{"id":1758,"date":"2025-05-01T11:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T15:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2025-07-28T17:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T21:01:09","slug":"alexander-takes-first-place-poster-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/alexander-takes-first-place-poster-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Takes First Place Poster Contest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1760 \" src=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/Marlena-Alexander-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Professional headshot of Marlena Alexander.\" width=\"289\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/Marlena-Alexander-Headshot.jpg 400w, https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/Marlena-Alexander-Headshot-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>Marlena Alexander, a junior in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, recently won the Functional Materials Division Undergraduate Student Poster Contest at the 2025 TMS Conference in Las Vegas.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Over 4,000 minerals, metals, and materials scientists and engineers from around the world gathered for the annual Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society Meeting and Exhibition. The student poster contest was sponsored by the five technical divisions of TMS.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Alexander\u2019s poster, titled \u201cInvestigation of Sintering Conditions for Optimization of High Entropy Garnet Ceramics\u201d focused on the optimization of uniaxial hot-pressing temperatures for synthesis of high entropy garnet ceramics to be used for X-ray radiography applications. Her research found that samples pressed at 1400\u00b0C showed optimal transparency while maintaining high density and favorable scintillation properties.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">This wasn\u2019t Alexander\u2019s first time participating in the contest, as she also placed first in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cI am so proud to have represented the Tickle College of Engineering and the University of Tennessee,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cWe won two of the divisions in the undergraduate poster contest.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Alexander credited TCE faculty and administrators for assisting in her success.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cI am also so grateful to my mentors, Kaden Anderson, Dr. Mariya Zhuravleva, Dr. Chuck Melcher, and Dr. Luis Stand for their help throughout my research project,\u201d she said. \u201cI am also thankful for the support we received from Dr. Philip Rack and the Center for Materials Processing to give us the opportunity to travel to the TMS competition. It makes me happy to positively represent the Volunteer community on an international stage.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading h4 orange-mark\">Contact<\/h2>\n<p>Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683,\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:rpotkey@utk.edu\">rpotkey@utk.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marlena Alexander, a junior in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, recently won the Functional Materials Division Undergraduate Student [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12],"tags":[452,506],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-students","tag-marlena-alexander","tag-tms-conference"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - 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