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Dan Shechtman

24 January 1941 – present

Dan Shechtman is an Israeli materials scientist who discovered quasicrystals, ordered solids whose atomic arrangement is not periodic. He observed an icosahedral diffraction pattern in a rapidly cooled aluminium-manganese alloy in 1982, and the finding, published in 1984, overturned an accepted rule about crystal symmetry. A professor at the Technion, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011.

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Life events

Born in Tel Aviv, then in Mandatory Palestine
24 January 1941

He grew up in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Earned a BSc in mechanical engineering from the Technion
1966

He studied at the Technion in Haifa after military service.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Completed a PhD in materials engineering at the Technion
1972

His doctoral work examined the microstructure of titanium aluminides.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Held a research fellowship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio
1972 – 1975

He studied titanium aluminide alloys for the US Air Force Materials Laboratory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Joined the faculty of materials engineering at the Technion
1975

He remained based at the Technion for the rest of his academic career.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Observed a tenfold electron diffraction pattern while on sabbatical in the United States
8 April 1982

Working at the National Bureau of Standards, he recorded the icosahedral phase in an aluminium-manganese alloy.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Published the discovery of quasicrystals in Physical Review Letters
November 1984

The paper, written with three co-authors, reported long-range order without translational periodicity.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics
1999

The prize recognised his work on quasiperiodic materials.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2011

He received the prize as sole laureate for the discovery of quasicrystals.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Stood as a candidate in the Israeli presidential election
2014

He was one of several candidates in the vote held by the Knesset.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓