Second chemical and biomolecular engineering professor wins international award for outstanding corrosion educators

Ohio University Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Marc Singer, Ph.D. '13, has received a top international award for excellence in undergraduate and graduate corrosion education.

NACE International, the world’s largest professional society dedicated to corrosion prevention, awards the esteemed H.H. Uhlig Award annually to a post-secondary educator who inspires and excites students with innovative teaching in corrosion.

“I have worked with Dr. Singer for nearly a decade within the framework of corrosion-related joint-industry projects,” said NACE Fellow Mohsen Achour. “I have found Dr. Singer’s credentials exceptional as a young educator, a scientist, a mentor, an engineer, an innovator and a respected partner within the corrosion industry.”

Singer is associate director at Ohio University’s Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology (ICMT). Metallic corrosion affects every industry in the United States, causing costly material loss and infrastructure failure. A federal study led by NACE International, a worldwide authority on corrosion control, calculated that corrosion costs industries in the United States $276 billion annually. 

“This is an accolade I owe to all of my undergraduate and graduate students, past and present. They are who fuel my enthusiasm and motivation, and their success is by far the most rewarding aspect of my work,” said Singer, who holds a Ph.D. from the Russ College of Engineering and Technology’s chemical engineering program. “The award is also a recognition of our phenomenal team of postdoctoral researchers, project leaders and technicians, and of the excellent research we perform at the ICMT.”

Singer’s enthusiasm is transferred to students in the classroom, teaching lab, and also research, said Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Valerie Young.

“The first semester Marc rebuilt and relaunched our materials characterization laboratory, student after student told me how they understood it in a way that the textbook did not convey,” Young said. “Students often have trouble connecting classroom concepts to engineering. When they do research with Marc, they connect directly with industry, and can see research and engineering span the scale from sub-microscopic to huge.”

Russ Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and ICMT Director Srdjan Nesic recalled hiring Singer as an intern in 2002.

“It is very gratifying to see where he is today and how far he has come with his research, teaching, service, managing the business of the ICMT. The Uhlig award just proved what I knew all along – that Marc is a rising star in the field of corrosion,” said Nesic, who received the award in 2007. “His leadership at the ICMT is a big asset for OHIO, and I’m looking forward to seeing him take the ICMT further and higher in the years to come.”

NACE will present Singer with an inscribed award and honorarium of $1,000 in March at the CORROSION 2020 conference in Houston, Texas.