ROBERT C. DEVRIES (1922-2021)

BY RAJ N. SINGH

ROBERT CHARLES DEVRIES of Burnt Hills, New York, a retired staff scientist at the General Electric (GE) Corporate Research and Development Center, died on May 3, 2021, at his home. He was 99. He was remembered as a scholar and a gentleman — always ready to help — and for his many pioneering contributions to advanced materials that benefited both industry and society.

Bob was born on Oct. 10, 1922, in Evansport, Ohio, the elder son of the Rev. Charles DeVries and Rebecca Goethe DeVries. He attended schools in Barre and Pepperell, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1940 from Geneseo High School in Geneseo, Illinois. He was a rector scholar at DePauw University from 1940 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1948. He enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Air Corps in July 1942 but received a medical discharge in May 1943. He worked for three years as a topographer with the U.S. Geological Survey in the Atlantic Division before returning to DePauw in 1946. He graduated in 1948 with a B.A. in geology and mineralogy. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry and mineralogy from Pennsylvania State University in 1953.

Bob began his professional career as a staff scientist at GE R&D Center in Schenectady, New York, where he worked from 1954 to 1961. Subsequently, from 1961 to 1964, he served as an associate professor in the Minerals Science and Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. He returned to GE’s R&D Center in 1964 and remained there for 34 years until his retirement. He was elected to the GE Coolidge Fellowship in 1981, one of the company’s highest honors, for his seminal contributions to the science and engineering of advanced materials. Bob was internationally recognized for his work on phase equilibria in ceramic systems and for his research on the synthesis and properties of diamond and cubic boron nitride. At GE, he also initiated the research that led to the synthesis of gem-quality jadeite under high pressures and temperatures.

He was a Rector Scholar at DePauw, a cultural exchange visitor to Japan in 1974, and held honorary membership in the Japanese Materials Research Society. He was a fellow of both the American Ceramic Society and the American Mineralogical Society, and a member of the Mineralogical Society of London, the American Association of Crystal Growth, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, and the Materials Research Society. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998. Over the course of his career, he authored or co-authored over 100 published papers and was granted 25 patents for his inventions and discoveries.

Bob made seminal scientific and technological contributions in several areas of advanced materials. His work spanned the processing, densification, and characterization of superhard materials such as diamond and cubic-boron nitride (CBN); composites of diamond and CBN with silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon nitride (Si3N4); chemical vapor deposition of diamond; and the fingerprinting of diamond and CBN materials. He also contributed to the development of alumina-based core materials for casting superalloy jet engine blades, the processing of jadeite jewel crystals at high temperatures and pressures, and the application of targeted radio frequency for cancer treatment.

These foundation advancements are reflected in his many patents, including innovations that addressed the significant challenges of bonding diamond to diamond, or to CBN, SiC, and Si3N4. Such bonding typically requires extremely high pressures and temperatures. Bob invented processes that enabled bonding at relatively lower temperatures and moderate pressures using reactive melts based on silicon or silicon alloys — technologies described in several of his patents. His work led to the creation of fully dense diamond composites used in machining hard materials, wire drawing die blanks, cutting tool blanks, and anvils for high-pressure apparatus.

Bob was also responsible for developing processing methods and apparatus for the manufacture of diamond films using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. His innovations in this area led to the large-scale production of diamond materials with applications in thermal management for power electronics, erosion-resistant windows for optical devices, and radomes.

He also invented a novel process for fingerprinting diamond and CBN crystals. In this method, a smooth surface of a diamond or CBN crystal is bombarded with ions to penetrate the surface, creating an ion-implanted region in a predetermined pattern. The crystal is then electrostatically charged, and a powder is applied to the surface. The resulting pattern reveals a delineation of the implanted region, enabling unique identification or “fingerprinting” of the crystal. Bob later developed a similar patented technique to identify growth discontinuities caused by changes in the growth environment of diamond and CBN crystals. This approach was useful in determining the quality of crystals for a wide range of applications.

Additionally, Bob invented a process for producing cores from alumina for use in the investment casting of nickel-based superalloys in jet engines. These alumina-based ceramic cores are substantially non-reactive with directionally solidified eutectic and superalloy materials, do not induce hot cracking, and can be easily leached from the final cast product. This technology remains in commercial use for the manufacture of turbine blades in jet engines.

Bob also developed a high-temperature, high-pressure process for producing jadeite crystals using glass as the starting material. In addition, he developed and demonstrated a radio-frequency-based system for targeted cancer treatment, reflecting his widespread technological contributions not only in advanced materials but in the medical field as well.

Beyond his professional achievements, Bob lived a full and joyful life devoted to his family. He kept bees, ran marathons, bicycled, hiked, camped, skied, snowshoed, skated, played tennis, pitched horseshoes, bowled, spun string tops, made maple sugar in the backyard, and whittled. He competed with squirrels for nuts, hunted for edible mushrooms, arrowheads, and minerals, and spent time reflecting on the mysteries and meaning of life and the elusive nature of truth.

He also gave generously of his time to the community. He volunteered with the Elfun Society’s tape player repair program, the Schenectady Museum, and the Hall of History. He was a longtime member of the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady and sang tenor in the choir.

Bob’s wife, Ruth DeVries, died in March 2013 after 69 years of marriage. He was also predeceased by his brother, Paul, of New York City, and his son, Peter, of Kernersville, North Carolina. He is survived by three sons: David, of Ballston Spa, New York, and his wife, Paula; Charles, of Asheville, North Carolina, his wife, Telle, and their children, Tynan and Elise; and Jonathan, of Cobleskill, New York. He is also survived by his daughter, Katherine, of Asheboro, North Carolina, her husband, Louis R. Peters, and their children, Kasey and George Ellsworth; daughter-in-law, Dede DeVries, of Kernersville, North Carolina; and two sisters, Faith Brown and her husband, Willard, of Brewster, Massachusetts, and Lucy Duffy, of Hillsboro, North Carolina.