Dannisa Chalfuon: Driven by curiosity

Ph.D. Candidate, Instituto Sabato, Buenos Aires, Argentina

I’ve been involved with the world of corrosion since my first “Materials Degradation” unit at university. I still remember Professor José Galvele starting his introductory class describing how scientific breakthroughs can arise through purposeful investigation or serendipity. A well-known case of the latter is the unexpected discovery of season cracking of brass. I was excited about the possibility of studying more about corrosion from the get go. I like describing corrosion as the study of materials’ vulnerability and how, by understanding it, we can contribute to their integrity. How can a small pit lead to a leak or the early detection of an intangible crack avoid, maybe, a fire? Perhaps more subtle, how can few nanometers of passive layer separate integrity from corrosion? All of these questions still intrigue me and keep the corrosion community alive all around the world with the support of AMPP.

As a Ph.D. candidate, AMPP student membership grants me access to CORROSION journal, conference papers, and laboratory and industry standards. Having all of this information at a click is helpful and valuable, both when I need to develop and perform a corrosion test from scratch or when it is time to contrast my results and discuss them with my supervisors and colleagues.

In short, I am a keen enthusiast for integrity and corrosion, and through my work I hope to help spread the message about the fine balance that exists between them. By investing in interdisciplinary research to understand and model corrosion mechanisms, lots of effort and resources can be saved when shaping integrity management strategies.