Bio
Benjamin Lam is a materials research engineer and scientist whose path has been anything but ordinary. He never planned to pursue graduate school or a research career — but through an unexpected series of events, that’s exactly where life took him. He began his academic journey as a proud member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets as a chemistry major before transferring to Washington State University, where he earned his BS in Chemical Engineering, developing a sharp eye for precision, problem-solving under pressure, and a deep appreciation for how much engineering matters when the stakes are high.
Upon graduation, Benjamin earned his MS in Materials Science at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), where he fell in love with the science of materials — how things are made, why they fail, and how to make them better. That curiosity carried him to the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL), and eventually to Purdue University, where his doctoral research centers on how ceramics behave in harsh vibrational environments, with the goal of designing ceramic composites capable of absorbing energy at elevated temperatures.
When he’s not in the lab analyzing microstructures or crunching data in MATLAB, you might find him out on two wheels. He’s an avid motorcyclist with a soft spot for high-RPM sports bikes and a deep appreciation for the engineering that makes them tick.
Education
PhD – Materials Engineering, Purdue University (2023-2026)
MS – Materials Science, Air Force Institute of Technology (2019-2021)
BS – Chemical Engineering, Washington State University (2015-2018)
Professional Experience
Materials Research Engineer, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate – Air Force Research Laboratory (2021-2023)
Honors & Awards
Materials and Manufacturing Director’s Award, Team (2023)
CGO of the Quarter, AFRL/RX (2022)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Energy Absorbing Ceramics for Rotating Detonation Engines (2023-2026)
Ceramic Additive Manufacturing (2021-2023)
Morphing Missile Technology (2021-2023)
Fatigue Life of Carbon Fiber Polymer Matrix Composites (2019-2021)
Publications
Kaufman, J., Wyckoff, C., Lam, B., Acord, K., Craigs, T., Kassner, C., Hilmas, A., & Rueschhoff, L. (2024). Analysis of fiber-reinforced silicon carbide formed via material extrusion. Additive Manufacturing, 90, 104333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.104333
Lam, B. C., Kassner, C. T., Kemp, J. W., Leicht, B. T., Bohan, B. T., & Rueschhoff, L. M. (2024). Delamination mitigation in additively manufactured Al 2 O 3 via enhanced thermal postprocessing. International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, 21(2), 675–685. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijac.14572
Leicht, B. T., Bohan, B. T., Schauer, F., Kemnitz, R., Rueschhoff, L. M., Lam, B., Kemp, J. W., & Costakis, W. (2023). Manufacturing a Ceramic Turbine Rotor for a Compact Jet Engine. Journal of Turbomachinery, 145(8). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4062124