Dr. Sannakaisa Virtanen is a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chair of Surface Science and Corrosion at Friedrich-Alexander Universität, and she is the winner of AMPP’s prestigious 2024 Willis Whitney Technical Achievement Award.

On Tuesday of conference week, at the New Orleans Ernest M. Morial Convention Center, she delivered her Whitney Lecture, entitled “Corrosion Under Control? Challenges for Materials Performance towards Safe and Sustainable Society.”

In her lecture, Dr. Virtanen discussed aspects of corrosion and protection related to transportation, energy technologies, and health. Special focus was paid to corrosion mechanisms of Mg alloys in biomedical applications, specifically those used as biodegradable metals for temporary implantation. According to Dr. Virtanen, the goal is to adjust the degradation rate to the time of healing.

Respirometric methods that can be used for real-time monitoring of corrosion reactions were introduced, and results related to atmospheric and immersion corrosion of Mg alloys and Al — as well as transpassive dissolution of stainless steel — were also presented.

Further insight on Dr. Virtanen’s distinguished career can be gleaned from listening to the podcast below.

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