Oct 17, 2013

ASTM International Committee E28 on Mechanical Testing has presented the Award of Merit to Christopher McCowan, project leader of the Impact Verification Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colo. The Award of Merit and its accompanying title of fellow is ASTM’s highest organizational recognition for distinguished service and outstanding participation in ASTM technical committee activities. 

An active member of E28 since 1992, the committee recognized McCowan for his notable leadership and contributions to the development of standards in the field of impact testing. He is the former longtime chairman of Subcommittees E28.07 on Impact Testing and E28.93 on Papers and Symposia, and received the E28 Excellence in Standardization Leadership Award in 2011. He has worked extensively on the constant revision of ASTM E23, Standard Test Methods for Notched Bar Impact Testing of Metallic Materials, a popular standard used by several other ASTM committees and all over the world. In addition to his work with E28, McCowan serves on Committee E04 on Metallography and is a member of the editorial board for the ASTM Journal of Testing and Evaluation.

McCowan has more than 25 years of experience in evaluating and interpreting features of microstructures and fracture surfaces and relating these features to mechanical properties and failure criteria. He has worked on several high profile failure projects including the World Trade Center Towers investigation, the blender explosion at Napp Technologies Inc. and the siphon failures in the Central Arizona Project.

A graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo., where he received a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering, McCowan also holds a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, N.M. He joined NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory, Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, in 1985 as a material research engineer, and assumed his current role in 2006.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9488