Charles Hegedus receives George Baugh Heckel Award.

The FSCT presented Dr. Charles R. Hegedus, Materials Scientist, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., with the 2007 George Baugh Heckel Award at the organization's Annual General Meeting, on October 2, 2007, in Toronto, Ont., Canada.

Considered the most prestigious of FSCT awards, the Heckel

Award recognizes the outstanding contributions that an individual has made to the organization's interest and prestige. Established in 1951, the Award is dedicated to the memory of George Baugh Heckel, who served as Temporary Chairman when the Federation was organized in 1922, and as Secretary for many years thereafter.

FSCT Accomplishments

A member of FSCT for over 28 years, Dr. Hegedus has been actively involved in many committees and activities. As Chair of the Publications Committee, he headed the efforts to develop two new FSCT journals: JCT Research and JCT CoatingsTech. For this achievement, he was awarded the FSCT President's Award in 2003. A member of the Editorial Review Board for the original JCT, he now serves on the Management Board and acts as a Technical Editor and Editorial Review Board member for the Journal of Coatings Technology and Research. Dr. Hegedus was named Mattiello Memorial Lecturer of the FSCT in 2004. He has served as chair of the FSCT Corrosion Committee, Roon Awards Committee, and Mattiello Lecture Committee. He is currently a Trustee of the CIEF and heads the FSCT/University Liaison Committee.

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Career Highlights

Dr. Hegedus obtained a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Materials Engineering from Drexel University.

From 1976 to 1993, he worked in the Aerospace Materials Division of the Naval Air Development Center. He was the Leader of the Protective Coatings Group where he developed coatings to be used on naval aircraft and other military equipment for corrosion prevention and detection/weapon countermeasures. Probably his most significant accomplishment in the field of corrosion prevention was the development of UNICOAT, a self-priming topcoat for high performance applications. This was one of the first corrosion preventive coating systems for aluminum that did not contain chromated inhibitors. The invention and its implementation garnered him the Office of Naval Technology's Exploratory Development Award and the U.S. EPA Administrator's Award for Pollution Prevention.

Dr. Hegedus was honored with NADC's Outstanding Science and Engineering Award. He also received the FSCTs 1993 Corrosion Publication Award and received the Roon Award in 1995 and 2001.

In 1993, Dr. Hegedus joined Air Products in Allentown, PA. Since that time, he has worked in various research and development groups within their Materials Research Center and the Performance Products Division.

Author of over 65 papers and publications, Dr. Hegedus holds 21 patents with four patents pending. He has served on a number of industry-related committees and has been a course lecturer for FSCT, ASM International, NACE, and Drexel University. Twice he was the invited Keynote Speaker for the Waterborne Symposium. Dr. Hegedus is a 25-year member of the Philadelphia Society for Coatings Technology, and is also involved with The Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC), and the American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Science and Materials.