Sept. 10, 2018
IACMI is proud to welcome Dr. Merlin Theodore, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to the IACMI team as the Technology Area Director for the Materials & Processes Technology Area. IACMI and Merlin have worked closely on projects through the CFTF, and we look forward to her leadership and expertise becoming more tightly interwoven into the IACMI community. Merlin has worked closely with Cliff Eberle, who after retiring from ORNL over the summer is continuing his IACMI involvement in Materials & Processes consulting.
Merlin has served as the director of the CFTF since January 2017, where she is responsible for all aspects of the CFTF operations, including supervision of operations staff and close coordination with ORNL technical staff to integrate CFTF capabilities with carbon fiber and composites research and development programs at ORNL. Prior to joining the CFTF, Merlin worked as the Head of Excellence at SGL Automotive Carbon Fiber LLC, Moses Lake Facility for six years, during which time the company was recognized under her leadership by the Association of Washington Business for the 2016 Manufacturing Operational Excellence Award.
Merlin holds a PhD in Material Science and Engineering from Tuskegee University, and has extensive laboratory research experience, having worked at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at the University Technology Corporation where she worked as a research scientist and a Technical Advisor of the Minority Leaders Program at Wright Patterson Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, OH.