![Dr. Homero Castaneda stands near a window in a lab](_news-images/MSEN_news_Homero_Castaneda_NAE_11September2020.jpg)
Dr. Homero Castaneda-Lopez, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been selected as one of 12 experts to serve on the Corrosion of Buried Steel at New and In-Service Infrastructure committee that is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. This committee will focus on technical issues related to steel corrosion in ground stabilization, pipelines and infrastructure foundations in unconsolidated rock, among other settings.
The committee brings together experts from academia and industry to conduct a study aiming to improve the performance of steel over the long term for a number of infrastructure applications. Due to limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they will hold virtual meetings to discuss their findings, including a workshop on the prediction and monitoring of corrosion in buried steel.
Castaneda-Lopez has made significant contributions to the field of corrosion science and engineering, and serves as the director for the National Corrosion and Materials Science Reliability Lab. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers in the areas of corrosion science and engineering, coatings degradation and reliability, and materials characterization. He holds eight patents and three copyrights. He received the H.H. Uhlig best corrosion educator award from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers international in 2018. He was also named a NACE Fellow in 2019. He is the editor of three journals related to electrochemistry, materials, corrosion and pipelines. He recently was appointed as adjunct professor (professeur affilié) with Mechanics, Surface and Processing Laboratory at École Nationale Supérieure d'arts et Métiers (ENSAM), in Aix-en-Provence, France, and honorary professor at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing, China.
“It is an honor to be a part of this widely recognized panel in the area of corrosion science and engineering for the infrastructure sector,” said Castaneda-Lopez.
He will serve as a member of the committee for the next year and half.