Rate My Professor Alex Plotkowski

Dr. Alex J. Plotkowski is a Senior R&D Staff member and Group Leader for Computational Coupled Physics in the Computational Sciences & Engineering Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from Purdue University in 2016, with a thesis on modeling fluid interactions with the rigid mush in alloy solidification. He also holds an M.S.E. in Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering from Grand Valley State University, completed in 2012 with a thesis on refinement of the cast microstructure of hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloys with an applied electric potential, and a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution in 2012, graduating with honors and a mathematics minor. Prior to his current role, Dr. Plotkowski served as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville from 2016 to 2017 and as a Graduate Research Assistant at Purdue University.

His research focuses on additive manufacturing, solidification phenomena, heat transfer, alloy design, and computational modeling of metals processing and microstructure evolution. Dr. Plotkowski has contributed to the development of new alloys for additive manufacturing and led efforts in simulation tools for these processes. He has received multiple honors, including the R&D 100 Award for DuAlumin-3D in 2022, an ORNL Innovation Award in 2020, and team awards from the Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office. Professional service includes roles on TMS Solidification and AM Bridge Committees and as a symposium organizer. Key publications include a 2023 paper in Nature Communications on operando neutron diffraction for strain evolution in 3D printing and numerous articles in Additive Manufacturing and Acta Materialia on aluminum alloys and microstructure control.