Call for entries new aerospace materials prize

This prize of € 5000 is awarded to a young researcher who has made an outstanding contribution to scientific progress in fatigue and damage tolerance (*) as applied to aerospace.

Researchers from any country, worldwide, are eligible for the Jaap Schijve Award. Selection for the award is based on technical contributions to advancement of the field of aeronautical fatigue that have been made by the recipient, who should be at an early stage of their career — preferably within 10 years of entering the field and/or below the age of 35. The recipient must have earned an MS or PhD degree in engineering or a related field. He/she should have published at least two articles in peer reviewed scientific journals.

The award winner will be selected by a jury consisting of the General Director of the NLR, the Dean of the Aerospace Department of Delft University of Technology, and three experts in the field of fatigue and damage tolerance: one from the Aerospace Department of Delft University of Technology, one from the Aerospace Vehicles Division of the NLR and an international expert. The award will be awarded biennially, i.e. every other year.

The main selection criteria used by the jury are:

– high scientific quality of the contributions,
– relevance of these scientific contributions to fatigue and damage tolerance,
– general quality of publications in peer reviewed journal articles,
and
– impact on aerospace engineering.
The Jaap Schijve Award consists of a medal and a prize of € 5000.
Candidates should send their application to prof. Rinze Benedictus, R.Benedictus@tudelft.nl. The submission deadline is March 31 of the year in which the Jaap Schijve Award is awarded. The first year for this award is 2009.

(*) Fatigue: in metals/composites/hybrids this is the phenomenon/mechanism by which fluctuating (service) loads induce permanent structural changes (resulting in loss of load bearing capability), initiate damage and might lead to failure at a certain moment in life at stress levels below the monotonic failure stress.

Damage Tolerance: The ability of a structure to sustain anticipated loads in the presence of fatigue, corrosion or accidental damage until such damage is detected through inspections or malfunctions and is repaired.