ABOUT
Professor Speyer earned his B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Ceramic Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign. He joined the MSE faculty in 1992 after serving on the faculty at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University for six years.
He has published over 140 refereed papers and holds over twenty patents. He has advised 23 Ph.D. and 16 M.S. graduate students. His areas of interest over a forty-five-year span of research are varied: glass fusion and devitrification, fiber-reinforced glass-ceramic composites, powder processing and sintering of high-performance ceramics, rate-controlled sintering, single-crystal growth of piezeoelectric ceramics, gas radiant burners, processing of ultra-high temperature aerospace composites, lightweight ceramic armor, ceramic-based lasers, and net-shape steel production from ceramic powder compacts. Dr. Speyer’s research has been funded by NAVAIR, Army Natick and Aberdeen, AFOSR, DARPA, ARPA-E, U.S. Congress, Gas Research Institute, and private industry.
Dr. Speyer was previously the President of Innovative Thermal Systems, a manufacturer of thermoanalytical scientific instruments. He is presently the President and CEO of Verco Materials, llc, which manufactures conformable personal armor and roll-up ballistic shields for both handgun and rifle protection of law enforcement officers.
Dr. Speyer is the author of Thermal Analysis of Materials, written in the 1990’s, and has recently completed the textbook Applied Chemical Thermodynamics. He presently teaches courses in Chemical Thermodynamics, Thermal and Transport Properties of Materials, and Ceramic Processing, Properties, and Applications.
Teaching Interests
Professor Speyer’s teaching interests include core and advanced courses in materials science and engineering, with an emphasis on high-performance ceramics, thermodynamics, thermophysical, and transport properties of materials. His instruction emphasizes the utilization of programming languages to solve materials problems and a synergy of fundamental theory, associated experimental measurements, and practical applications.
PUBLICATIONS & PATENTS
- Joseph Eun, Robert F. Speyer, Vapor-phase assisted sintering of lutetium oxide, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2022.09.026 - Fei Peng, Rebecca Erdman, Gregg Van Laningham, Robert F. Speyer, Robert Campbell, Thermal Conductivity of ZrB<sub>2</sub>SiCB<sub>4</sub>C from 25 to 2000 °C, Advanced Engineering Materials, 2013
DOI: 10.1002/adem.201200298 - Robert F. Speyer, Oxidation Resistance, Electrical and Thermal Conductivity, and Spectral Emittance of Fully Dense HfB2 and ZrB2 with SiC, TaSi2, and LaB6 Additives, 2012
DOI: 10.21236/ada563908 - Gregg Van Laningham, Y. Berta, Robert F. Speyer, Spectral emittance of resistively heated oxidized ZrB<sub>2</sub>–30 mol% SiC, Journal of materials research/Pratt's guide to venture capital sources, 2012
DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2012.225 - Fei Peng, Gregg Van Laningham, Robert F. Speyer, Thermogravimetric analysis of the oxidation resistance of ZrB<sub>2</sub>–SiC and ZrB<sub>2</sub>–Sic–TaB<sub>2</sub>–based compositions in the 1500–1900 °C range, Journal of materials research/Pratt's guide to venture capital sources, 2011
DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2010.38
EDUCATION & AWARDS
- B.S. (1980)
- M.S. (1981)
- Ph.D. (1986), Ceramic Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Professor Speyer’s research centers on the processing-structure-property relationships in metals and alloys. His work involves investigating the evolution of microstructure during solidification and deformation processes to understand and control material properties. This includes integrating experimental observations with modeling to optimize materials processing techniques and develop improved structural materials with tailored mechanical behavior.