and niobium industry. Announcing the winner, the independent judging panel led by Dr Axel Hoppe stated that cutting tantalum was a subject which had interested metallurgists for decades and the research results offer important new considerations on the topic.

The 2021 Ekeberg Prize medal, manufactured from pure tantalum metal by the Kazakhstan Mint, was awarded during the T.I.C.’s annual General Assembly (London, UK, from November 14th to 17th 2021).

On receiving the Ekeberg Prize, Dr Davis said “We are honoured and humbled that the publication was chosen for the award”. The T.I.C. congratulates all entrants whose papers challenge the boundaries of knowledge regarding tantalum, and may well lead to significant breakthroughs into exciting new applications of the element.

The authors of the winning paper are Dr Jason M. Davis, Dr Mojib Saei, Debapriya Pinaki Mohanty, Dr Anirudh Udupa, Dr Tatsuya Sugihara, and Dr Srinivasan Chandrasekar. The team mostly work at the Center for Materials Processing and Tribology at Purdue University, IN, USA, while Dr Tatsuya Sugihara is based at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Osaka University, Japan. Dr Davis also works at the US Special Warfare and Expeditionary Systems Department, Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN, USA.

The winning paper is reprinted in the T.I.C.’s journal, the Bulletin, in issue 187 (October 2021).