Steven R. Thompson, senior materials engineer in the Systems Support Division, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has received the 2010 ASTM International Award of Merit and title of ASTM fellow.

Thompson received the Award of Merit, which is ASTM's highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities, from Committee E08 on Fatigue and Fracture, who cited him for his leadership and technical contributions to the development of standards for the characterization of fatigue crack growth rates.

A member of ASTM and Committee E08 since 1988, Thompson is a member at large on the E08 executive subcommittee and vice chair of Subcommittee E08.06 on Crack Growth Behavior.  He also serves on the joint ISO/ASTM Fatigue and Fracture subcommittee (E08.93) and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO TC 164 on Mechanical Testing of Metals. Thompson chaired the 7th International ASTM/ESIS Symposium on Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics in 2008 and was co-editor of the 2009 ASTM STP 1508, Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics, 36th Volume.  The committee honored him with two Awards of Appreciation, in 2000 and 2008. 

Thompson began his career as a materials engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory after earning a bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering from Wright State University, Fairborn, Ohio, in 1988. During his more than 20 years at AFRL, he has chaired the MIL-HDBK-5 (now known as MMPDS) Coordination Committee, which is the design-allowables handbook used in the design of metallic aerospace vehicle structures by the U.S. aerospace industry, and led the Air Force's research efforts on the effect of foreign object damage on the fatigue life of turbine engine materials. In his current role, which he assumed in 2008, Thompson is responsible for the testing and characterization of metallic aerospace materials.

In addition to ASTM International, Thompson is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  He holds a master's degree in materials engineering from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio.

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

Release #8594