Douglas Wolfe

Douglas Wolfe is the associate vice president for Research, director of strategic initiatives (AVPR-SI) within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR) at Penn State. The role of associate vice president for Research, director of strategic initiatives, serves as a key member of the Research leadership team and works in partnership with other leaders to implement research priorities and oversee portions of the institution’s research administration and infrastructure. In this role, Wolfe works with the interim senior vice president for Research and members of the University Research Council to support faculty in their pursuits of extramural funding for strategic research; and oversees the Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) in support of larger, externally funded interdisciplinary research proposals. Among other responsibilities, he provides leadership and OSVPR representation on internal and external task forces and committees on behalf of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research to develop recommendations for addressing challenges and opportunities impacting Penn State Research, including managing the strategic plan implementation and delivery process.

Wolfe is a recognized international expert in the field of materials science whose research activities include the synthesis, processing, and characterization of nano, multilayered, nanostructured, functionally graded, ceramic, and metallic coatings, materials and systems deposited by reactive and ion beam assisted, electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD), cold spray, thermal spray  technologies, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), cathodic arc physical vapor deposition, sputtering (r.f, d.c., magnetron), plating (Ni, Cu, Pt), hybrid processes, and various other PVD processes.  Present work includes the enhancement of coating microstructure and composition to enhance the sensitivity of ionizing radiation such as x-rays and to tailor and improve material properties such as optical materials and coatings, hypersonics, metamaterials, thermal barrier coatings (TBC), erosion resistant coatings, wear resistant, corrosion resistant, diamond like carbon, transition metal nitrides, carbides, and borides, and transition and rare-earth metal oxides for a variety of applications in the aerospace, nuclear, tooling, power, oil and gas, biomedical, and defense industries. Wolfe’s primary area of expertise includes structure-processing-property-performance relationships and the development and processing of monolithic, nanocomposite, nanolayered, and multilayer coatings, nano-grained structural materials, as well as materials characterization using a variety of materials analytical techniques.