In Memoriam

Dr. Manuel Mendez Nonell was born in Mexico City in 1957. He received his degree in Chemical and Metallurgic
Engineering in 1979 from the National University of Mexico and was awarded the Gabino Barreda Medal. He also
received a Diploma in Metallurgy in 1981 and a PhD in 1985 from the University of Sheffield, England. Dr. Mendez
Nonell taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses of metallurgy and materials science at the National University
of Mexico, University of Coahuila, University of Nuevo Leon and the Center for Research and Advanced Studies
(Cinvestav). He published over 100 technical papers in various journals of materials science and metallurgy. He
also graduated approximately 30 students of bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees.

Dr. Mendez Nonell's first appointment was at the Faculty of Chemistry UNAM in 1979. He was appointed by Cinvestav
in 1985 and became the founder and Director of Cinvestav Saltillo. Later, he was appointed Academic Secretary in
1995 and Planning Secretary in 1998 at Cinvestav Mexico. He became the Director of Science of the National
Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) from 2001 until the end of his career.

Dr. Mendez Nonell was an active member of several societies in the field of metallurgy and materials, like MRS,
M-MRS, TMS, American Foundrymen's Society, and the Institute of Materials. In 1995 he was the promoter and
General Coordinator of the Trilateral Materials Workshop in Saltillo, Mexico. This event was the initial activity to push
many other joint scientific efforts between Mexico and the United States. Undoubtedly, Dr. Mendez Nonell played a
fundamental role in the development of the materials science and metallurgy in Mexico.