Professor Noam Eliaz

Professor Noam Eliaz is the 11th Dean of The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering (as of July 1, 2022). He is a full professor, Director of the Biomaterials and Corrosion Laboratory, and the founder of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) at Tel Aviv University (TAU). He is also an Adjunct Professor at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), and an endowed chair professor and the founding director of TIET/TAU Center of Excellence on Advanced Manufacturing at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET). He was awarded with the title Honorary Professor of the Transylvania University of Braşov in Romania.

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Noam earned a B.Sc. degree in Materials Engineering, an M.B.A degree, and a Ph.D. degree (direct track) in Materials Engineering, all cum laude from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Being in the Academic Reserve, he served for three years as a Metallurgical Laboratory officer at the Israel Air Force (IAF, currently holds the rank Major in reserve). Prior to joining TAU, he was a Fulbright and Rothschild Fellow at MIT.

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Prof. Eliaz's research is multidisciplinary and combines fundamental research with applied research and development. Examples include: (1) Additive manufacturing (AM), either from powders or from electrolyte solutions; (2) Development of novel electrochemically-deposited calcium phosphate coatings for dental implants; (3) Development of functional electrochemical coatings (e.g. rhenium coatings that are resistant at high temperatures and in aggressive environments for aircraft, aerospace and catalysis applications); (4) Materials for space applications; (5) The use of Bio-Ferrography for diagnosing osteoarthritis or cancer, determining the efficacy of drug treatments, and monitoring the wear of artificial joints; (6) Corrosion, hydrogen interaction with materials, and failure analysis. The products of his research are being used in defense organizations and implant companies. Being the Chief Scientist of SGS Dental Implant, he has been leading a process of scaling-up a calcium phosphate coating that he developed at TAU. He is currently a member of TMS, ASM International, MRS, ECS, ISE, and SFB.
 

Eliaz has authored with Prof. Eliezer Gileadi the 2nd Edition of the bestselling textbook in Physical Electrochemistry - Physical Electrochemistry: Fundamentals, Techniques, and Applications (Wiley-VCH, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-527-34139-9). He was the editor of a double volume of Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry (Springer) on Applications of Electrochemistry and Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine, as well as a book on Degradation of Implant Materials (Springer). He has contributed more than 530 scientific publications, including 7 invited book chapters, 17 invited journal articles, 145 regular journal articles, 7 honorary lectures, and 119 scholarly presentations. His published research has been highlighted 8 times on journal covers, and 5 of his articles are highly cited according to the WoS. In 2014 the Electrochemical Society (ECS) selected an article of him to be its first ever open-access article in JECS. He was invited to contribute an article on Wear Particle Analysis to the new edition of ASM Handbook, Vol. 18: Friction, Lubrication, and Wear Technology (ASM International, OH). He is the first ever contributor with an Israeli affiliation to the ASM Handbook series, the single most important reference work in the area of materials engineering. His papers are well cited, with ca. 14,900 citations and h-index of 56 according to Google Scholar. Noam was listed among the top 0.23% scientists in the world over career period and among top 0.08% in the single year 2022 in the sub-field Materials in Stanford-Elsevier World's Top 2% Scientists Ranking. He has won numerous awards (see below).
 

Eliaz has demonstrated academic and scientific leadership in Israel and abroad. He has served as chair and member of numerous committees (see below). He led the development of the Materials Engineering discipline at TAU. He was one of the designers and the Founding Head of the Materials and Nanotechnologies graduate  (M.Sc. & Ph.D.) program, which was managed jointly by the Faculties of Engineering, Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Medicine, and The Center for Nanoscience & Nanotechnology. He led the submission of this program for the approval of the Israel Council of Higher Education (ICHE). Later, he founded the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at TAU and served as its first Chair (2013-2017). In the 2022 rankings, the Department was listed in the top 350 materials programs worldwide by both the QS World University and Shanghai rankings. Noam was the Chairman of the 14th Israel Materials Engineering Conference (IMEC–14), the largest materials engineering conference ever held in Israel, and the first in the IMEC series to be held at TAU. He also co-chaired with Prof. David Seidman the First, Second, and Third Northwestern University (NU)/TAU joint workshops, held at TAU and NU, alternatingly. He was appointed by The Cyprus Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education as a member of the External Evaluation Committee for the accreditation of BSc, MSc and PhD programs in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Cyprus, Nicosia. He was also a member of the committee that wrote the ASTM F3413-19 standard: “Guide for Additive Manufacturing – Design – Directed Energy Deposition”. He has recently founded TAU 3D Printing Research and Development Center.
 

Eliaz has advised 10 Ph.D. students, 16 postdoctoral scholars (3 of whom currently hold faculty positions in Israel, India and China) and senior scientists on sabbatical leave, 31 M.Sc. students, 20 undergraduate students, 9 visiting scholars, and 5 lab engineers. His group members have garnered prestigious accolades, including the Israel Defense Prize, the Chief of Staff Medal of Appreciation (Israeli military decoration), the Israel Atomic Energy Commission best poster award, the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology scholarship for the promotion of excellent female graduate students in science, a Fulbright post-doctoral scholarship, BSF’s Prof. Rahamimoff travel grant, participation at the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS), best oral and poster presentations at international conferences, and many more.
 

In 2015, Eliaz was elected to The Israel Young Academy. In January 2017 he was also appointed by Israel's Minister of Science and Technology as a member of the Governing Board of The German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF). In May 2018 he was appointed by the President of The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities as a member of the committee that prepared the 3rd “State of the Sciences in Israel” report (2019). He was also a member of the experts committee that issued the report recommending the removal of the ammonia tank from the Haifa Bay. In August 2020, Eliaz was elected to the National Academy of Inventors, US, as a Senior Member. He is the first scientist based outside the US to attain this status. Read here (NAI announcement), here (English new report), and here (Hebrew news report).
 

Prof. Eliaz is an 8th generation Israeli. He is happily married to Billie and the proud father of Ofri, Shahaf and Shalev.
 

 

Education

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• 2018     Course: Board of Directors & Corporate Senior Executives, Lahav Executive Education, Coller School of Management, TAU.

• 1995-1999     Ph.D. in Materials Engineering (direct-track program), BGU (summa cum laude).
  Doctoral dissertation: Hydrogen interaction with amorphous and quasicrystalline alloys.
  Honors: Eshkol Scholarship for Scientific Infrastructures (The Israel Ministry of Science) & BGU's Provost Prize (given once a year to one outstanding Ph.D. student in the whole University).

• 1996-1998     M.B.A., BGU (magna cum laude).

• 1988-1991     B.Sc. in Materials Engineering (Academic Reserve), BGU (magna cum laude).
  Engineering project: Modeling hydrogen diffusion and trapping around helium bubbles in first-wall materials in nuclear reactors.
  Honors: Best departmental engineering project.

Academic and Professional Experience

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• 2001–     Tel-Aviv University (TAU).
  School of Mechanical Engineering (formerly: Department of Solid Mechanics, Materials and Systems): Senior Lecturer 1/10/2001-30/6/2008 (tenure awarded 1/4/2006); Associate Professor 1/7/2008-30/4/2012; (Full) Professor 1/5/2012-31/7/2013.
  Department of Materials Science and Engineering: Founder & Full Professor since 1/8/2013.

• 8/2012-7/2013     Northwestern University (IL, USA).
  Eshbach Visiting Professor (on sabbatical leave), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, hosts: Professors David N. Seidman and David C. Dunand.

• 2005-2007     Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Tokyo, Japan).
  JSPS Visiting Fellow, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering.

• Summer 2002     MIT (MA, USA).
  Visiting Scientist, H.H. Uhlig Corrosion Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

• 1999-2001     MIT (MA, USA).
  Postdoctoral Fulbright and Rothschild Fellow, H.H. Uhlig Corrosion Lab, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, advisor: Prof. Ronald M. Latanision.

• 1992-1995     Israel Air Force (IAF).
  Metallurgical Laboratory officer.
   

Responsibilities (selected list)

 

• 07/2022-     Dean of The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering

• 07-09/2020     A member of the Search Committee for the Rector of TAU (elected by the Senate).

• 10/2017-09/2019     A member of the Steering Committee of Tel-Aviv University (elected by the Senate).

• 03-04/2019     A member of the Search Committee for Dean of Engineering (elected).

• 08/2017-10/2018; 03/2020-     A member of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, Faculty of Engineering.

• 2014-2018     A representative of the Faculty of Engineering in the Small Senate of TAU (elected).

• 2013-2017     Founding Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tel-Aviv University.

• 2009-2011     Founding Head, Materials and Nanotechnologies Program (for MSc and PhD studies), Tel-Aviv University.

• 2006-2009     Coordinator in the Faculty of Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering Program (MSc studies), Tel-Aviv University.

• 2005-2017     Editor-in-Chief of Corrosion Reviews.

• 2017-     Editorial Board, Corrosion Reviews.

• 2017-     Editorial Board, Corrosion and Materials Degradation.

• 2017-     Editorial Board, Bioceramics Development and Applications.

• 2017-     Editorial/Advisory Board, Materials.

• 2018-2022     Editorial Board, Coatings.

• 2017-     Editorial Board/Editorial Advisory Board, Current Topics in Electrochemistry.

• 03/2017-05/2018     A member of the Follow-Up Committee of the “State of the Sciences in Israel” Report (the 2nd tri-annual report, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2016), appointment by the President of the Academy. The Report can be downloaded both in Hebrew and in English versions.

• 03/2016-03/2018     An academic member of the Board of Governors annual meeting (elected by the Senate of TAU).

• 2010-2017     A member of the Academic Council of the Azrieli College of Engineering Jerusalem.

• 2015-2017     A member of the review committee for Israeli postdoctoral scholars in sciences and engineering, Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellowships program.

• 09/2017-2023     National delegate, International Corrosion Council (ICC)

• 2014-2016     Israel Regional Representative (elected), International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE).

• 2012-2014     Chairman – TEG 186X committee on Environmentally Assisted Cracking, NACE International.

• 2008-2011     Chairman – Central Committee 300 for Chemistry Standards, The Standards Institution of Israel.

• 2003-2005     Chairman, The Israel Section of NACE International.

                

Honors (selected list)

 

• 2024   TMS 2024 Leadership Award.

• 2022   Honorary Professor (Professor Honoris Causa) of the Transilvania University of Braşov, Romania.

• 2021     Electrodeposition Division Research Award, The Electrochemical Society (ECS). The first Israeli recipient of this honor.  

• 2021     The Israel Vacuum Society (IVS) 2021 Excellence Award for Research.

• 8/2020     Elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), US, as a Senior Member. The first researcher outside the USA to attain this status.

• 2019-     Adjunct Professor,  Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tamil Nadu, India.

• 2015-2019     Elected Member, The Israel Young Academy (IYA).

• 2014     Technical Achievement Award, NACE International. The first Israeli recipient of this honor.
  Citation: “For outstanding achievements in corrosion research, engineering and education, with key contributions in electrodeposition of special materials, biomaterials corrosion, and failure analysis in the aircraft, space, medical device, nuclear power generation, and naval industries”

• 2013     Eshbach Visiting Scholar, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, NU.
  This program supports “short visits of distinguished visitors from industry or academia to the McCormick School (1-2 scholars are appointed each year).”

• 2012     NACE Fellow, NACE International. The first Israeli recipient of this honor.

• 2010     Two projects to which Eliaz contributed were selected as having the 2nd and 3rd highest impact on the Israel Air Force among all engineering projects carried out in the materials area during 60 years. These projects were the use of ferrography in condition monitoring and failure analysis of turbine seals in GE’s F110 engines of F-16 aircraft (check AW&ST, 2014), respectively.

• 2010     Herbert H. Uhlig Award, NACE International. The first Israeli to receive this or any other NACE International award. 

• 2005-2007     Visiting Fellow, The Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

• 2003     T.P. Hoar Award for the best paper published in the journal Corrosion Science during 2001. The Institute of Corrosion and Pergamon.

• 2002     Dan David scholarship for young researchers (TAU).

• 2000   Elected as a Full Member to Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

• 1999     Fulbright and Rothschild postdoctoral fellowships. The only materials engineer to win both.

• 1999   BGU’s Rector Prize for an outstanding Ph.D. student.

• 1995-9   Eshkol Scholarship for Scientific Infrastructures, Israel Ministry of Science.

• 1993   Excellent cadet at both the complementary officers course for academicians, IAF & officers course, Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

• 1991   Best B.Sc. project award.