– The Director of IMDEA Materials Institute, professor José Manuel Torralba, is only the second Spaniard to receive the Ivor Jenkins Medal.
– The Ivor Jenkins Medal, awarded by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) in the United Kingdom, is the highest international recognition in the field of powder metallurgy.
IMDEA Materials Institute Director José Manuel Torralba is the winner of this year’s Ivor Jenkins Medal, the world’s most prestigious international award in powder metallurgy.
Professor Torralba is only the second Spaniard to receive this recognition after Dr. César Molins in 1998.
The Ivor Jenkins Medal is awarded in recognition of a significant contribution that has improved scientific, industrial or technological understanding of materials processing or the production of components using particulate materials.
“Nowadays, you can’t really award individual scientific honours, because research work is always a collective endeavour,” Torralba said. “I think this award is a recognition, not only for me, but also for all the people I have worked with over the years.”
Powder metallurgy is a metal-forming process performed by heating compacted metal powders to just below their melting points.
Previous winners of the Ivor Jenkins Award include internationally renowned powder metallurgy scientists such as Herbert Danninger, Aldo Baccaccini, Paul Beiss and John Wood. It has also recognised important industrial technologists like Leo Prakash, David Whittaker and Brian James along with the previously mentioned Cesar Molíns. The Ivor Jenkins Medal The Ivor Jenkins Medal recognises merit in this field from both academia and industry.
“Above all, I feel very honoured to share this award with so many very important and widely-recognised researchers and technologists who have been references for me during my career,” said Torralba. “And even more so because it is an international recognition that comes from such a prestigious institute in my area of work as the IOM3,” he added.
The Ivor Jenkins Medal is just the latest recognition of Torralba’s extensive research activity throughout his career.
Last year, he was the first Spaniard to be awarded the Gold Medal by the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS). Torralba will receive the Ivor Jenkins Medal at a ceremony at the IOM3 Institute in London on 8 December.