Associate Professor of Engineering Practice
Contact Information:
Office: ARMS 2217
Phone: 1-765 49-43321
dgildeme@purdue.edu
School of Materials Engineering
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering
701 West Stadium Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045
Dr. David Gildemeister is Associate Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Materials Engineering. He brings 30 years of experience in the aluminum industry with deep experience in DC, EMC, and continuous casting, molten metal processing, water chemistry effects, as well as hot rolling and extrusion of aluminum alloys. His interests include the physics and economics of materials manufacturing.
Dr. Gildemeister leads Purdue MSE’s senior design program and other teaching has included solidification, steel and aluminum processing, and materials processing in manufacturing. Additionally, Dr. Gildemeister provides consulting services in the areas of aluminum casting, molten metal safety, and molten metal processing.
Current Research Project:
- Alloy variations on mushy-zone reactions & defect formation (with Johnson and Krane)
Past Research (Arconic)
- Water chemistry, heat transfer and lubrication in DC casting, evolution of microstructures in DC casting, casting practice development, continuous thin slab casting, macrosegregation, molten metal treatment, prevention of molten metal explosions, de-alloying of aluminum.
Education
- BS, Metallurgical Engineering – South Dakota Mines 1993
- MS, Materials Science and Engineering –University of Florida 2010
- MS, PhD, Materials Science and Engineering – Carnegie Mellon University 2016
Employment History
- Associate Professor of Engineering Practice, Materials Engineering, Purdue University 2022-Present
- Technical Editor, CINDAS LLC, 2022-Present
- Arconic 1992-2022
- Corporate Technical Specialist, Knoxville, TN, 2021-2022
- Quality Manager, Chandler, AZ, 2020-2021
- Ingot Plant Manager, Chandler, AZ, 2018-2020
- Manager, Molten Metal Process Engineering R&D, Alcoa Center, PA, 2005-2018
- Metallurgical Supervisor- Billet Casting, Lafayette, IN, 2004-2005
- Hot Rolling Process and Product Engineer, Davenport, IA, 2001-2004
- Ingot Plant Metallurgical Engineer, Davenport, IA,1998-2001
- Continuous Casting Development Engineer, Davenport, IA,1997-1998
- Billet and Cast Plate Senior Engineer, Vernon, CA, 1993-1997
- Ingot Plant Co-Op and Intern, Wenatchee, WA, 1991-1992
- Metallurgical Intern, Armco/Kawasaki Steel, Summer 1990