Wilfried Kurz

Wilfried Kurz is an Austrian‑Swiss academic who is Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

Early life and education Wilfried Kurz was born in 1938 in Leoben, Styria, Austria. He received his doctorate from the Montanuniversität Leoben, advised by Roland Mitsche, and published his thesis Ultrasonic Localization of the Solid‑Liquid Interface in Metals in 1968.

Career Kurz joined the Battelle Geneva Research Laboratories in 1964, where he led the physical metallurgy group until 1971. He directed the Laboratory of Physical Metallurgy and the Laser Materials Processing Centre until his statutory retirement in 2003. He later served twice as Head of Department and, from 2001 to 2005, chaired EPFL’s Tenure Track Committee. He has examined dendritic, peritectic and eutectic solidification, micro‑segregation and solid‑state transformation kinetics, collaborating closely with Rohit Trivedi of Iowa State University.

He has also investigated solidification‑processing techniques including continuous casting of steel, welding, laser treatment, rapid solidification, single‑crystal casting, directional solidification and epitaxial single‑crystal laser repair. His work underpins microstructure modelling in additive manufacturing.

Awards and recognition Bruce Chalmers Award of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, USA European Materials Medal of FEMS Médaille Bastien Guillet, Société Française de Métallurgie et des Matériaux (SF2M), France ISI Highly Cited Researcher Heyn Memorial Medal of the German Society for Materials Science Luigi Losana Gold Medal of the Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia Albert Sauveur Achievement Award of ASM International John Hunt Medal, IoM3 – The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London Visiting professor at Brunel University London Honorary Member, Iron and Steel Institute of Japan Corresponding member, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Selected publications

Books Kurz, Wilfried; Sahm, P.R. (1975). Gerichtet erstarrte eutektische Werkstoffe, Springer, Berlin 345 pp. Mercier, Jean-Pierre ; Kurz, W.; Zambelli, G. (2002). Introduction à la Science des Matériaux, 3ème édition, PPUR, Switzerland 497 pp. Kurz, Wilfried; Fisher, D.J.; Rappaz, M. (2023). Fundamentals of Solidification. 5th revised edition, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland 359 pp. Kurz, Wilfried; Fisher, D.J.; Rappaz, M. (2023). Fundamentals of Solidification – Solutions Manual, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland 84 pp.