R.F. Bunshah Award

2024 Yip-Wah Chung

Northwestern University, Evanston, USA 

 For his sustained contributions to the surface engineering and tribology fields and for pioneering wear-protective coatings to enhance tribological performance in critical industrial applications.
2023 Lars Hultman

Linköping University, Sweden 

 For pioneering activities towards developing new thin film materials and their atomistic understanding; bridging gaps between scientific disciplines. 
2022 Jolanta-Ewa Klemberg-Sapieha

Polytechnique Montréal, Canada

 For the development of new nanostructured multifunctional and protective coatings with tailored mechanical properties for aerospace, manufacturing and other advanced applications.
2021 André Anders

Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Germany 

 For significant scientific contributions to the characterization and understanding of cathodic arc and HIPIMS plasmas. 
2020 Christian Mitterer

Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria

 For seminal contributions to the materials science of coatings based on borides, nitrides, carbonitrides, oxides, and metal alloys. 
2019      Joe Greene

University of Illinois, Linköping University,  National Taiwan University of Science and  Technology

 For seminal contributions in areas of thin-film physics, surface science, and surface engineering.
2018 Allan Matthews

University of Manchester, UK

 For outstanding contributions to surface engineering and coatings tribology.
2017  John Woollam

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA

 Seminal contributions to the development and application of ellipsometry as a primary technique for determining thin-film optical properties.
2016          Boris Movchan

International Center for Electron Beam Technologies Kiev, Ukraine

 Pioneering work on electron-beam deposition, and his leadership as an educator and mentor spanning six decades and three continents.
2015 Péter B. Barna

Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

 Pioneering contributions to the understanding of nanostructural evolution during thin film nucleation and growth based upon in-situ UHV TEM video imaging.
2014 Jindrich Musil

University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic

 Seminal contributions to the development of advanced nanocomposite coatings with enhanced hardness, oxidation resistance, toughness, and crack resistance.
2013 William D. Sproul

Reactive Sputtering, Inc., San Marcos, Ca, USA

 Seminal contributions in the developments of high rate, large area, multiple gas reactive sputter deposition.
2012 Sture Hogmark

Uppsala University, Sweden

 Pioneering work in the tribology of complex hard, wear-resistant coatings.
2011 Stan Veprek

Technical University, Munich, Germany

 Seminal work in the development of novel hard nanocomposite coatings.
2010 Helmut Holleck

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

 Pioneering research on thermodynamic constitutive relations and PVD phase maps for the design of complex advanced multicomponent coatings.
2009 Ivan Petrov

University of Illinois, USA

 Development of a detailed understanding of the role of low-energy ion-irradiation on microstructural and texture evolution during transition metal nitride layer growth.
2008 Stephen Rossnagel

IBM, USA

 Innovative development of seminal thin film solutions in microelectronic device fabrication.
2007 Wolf-Dieter Münz

Leybold AG, GER
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Systec SVS, GER

 Seminal research and development in high rate magnetron sputtering related technologies and new materials for wear and corrosion resistant, optical, decorative, and functional coatings.