The Pentti Kettunen Foundation awarded recognition prizes for outstanding theses in materials science

This year, the foundation awarded the 2020 Recognition Award for Outstanding Dissertation to Naiara Vázquez Fernández. In her dissertation “Effects of Strain Rate and Adiabatic Heating on the Strain-Induced Martensitic Phase Transformation in Austenitic Stainless Steels”, the effect of temperature and deformation rate on the martensite change of steel, the so-called TRIP effect was studied. The results of the work can be used in the development of industrial high-strength and formable steels. The responsible supervisor of the thesis was Associate Professor Mikko Hokka.

The recognition award for the master thesis went to Enni Luoma.  In her study, the effect of orientation methods on crystallinity of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films and the effect of crystallinity on mechanical, thermal and barrier properties of PLA films were studied. Based on the results, improved performance for bio-degradable PLA can be achieved when compared with traditional amorphous PLA structures. This will enable the use of PLA in new applications e.g. in replacing petroleum-based plastics in packaging industry. The academic supervisor of the thesis was Associate Professor Essi Sarlin.