Victoria Blair ’08, ’14 Ph.D. to present School of Engineering Graduate Seminar

ALFRED, NY— Alfred University alumna Victoria Blair ’08, ’14 Ph.D. will deliver the Inamori School of Engineering Graduate Seminar on Thursday, Oct. 28, from 10:20 to 11:10 a.m. Blair is a materials engineer at DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.

Blair earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees, both in ceramic engineering, from Alfred University. Her seminar, titled “In the Pursuit of High-Strength, Broadband Transparent Ceramics,” will be offered virtually, via Zoom.

Since joining the Army Research Laboratory as a post-doctoral fellow in June 2014, Blair and has conducted research on processing functional materials for solid-state batteries and laser gain media. Her current research area is focused on transparent ceramics for Army applications, including ceramic windows and domes. Dr. Blair currently serves as an ARL technical lead for high temperature materials. In 2020, Blair earned the ARL Early Career Award, which is presented to exceptional scientists at the onset of their career and includes financial support for a new research area.

Blair is very active in the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), serving on several committees and chairing the DC/Baltimore/NoVA section. In 2021, ACerS named her recipient of the Du-Co Ceramics Young Professional Award and the Robert L. Coble Award for Young Scholars. The Coble Award for Young Scholars recognizes an outstanding scientist who is conducting research in academia, in industry, or at a government-funded laboratory. The Du-Co Ceramics Young Professional Award is given to a young professional member of ACerS who demonstrates exceptional leadership and service to the organization.