PNNL

Keerti Kappagantula, senior materials scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has been named to the 2023 Nominating Committee of ASM International.

ASM International is the preeminent association for engaging and connecting materials professionals and their organizations to the resources necessary to solve problems, improve outcomes, and advance society.

Kappagantula is one of ten members appointed to the committee from among candidates proposed by chapters, committees, councils, and ASM affiliate society boards. She was nominated by the ASM Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Awareness Committee.

As part of the Nominating Committee, Kappagantula joins peers from institutions in the United States, Australia, and India. This year, the committee will be responsible for selecting a nominee for the society’s vice president-trustee and three trustees. Their nominee for vice president-trustee will serve as ASM International’s president in 2025-2026.

Kappagantula has been a member of ASM International since 2017 and was featured in their Women in Engineering profile in 2019.

Since joining PNNL in 2019, Kappagantula has developed new-generation material systems with applications in power transport, building infrastructure, and aerospace/vehicle lightweighting.

She has made breakthroughs in materials science research such as increasing the electrical conductivity of copper and aluminum for transportation and grid applications, and she has helped pioneer approaches in machine learning to design and train computer software programs that guide development of new manufacturing processes.