JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume2Issue1,January2013www.mejournal.

org

PreHispanicAuPtAlloysExperimental
SimulationUsingSolidStateDiffusion
M.E.Noguez*1,G.Salas2,J.Ramrez3
DepartamentodeIngenieraMetalrgica,UniversidadNacionalAutnomadeMxico
FacultaddeQumica,EdificioD,CiudadUniversitaria,C.P.04510,Mxico,D.F.Mxico
*1

nogueza@unam.mx;2salasb@unam.mx;3jgrv@unam.mx

Abstract

platedAu.

AuPtalloysmadeinSouthAmericafrom300BC400ADby
the Prehispanic inhabitants from TumacoLa Tolita region
(south Colombianorth Ecuador) exemplify an engineering
way of solving troubles when making alloys using high
melting point raw materials as Pt (1768C). In this paper
metallurgicalworkhasbeendonesimulatingexperimentally
the fabrication of several AuPt Prehispanic alloys using
only solid state processing at 950C: 88%Au 12% Pt, Pt
Plated Au alloy and Pt Pt sheets. The employed
manufacturingprocessispresentedasatechnicalpossibility
compared with the one normally accepted and
experimentally experienced by the authors of this work,
consisting of agglomeration of Pt particles by melted Au,
which has been reported elsewhere. The viability of using
pure solid state processes in Prehispanic times is evident
according to what it is known now about solid state
diffusionprocessesandbecauseoftheexperiencespresented.

There have been Prehispanic AuPt alloy

experimental simulations made in different ways. P.
Bergsoe [1937], observing semifinished pieces from
TumacoLa Tolita, deduced the possible technique
used: thesmallgrainsofPtweremixedwithalittlegold
dust and small portions placed upon a piece of wood
charcoal. Gold melts and coats Pt grains; a pasty
sintered mass is formed which withstands hammer
blows, especially when hot. Byalternatelyforgingand
heatingitispossiblegraduallytobuildupanhomogeneous
mixture.

Keywords
PrehispanicAlloys;GoldplatinumAlloys;SolidStateDiffusion;
DiffusionAlloying

Introduction
Modern Archaeometallurgical methods consider the
fabricationofalloyandobjectreplicasasanimportant
steptowardsthestudyofthealloysandtheinvolved
manufacturing process. Reproducing the alloys using
severalmetallurgicalalternatives,basedonthestudies
made to the archaeological alloys, leads to the most
probable metallurgical model of fabrication [Escobar
andBustamante,2011].
Archaeologists have reported the AuPt alloys
findings in South America: north Ecuadorsouth
ColombiainTumacoLaTolitaregionandaredatedin
300BC400AD,Figure1.FromD.ScottandW.Bray
[1994] AuPt objects archaeological classification, the
diversityoftheAuPtalloysisasfollows:1)nativePt;
2) sintered AuPt 1 from 0% to 70% Au and 3) Pt
1

FIGURE1MAPFROMTHETUMACOLATOLITAREGIONIN
SOUTHAMERICA

Heimitatedsomealloysusingautogenouswelderbut
did not reported either obtained macro or

Presumably sintered after an initial agglomeration with melted Au

39

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microstructures. Bergsoe also proposed a way to

platinumplatingobjects:heatingtwopreviouslymade
alloys, one rich in Pt and the other rich in Au then
hammered out with a few intervals for annealing.
Scott and Bray [1980, 1984] and Scott and Bouchard
[1988] worked extensively on the AuPt alloys and
corroborated the technique envisaged by Bergsoe. He
made AuPt samples using alluvial Platinum. Scott
and Bray [1994] proposes that plating can also be
producedbylayingPtparticlesonthegold,heatingto
allow diffusion and then finishing with light
hammering. Handwerker et al. [1991] prepared
samplesof85%Au15%PtbyweightwithAuandPt
wire and heated up to 1100C and 1200C for
maximum 7 min. After examining the microstructure
and comparing it with a Prehispanic object, they
concludedthatthePtAuobjectswereneverheatedto
1100Cand,probably,nevercontainedaliquidphase.
Bustamante et al. [2006] made several AuPt alloys
(50%Ptbyweight)fromalluvialAuandPtmaterials,
at 1100C and different times (10 minutes, 2 and 13
hours). Some of them were mechanically workedand
annealed at 800C. They compared their
microstructures with some Precolumbian pieces and
agreed with the fact that artisans used the gold
melting temperature to sinter, suggesting that they
could use ceramic molds as dies to get the desired
shapewhenhammeringthepieces.Noguezetal.[2006]
simulated experimentally 2 alloys using commercial
puregoldandPtinsmallpieces:88%Au12%Ptand
30%Au70%Pt.ThegoldwasmeltedaroundthePt
and then cold and hot hammered continuously with
annealing intervals at 950C, until an homogeneous
alloy resulted. G Villegas [2009] in her B.S. thesis,
presented
several
variations
in
technical
experimentations: particle sizes, temperatures,
foldings and different platings which made us
understand better the contributions to several
parameterswhensimulatingAuPtalloys.Meeksetal.
[2002] based on microstructure and microanalysis
observationsofaplatedPrehispanicpiece,deduceda
technique where two alloys, not particles, were used
for plating and then, heating and hammering with
someotherdetailstogetthefinalplatingpiece.
Someofthefindingsusingsolidstatediffusionbythe
authorshavebeenreported[Noguezetal.,2009].The
intention of this paper is to show the fabrication of
alloy replicas in order to understand the type of
processes used by Prehispanics and to widen the
existingmetallurgicalmodelsforthem.Theexperience
onmakingsomeAuPtalloysispresented.Solidstate

40

diffusion at 950C, starting from commercially pure

AuandPtwasusedtoproducethreetypesofalloys:a)
sintered AuPt alloy b) plating Pt over gold alloy
and c) Pt Pt sheet. A special intention in the
experimentationwastopayattentiontosomeaspects
which influence the diffusion processes in the solid
state.
Metallurgical and Other Considerations on
Solid State Diffusion for the Au-Pt Replicas
Ancient craftsmen and blacksmiths from all over the
world used definitively solid state diffusion
processingwhenworkingwithmetals,evenifprecise
details are not known. Archaeologists repeatedly
mentionthatthetraditionofhammering(hotandcold
forging)andannealingsheetsofmetalcouldbeoneof
the preferred techniques in the Prehispanic South
American metallurgy [Lechtman, 1984]. Au and Pt
form substitutional alloys, and both Au and Pt have
high melting point, which means they are slow
diffusers even at relatively high temperatures. At
950C the diffusivities are: DAu = 7.66*1011 and
DPt =1.95*1011 cm2/s [Noguez et al., 2006]. In spite of
that, nowadays solid state diffusion processes are
analyzed in different ways that explain the different
contributionstosolidstatediffusion.Theprocessesare
named as: diffusion bonding, diffusion alloying,
massive diffusion bonding, diffusion in mechanical
alloying,hotforgingdiffusion,etc.Diffusionbonding
is defined as a process in the solid state for making a
monolithic joint through the formation of bonds at an
atomic level, as a result of closure of the matting surfaces
duetothelocalplasticdeformationatelevatedtemperature
which aids interdiffusion at the surface layers of the
materials being joined [Shirzadi, 2009]. It is normally
conducted in vacuum or a protective atmosphere to
avoidthedetrimentaloxidation;anditisperformedat
around 5090% of the melting point. There has been
many techniques developed to overcome the
limitations imposed by different materials. Diffusion
alloyingpresentsaverysimilardefinition:athermally
creationofsuperficialbondsbetweenparticlesandalloying
elements by high temperature diffusion in an annealing
furnace [Ruas and Guo, 2001]. Mechanical alloying
supposes the creation of surfaces through fracture
eachtimetheforceisappliedandeventhecreationof
chemicalcompositionvariationatthesurfaceuntilthe
homogeneity is reached [Lu, Lai and Zhang, 1997].
Hot forging has been studied in detail theoretically
and practically regarding its contribution to the
diffusion homogenization. The authors propose that

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume2Issue1,January2013www.mejournal.org

the enhanced diffusion is due to the recrystallization

effects and geometry change, being the
recrystallization the major contribution [Chen et al.,
2011].

region of immiscibility. Alloys below 1518% Pt are

monophasic, and all others are biphasic, but it is
consideredingeneralafullsolubilitydiagram.
Nevertheless, macroscopically, the alloys are
homogeneous. The difference of the low and high Pt
alloywillbethecolour:agoldencolourfortheformer
and a gray silver one for the latter. For what it is
known from the Pre hispanic cultures, colour was
fundamental (not properties, as today). Gold colour
resembles the sun, silver colour, the moon. Pre
hispanic Andean people called gold the sweat of the
sun and silver, the tears of the moon. Both, sun and
moon, dictated the cycles of life and were worshiped
in those times. We can infer that the making of the
rangeofalloysfromgoldtosilverycolourwasrelated
to their cosmic religious view. It is undoubtedly that
when they made the alloys, it was the superficial
(macroscopic) colour what was important, as well as
theshapeandsizeofwhattheyintendedtoshow.

Undoubtedly, a solid state process for making AuPt

alloys has various diffusive characteristics of the
mentioned processes. There is a diffusion bonding
initially, without the drawbacks and limitations
provokedbytheoxidefilmsbecausebothnoblemetals
donotoxidizedatanytemperature.Thereisnoneed
for a special preparation of the surface or the use of
protectiveatmosphere.Theusedtemperatureisinthe
rangeof50%90%ofthemeltingpoint(orsolidusof
thealloy)andpressureisappliedforsometime.When
the mechanical work is applied some plastic
deformation takes place, flattening the initial sheet
formed. Hammering is a compressive force which
doesnotworkhardenthegoldasothermetals2,butat
thePtAusurfaceitispossiblethatsomeworkharden
exists,whichaccelerateslocallythediffusionbymeans
ofcreatingdefectsinthestructure.Thiscontributesto
lower the energetic barrier to interdiffusion. The hot
forgingalsorecrystallizesthesampleproducingmore
grain boundaries, another defect source of speeding
the diffusion. By folding the formed sheet several
times,thecontactbetweendifferentsurfacesisforced,
therefore the diffusion distance and time diminish.
Verhoeven and Clark [1998] have demonstrated that
the various foldings of the steel strips when
fabricatingaDamascusbladebyhotforgingdiminish
the diffusion distances for both, C and Mn, which
enhances the diffusion, more for the interstitial than
for the substitucional atom. Finally, when the sample
is annealed in a furnace we could say that a normal
interdiffusionalprocessishappening.

FIGURE2.THEAUPTPHASEDIAGRAMSHOWINGTHE
IMMISCIBILITYAREA

As for the platinum plated alloys, all the authors

mentioned in the introduction, agreed in proposing a
solidstateprocessvaryinginthespecifictechnique.

From the point of view of processes and theoretical

solid state diffusion, there are many aspects which
make thefabrication of the AuPtalloys beanalmost
straightforwardprocesswithouttheneedofaninitial
melted gold coating on the Pt particles There is no
needtogettothegoldmeltingtemperature.

Oneofthemainobjectivesinthisworkistofabricate
AuPtalloysbytheallsolidstateprocess:hotandcold
forgingplussometimeinthefurnace.Thesequencein
getting the full homogenized alloy will be compared
to the one of another alloy fabricated with the initial
liquid gold coating and reported in [Noguez et al.,
2006].Thetimetogetauniformmacroscopiccolouris
recorded. The intention is to get the homogeneity at
themicroscopeandwithmicroanalysis.

A homogeneous alloy could be viewed either

macroscopically or microscopically or both. The gold
and platinum binary phase diagram is presented in
Figure 2. It can be seen that the AuPt system has a

Gold is the most malleable and ductile material. Ramsey [1973] sets that
pure gold can recrystallize at room temperature and Tawara, Matsukawa
and Kiritani [2003] states that there could be a dislocation-free plastic
deformation in gold. These findings could explain the special
characteristics of this element.

Regardingtheplatinumplatedprocess,theobjectiveis
tofabricateaplatingalloyandtovisualizetheprocess
fromthediffusionpointofview.

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Experimentation
Inordertogettheobjectives,threetypesofalloyswill
befabricated:
1.

Au 82% Pt 18%. Composition close to two Pre

hispanicobjects[Bergsoe,1937;Handwerkeretal.,
1991]bysolidstateprocessing.

2.

PtPt(andAuAu)bydiffusionbonding.

3.

PtplatedAualloybydiffusionbonding.

Parameters and Modus Operandi Selection:

The parameters are selected according to the last
experiencereported[Noguezetal.,2006]:
Temperature:950C.Itis86%belowthesolidusforthe
12%Ptalloy.
Rawmaterials:CommerciallypureAuandPt.
Particle sizes: 1 x 2 x 0.5mm, simulating sand sizes
from the alluvial Pt and Au. Small sheets were used
forplating.
Blows: hammer with a woman arm and a steel
hammer.Theintensityoftheloadswasmeasuredina
load cell. Because different persons carry on the
experiments, there were different loads used
indistinctively: highintensity (H)approximate530N,
mediumintensity(M)480N,andlowintensity(L)450
N.

furnace for 4 h and analyze with microscope and

microanalysis.
Results
Type 1 Alloys
Asanexample,thefollowingfigures(37)willexhibit
several steps in the fabrication of alloy 1.
Metallographic samples were prepared as usual and
etchedwithaquaregia(60%HCland40%HNO3).
Figure 3 shows the employed particle size, Figures 4
and5giveamacroviewandamicroviewofthealloy
at28h,respectively.APtparticleisverynoticeablein
Figure5.
The variation of concentrations for alloy 1 during the
cycles is displayed in Figure 8, as an example of the
experimentation, while Table 1 shows the features of
eachcycleinit.Dataarecumulative.
In the course of experimentation, two different
personsmadethealloys,havingdifferentloadonher
arm, as it was mentioned in the experimentation
section. So, final times were different. Alloy 1 was
made in 88 h (macroscopically homogeneous at 48 h)
and the other one in 40 h (macroscopically
homogeneousat30h).

Weightofthesamples:1g.
Analyzing modes: Optical microscope, Scanning
Electron Microscope (JEOL JSM5900 LV) with X ray
microanalysis.
Procedure
Two alloys type 1 were made, the procedure can be
describedasfollows:a)initially,particleswereheated
at950Cfor3hinafurnace;b)hotforging(900950C)
with a small torch, folding the sample as needed,
measuringthenumberofblows;c)lettingstandfor10
hinafurnaceat950C;d)analyzingthesamplewith
themicroscopeandmicroanalysis.Afterthefirstcycle
thesequenceis:10hdiffusionat950Chotforging
10 h diffusion at 950C analysis, until getting the
homogeneitybymicroanalysis.

FIGURE3.PTANDAUINITIALPARTICLES(SCALEINMM)

Foralloystype2,theprocedurewashotforgingwith
thetorchat900950Cuntilgettingasmallsheet.
Foralloystype3usingatype1alloysheet,Ptparticles
wereplacedbehindit,heatat950C,hotforge,heatin

42

FIGURE4.MACROSCOPICAPPEARANCEOFALLOY1AFTER
28H

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make analloy by solidstate is not aslongas it could

bethough.
TABLE1.CHARACTERISTICSOFDIFFUSIONBLOWING
FOLDINGCYCLESFORALLOY1

FIGURE5.MICROSTRUCTUREOFTHEALLOY1,AFTER28H,
SHOWINGWHITEPTPARTICLES(RIGHT)

Cycle

DiffusionTime(h)

Blows

Foldings

132

28

310

10

48

202

20

68

386

28

88

472

33

Type 2 Alloys
Joining Au particles to Au particles by hot forging is
an easy task. It takesaround 25 minutes and around
20 blows to obtain a sheet using the small particles.
JoiningPtparticlestakeslonger:2025minuteswith80
blows. The following figures display the initial and
finalimages.

FIGURE6.AFTER88HTOTALHOMOGENEITYISOBSERVED.
TWININGSAREVISIBLE

FIGURE7.FINALAPPEARANCESHOWINGTOTAL
HOMOGENEITY

FIGURE9.INITIALAUPARTICLES(SCALEINCM)

FIGURE10.INITIALPTPARTICLES(SCALEINMM)

FIGURE8.ALLOY1AUANDPTCONTENTOVERANALYTICAL
POINTSFOREACHCYCLE.DIFFUSIONTEMPERATUREWAS
950C,WHILEBLOWINGFOLDINGTEMPERATUREWAS730
100C.FEATURESOFEACHCYCLEARESHOWNINTABLEI

The time to get a visual or macro viewof thealloyis

roughly half the time to get the homogeneity
measuredbymicroanalysis.InPrehispanictimes,the
makingofthealloyssurelystoppedwhengettingthe
desired color in the surface; the times vary also
dependingontheperson,soitispossiblethattimeto

FIGURE11.FINALAUANDPTPARTICLES(SCALEINCM)

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Type 3 Alloys
A platinum plated sample was obtained using the
small82%Au18%Ptalloysheetfabricatedastype1
alloyandPtparticles.
ScottandBray[1994]setthatPtparticlesshouldcover
thealloybeforetheforging.Itwasconsideredbetterto
getthePtparticlesbehindthealloy,thenhotforgeand
reheatat950Cinafurnace.Theparticleswerebehind
for an easy and better hammering, otherwise the
particles could jump out. This alloy was made to
witness the feasibility of the solid diffusion when
plating the AuPt. Figures 12, 13, and 14 illustrate
differentstepsduringtheexperimentation.

The solid state diffusion occurring in the sample is

illustrated in figure 15. The graph plots Pt or Au
concentration vs. distance in the transversal direction
for a quick comparison between forging and forging
plus 4 h diffusion. The composition differences after
forgingarethesquaresandcircles;andafterdiffusion
aretrianglesandrhomboids.Onecannoticethatsome
diffusion went on because Gold and Platinum have
interdiffused.Thereisadifferenceincompositiondue
to the immiscibility region in the phase diagram the
equilibriumbetween1lowPtsolution,and2highPt
solution. This difference should have been
representedforonestraightandverticallineatavery
definite distance, with definite compositions; instead
there is a slope and it seems there is a range in both,
distance and compositions, because of a lack of
analyticalpoints.

FIGURE12.INITIALBASEALLOYANDPTPARTICLES(SCALE
INCM)

FIG 15. VARIATION IN CONCENTRATION ACROSS THE PLATED

SAMPLE AFTER FORGING AND AFTER 4 HRS DIFFUSION. A, B
AND C POINTS ARE MARKED IN FIGURE 14

FIGURE13.LOWMAGNIFICATIONSTRUCTURE

However,afterforging,thisequilibriumisrepresented
in figure 15 at an average distance of 140 m (point
a)and,after4hrsdiffusion,around110m(pointb).
From another point of view, the point c, at 120 m
(72% Au and 28% Pt) after forging changes to point
d (12% Au and 88% Pt) after diffusion. Points b
anddarealsoindicatedinfigure14.
Discussion

FIGURE14.SEMMICROSTRUCTURESHOWINGTHELINE
WHEREANALYSESWEREPERFORMEDAFTER4HDIFFUSION

FromFig13and14,itisclearlyseenthatthePtcoatis
very irregular which could obey to the irregular
position of Pt particles and/or to the width
irregularities of the initial AuPt alloy. Typical solid
statediffusionvoidsareseenintheGold.

44

With very simple laboratory experiments, it has been

demonstratedthatAuandPtparticlescanbeworked
byhammeringandheatingbelowthemeltingpointof
Au,allsolidstate,toobtainseveralAuPtalloys.
PtandAuarethemostnoblemetals,nooxidesformat
anytemperature,andtheyareworkable,speciallyAu
lowPtlevelalloy.
Because of the former experience reported fabricating
AuPt alloys using the P. Bergsoe technique [1937]:
melting the Au particles around Pt to agglomerate

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Type 3 alloys Platinum plated over AuPt alloy, with

hot forging and following diffusion shows the
advancementofdiffusionasinterdiffusionwhenthey
areheatedinthefurnaceafterforging.

them,acomparisonoftheprocessesismadeinTable2.
The theoretical time calculated with one of the
engineeringmodels(sinusoidal)isexhibittovisualize
the enhancing diffusion during the experimental
processes.

A model for fabricating of alloys all solid state

diffusion, without reaching the Au melting
temperature, is proposed and validated. This is
different to what the authors in the literature have
assumed. Regarding the cladding, it is proposed and
provedbyadifferenttechniquetoobtainit.

TABLE2.COMPARISONOFEXPERIMENTALRESULTSWITHA
THEORETICALMODEL
Alloy
Process

DiffusionTime(h)

Blows

Foldings

Time
(%)

Theoretical
Model

548

100

Au88%
Pt12%

2inliquidAu+190

240
(L)A

20

35.7

Au82%
Pt18%

88

476
(M)A

33

16.0

Au82%
Pt18%

40

630
(H)B

20

7.3

Conclusions
It is technically possible to fabricate AuPt alloys
without using the Gold melting temperature.
Consequently, Prehispanic inhabitants could use this
process when making their alloys and objects,
reaching a pertinent engineering solution. From this,
another model in archaeometallurgy for AuPt alloys
inPrehispanictimesisproposed.

AHotandColdForging;BHotForging;(H)530N,(M)480N,
(L)450N

Acknowledges

The theoretical model has the higher time, because it

donotconsiderthemechanismsthateasethediffusion
by enhancing it during the forging: defects creation,
recrystallization, geometry changes, etc. It would be
interestingtointroduceallthisfactorsindevelopinga
bettermodel.Thesinusoidalmodelcouldconsiderjust
the foldings to shorten some diffusion distances.
Experiment1,fromreference[Villegas,2009]having2
h diffusion at the Au melting temperature has the
largest time in experimentation. Diffusion at melting
temperatures does not bring a considerable diffusion,
probably because the time is too short, and the
enhancementindiffusivityforAuinliquidstatefrom
10 11 to 10 5 is not enough for the time employed.
Besides. the forging was done with low force,
employing cold and hot forge. It was the first made
sample.

TheauthorsgivespecialthankstoGuadalupeVillegas
for working on the topic and to Ivan Puente and
Guillermina Gonzlez for their work with SEM,
including Microanalysis. Also to the B.S. student Luz
Elena Rosales for their disposition to support with
laboratoryworkwhenneeded.
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46

Mxico,D.F.,Mxico,2009.

MaraEugeniaNoguez.BorninMexico
City, Mexico on June 4th 1947; B.S. in
Metallurgical Chemical Engineering at
Facultad de Qumica, Universidad
Nacional Autnoma de Mxico
(UNAM,
19641968).
M.S.
in
Metallurgical Engineering at School of
Engineering, University of Pittsburgh,
1973. Major field of interest: physical
metallurgyandengineeringeducation.
She started to work professionally in the Automotive
Industry as a Quality Laboratory Technician and in the
FoundryIndustryasaManufacturingEngineer.AtUNAM,
shestartedasaLecturerin1968.Aftergraduatestudies,she
becameanAssociateProfessorin1974andProfessorin1984.
Actual position: Professor at the Facultad de Qumica,
UNAM. She has directed 37 B.S. theses. She has published
around 80 papers in different areas: solidification, structure
of materials, archaeometallurgy and engineering education.
She has presented research and educational works in 85
metallurgicalcongresses.
Ms. Noguez obtained the Latin American Program of
AmericanUniversities(LASPAU)scholarshiptodograduate
studiesinUSA(19711973).AtUNAMFacultaddeQumica,
she was elected member of the Technical Council as a
student (19651968), then as a teacher for 3 periods (1976
1983,19831989,19952001);coordinatoroftheBSstudieson
Metallurgical Chemical Engineering (19791981), and
coordinator of graduate studies in Metallurgy (19831985);
she won the Ernesto Rios del Castillo award lecturer
position (19951997). She has been member of the AFS, The
MetallurgicalSocietyofAIME,AITSandTMS.

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume2Issue1,January2013www.mejournal.org

Guillermo Salas. Born in Mxico City,

MxicoonNovember20th,1950;B.S.in
Metallurgical Chemical Engineering at
Facultad de Qumica, Universidad
Nacional Autnoma de Mxico
(UNAM,19691973).FoundrySpecialty
atFacultaddeQumica,UNAM(1976).
His major field of interest is students

chairman of the Department of Metallurgical Chemical

Engineering (19791981). He has been member of the AFS,
TheMetallurgicalSocietyofAIME,andTMS.
Jos Ramrez. Born in Mxico City on
May23th,1963.HeobtainedtheB.S.in
Metallurgical Chemical Engineering in
1992 at the Facultad de Qumica of the
Universidad Nacional Autnoma de
Mxico (UNAM), where he also
completed graduate studies in
Mechanical Engineering at Facultad de
Ingeniera. His major fields of studies are physical
metallurgy.

learning.
He worked professionally partial time in the industry of
manufacturefornear6years.AttheNationalUniversityof
Mexico, he started as a lecturer in 1974. He became an
Associate Professor in 1979 and Professor in 1987. Actual
position: Professor at the Facultad de Qumica, UNAM. He
hasdirected30B.S.theses,publishedmorethan80papersin
different areas: solidification, structure and properties of
materials, archaeometallurgy and engineering education,
and presented research and educational works in 85
metallurgicalcongresses.

He was Lecturer (19931994) and has since been Research

Assistant. In addition, he currently serves as Adjunct
Professor in the Facultad de Qumica, UNAM. He has
collaborated on several research projects, in presentation of
papersataround50congressesandinthepublicationof20
articles on the topics of his interest: physical metallurgy,
archaeometallurgyandengineeringeducation.

He obtained his scholarship to graduate studies from the

American States Organization (AEO). At the University of
Mexico, School of Chemistry, He was member of the
TechnicalCouncilasateacherfortheperiod19891995;

Mr. Ramrez has been member of ASM, TMS and the

MexicanChemicalSociety.

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