Established through The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) by Arthur C. Hardy, this award is in memory of his son, Robert Lansing Hardy, a young man of great promise in the field of physical metallurgy and Junior Member of AIME, who died suddenly at the age of 25.
This award recognizes a young person in the broad fields of metallurgy and materials science for exceptional promise of a successful career, rather than for any specific accomplishment. The broad fields of metallurgy and materials science include minerals processing, extractive, physical or adaptive metallurgy, and metal processing.