Thermal spray technology and coatings solve critical problems in demanding environments. They provide “solutions” to engineering needs involving wear, high temperature and aqueous corrosion, and thermal regulation and degradation.

Thermal spray is being increasingly used to manufacture net-shapes, advanced sensors and materials for the biomedical and energy/environmental marketing sectors. These and a vast array of emerging applications take advantage of the rapid and cost-effective capabilities of thermal spray technology in the OEM and repair industries.

Thermal spray processes; including twin wire-arc, combustion, high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), cold spray and plasma spray, as well as associated technologies, can deposit virtually any material as a surface coating onto a wide range of other materials. Coating reliability and effectiveness necessitates that these overlay coatings be selected, engineered and applied correctly.

Chris Berndt graduated in 1977 was a B.App.Sc. in Metallurgy, from what is now called the University of South Australia. His Ph.D. was earned in the Materials Engineering Department of Monash University. He undertook several Fellowships in the USA in the early 1980’s; which included a 2 year stint at NASA-Lewis Research Center in Cleveland (OH-USA) where he worked on aerospace hardware.

Chris' professional interests gravitate around manufacturing; especially in the area of protective coatings. He was the President of Thermal Spray Society (an affiliate of ASM International) in 2002. He has been the Chair or Co-Chair of 5 International Conferences. He was appointed a Trustee (the Board of Directors) of the American Society of Materials for 2005-2008. Berndt is currently the President of the Australian Ceramic Society, a term that ends in 2010. He takes on the position of Vice President of ASM International in October of 2010.

Chris is a Member of some 13 professional Societies in the materials, mechanical, manufacturing and biomedical fields. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institution of Engineers, Fellow of ASM International, and Fellow of The Institution of Metallurgists (UK). He is also a Chartered Engineer (UK), a Professional Engineer (Australia), and a Member of the College of Bioengineers (Australia).

Chris has held positions as a Faculty Fellow of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Guest Scientist of Brookhaven National Laboratory. He was inducted into the Thermal Spray Hall of Fame in 2007.

Chris has more than 350 publications. He is the Editor / Co-editor of 10 conference proceedings on thermal spray. Berndt has a ‘h-index’ of 31 and in excess of 3,200 citations to his work.