Dr. Hofmann and Dr. Roberts are both world-renowned experts in metallic glasses (as well as other materials and manufacturing technologies) with more than 20 combined years of research. Both have their PhD’s from Caltech in Materials Science and are both formerly of Professor William Johnson’s group, one of the pioneers of metallic glasses. Currently, both are scientists working in the government aerospace sector. Dr. Hofmann is a former research scientist at a major metallic glass company and has been a paid industry consultant as well as an advisor to the metallic glass industry.

Why Metallic Glass?

Metallic glasses (also known as amorphous metals, bulk metallic glasses, non-crystalline metals, liquid metals, vitreous alloys and Vitreloy®) are emerging engineering materials with huge potential for widespread commercialization. There currently exists a broad and diverse range of small and large companies venturing into metallic glasses with products ranging from ribbon, sheet metal, thermal spray coatings, hardbanding, additive manufacturing, injection molding, blow molding, rapid discharge forming, sputtering, coating, microforming, among others.

Although metallic glasses have many potential uses, they are unlike any other metal alloy and thus require a very specific technical background to utilize successfully. Developing commercial products from these alloys requires expertise in alloy development, processing and manufacturing, thermal history, contamination, fluid flow and knowledge of competing commercial technologies and market size.

Many other factors may hinder a company trying to make a product from metallic glass. These may include the complicated patent landscape (over 10,000 metallic glass patent applications have been filed), lack of understanding of the material supply chain, limited experience with mechanical performance or environmental considerations, or simply not fully understanding the limitations of metallic glass for particular applications.

Metallic Glass Consulting, LLC is ready to help you in whatever area of metallic glasses you are interested in. Our consultants are intimately familiar with all of the current technologies, the commercial players, the patent landscape, the science publications and the current and future market projections.