Edgar Lara-Curzio is a Distinguished Research Staff member and leader of the Mechanical Properties & Mechanics Group in the Materials Science & Technology Division (MSTD) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he leads the scientific and technical operations of a group focused on the development and characterization of functional and structural materials for applications in energy and national security.  Lara-Curzio also directs the High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) and co-directs the Fossil Energy Program at ORNL.  He served as Director of the HTML User Program between 2007 and 2012 and coordinated the integration of science and physical resources in MSTD between 2013 and 2015.  Lara-Curzio is currently a U.S. Department of Energy Technologist in Residence with Arconic Inc. (formerly Alcoa Inc.).

Lara-Curzio received a B.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics from the Metropolitan University (Mexico City) and a Ph.D. degree in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY).  Since joining ORNL in 1992, he has been a principal investigator for several research projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, other Federal Agencies and industry, and has successfully led multiple collaborative projects with industry and academia. His areas of expertise include: mechanical behavior of materials, in particular materials for power generation and for the conversion, transmission, utilization and storage of energy.

Lara-Curzio has served in multiple professional societies and organizations, primarily in the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), including serving in the Board of Directors of ACerS between 2013 and 2016.  He is currently a member of the External Advisory Board for the Institute for Materials at the Georgia Institute of Technology and of the Industrial Advisory Council for the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. 

Lara-Curzio has authored or co-authored more than 230 articles in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings, four book chapters, five U.S. Patents and edited or co-edited 16 books.  He received the 2014 FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer, three R&D100 Awards, the Arthur Frederick Greaves-Walker Award from ACerS and the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, the Richard M. Fulrath Award from ACerS, the Advanced Ceramics Award from ASTM, the Award of Merit from ASTM and the 1997 HENAAC Hispanic Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Achievements.  Lara-Curzio is a Fellow of both ACerS and ASTM and a member of Alpha Sigma Mu the International Metallurgical Honorary Society.