Professor Diran Apelian is Howmet Professor of Engineering and Director of the Metal Processing Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).  He received his B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Drexel University (1968) and his Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT (1972).  After graduating from MIT, he joined Bethlehem Steel’s Homer Research Laboratories.  He joined Drexel University in 1976 and held various positions at Drexel, including Professor, Head of the Department of Materials Engineering, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and subsequently Vice-Provost.  He joined WPI in July 1990 as the Institute’s Provost, and led the mission of broadening WPI’s academic programs and research agenda.  After a six-year tenure as Provost he was appointed to head the Metal Processing Institute (MPI) at WPI. MPI is an industry-university alliance dedicated to near-net-shape manufacturing with centers in metal casting; powder metallurgy; and heat treating; MPI is supported by over 110 corporate partners, as well as funding from private foundations and the federal government. Apelian’s research interests and expertise are in materials processing, and specifically, solidification and net-shape manufacturing.  He is credited for pioneering work in various areas of solidification processing: molten metal processing and filtration of metals; aluminum foundry engineering; plasma deposition; and spray casting/forming. He was awarded the Howard Taylor Gold Medal in 1987 by AFS, and the Howe Medal in 1990 for the best paper in Metallurgical Transactions by AIME.  In March 1992, at the AIME Annual Meeting, he received the Champion H. Mathewson Gold Medal for his contributions to the literature. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate and was named Honorary Professor of Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xian, China, in 1997. He is an Honorary Member of the French Materials Engineering Society- SF2M (2000).   He has over 450 publications to his credit and eleven books, which he has co-edited.  He is member of various professional societies including TMS, ISS, MRS, ASM, AFS, NADCA, and MPIF.  Dr. Apelian serves on several technical advisory boards and on corporate boards.  He has served on, and chaired, several National Materials Advisory Boards for the National Research Council.  He was Chief-Editor of the web-based Journal of Light Metals, serves on the Editorial board of the International Journal of Cast Metals Research, and the Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering.