Dr. Hirschfeld received her BS from Carnegie-Mellon University and her M. App. Sci.
from University of British Columbia. She worked in the steel industry in both R&D and
production for about 5 years before returning to graduate school and earning a Ph.D.
from Virginia Polytechnic Inst. & State University. She was a research associate then
a tenured faculty member at VPI&SU before joining NMT as an associate professor. She has served as Department Chair and is a full professor. Currently, she teaches undergraduate processing & microstructure lab, Capstone Senior Design, Design of Experiments and Statistical Analysis to both undergrads and graduate students, and phase equilibria. Dr. Hirschfeld's research is focused on the cost effective processing of materials using techniques such as thermal spray and solid free form fabrication. Her team routinely uses designed experiments in their research.

New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
159 Jones Hall
801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM 87801
Phone: (575)835-5129
FAX: (575)835-5626
E-mail: hirsch@nmt.edu

Thermal Spray

Dr. Hirschfeld and her group have put metal and erosion resistant coatings on polymers and polymer matrix composites. They have put copper coatings onto polyurethane with a zinc bond coat, zinc metal on kapton, and WC-Co on polyimide composites and used plasma spray to fabricate castware for reactive metals. Equipment for plasma (Plasmadyne 3600 with SG100 gun) and wire flame (Sulzer-Metco 12E) spraying are currently in use at New Mexico Tech. A new thermal spray lab is being installed in Old Jones Hall that will improve and expand capabilities for powder flame spray, twin wire arc, and plasma spraying. Dr. Hirschfeld and her students have worked with a variety of systems at the Thermal Spray Research Lab, Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM. Recently, they have been able to produce thin, dense, textured coatings using Very Low Pressure Plasma Spraying that are similar to those created using vapor deposition processes.Her research has included: Sulzer-Metco 6P, St. Gobain-Norton Rokide, Sulzer-Metco Controlled Atmosphere Plasma Spraying which is also known as Very Low Pressure Plasma Spraying, cold spray, HVOF, calorimetry of flames, and spectroscopic analysis of flames.

Research Interests

Funding sources include

NASA 
Department of Energy

Teaching Interests

Capstone Senior Design Course
Interfacing with Industry to allow students to experience the “Real World” before they are truly part of it. If you have a project/problem that you would like our students to investigate, please contact me for details.  We have completed projects for a variety of companies including Motorola, TPL, Inc., Wall Colmonoy,  Nambe, NAVAIR-China Lake, and others.

Design of Experiments and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists
A multidisciplinary engineering approach to practical statistics and experimental design for all engineers and scientists. All engineers and scientists need to know how to evaluate data and how to minimize the cost of experimentation while obtaining the most information. This course covers all the basic analyses used in Six Sigma and is offered as a Distance Education Class. This course began as a mini-course developed by Dr. Alan Gutjahr, NMT Mathematics Professor, and Dr. Hirschfeld with funds from the New Mexico Council for Excellence in Education.

Processing and Microstructure Laboratory
This is a lab course that is part of the new curriculum implemented in 2008 that describes through experimentation the processing and microstructural characterization of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. Topics covered in this intensive laboratory course include casting and solidification of metals, cold working and heat treatment of metals, welding of metals, synthesis of ceramics by solid state reaction, sol gel, and combustion methods, casting of ceramics, injection molding and extrusion of polymers, crystallization of polymers, and production of metal, ceramic, and polymer matrix composites.

Welding Metallurgy
Utilizing the resources provided by a Dept. of Education Grant, welding is being added to the curriculum. It was added this year (Fall 2009) as part of the Processing and Microstructure Lab and is being developed into a full semester course for Spring 2011 covering a variety of welding techniques both gas and arc.

Outreach K-12, Community College, and beyond
Dr. Hirschfeld and her students are available to discuss Materials Science and Engineering to students of all ages. The presentations include demos and hands on activities illustrating the processing and properties of all types of materials: metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites  - “the stuff” from which everything is made. The practical application of basic chemistry and physics principles are demonstrated and discussed, such as why atomic bonding is important.

In addition, Dr. Hirschfeld can discuss the college experience (under-grad and grad) from a professors’ point of view, helpful hints for your first job as an engineer, equity issues in the workplace, and the transition from Community College to 4-year universities.

Patents

1. Patent Application Filed November, 2008: D.A. Hirschfeld, C. Hockensmith, C. Rhodes, “Method for Treating Iron in a Silver Recovery Process” 
2. D. A. Hirschfeld, W. K. Schubert, and C. S. Watson, “A Novel Low Temperature Method for the Anodic Bonding of Glass to Silicon”, US Patent 6,660,614 Granted, December 9, 2003.
3. J.J. Brown, D.A.Hirschfeld, D. M. Liu, Y. Yang, T. Li, R. Swanson, S. VanAken, and J. M. Kim, “Ceramic Materials with Low Thermal Conductivity and Low Coefficients of Thermal Expansion”, U.S. Patent No. 5,102,836 Granted April, 1992.
4. K.H.Lee, D.A.Hirschfeld, and J.J.Brown, “An In-Situ Whisker Reinforced Glass-Ceramic”, U.S. Patent No. 5,186,729 Granted February, 1993.
5. T.K. Li, D.A.Hirschfeld, and J.J.Brown, “Alkali Corrosion Resistant Coatings and Ceramic Foams Having Superfine Open Cell Structure and Method of Processing”, U.S. Patent No. 5,268,199 Granted December, 1993.