Diran Apelian is Distinguished Professor of MSE at the University of California, Irvine, Director of the Advanced Casting Research Center. He is also Provost Emeritus and Founding Director of the Metal Processing Institute at WPI, Worcester, Mass.

He received his B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from Drexel University in 1968 and his doctorate in materials science and engineering from MIT in 1972.

Apelian is a Fellow of TMS, ASM, and APMI; he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the European Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Armenian Academy of Sciences. He is past president of TMS, and the ASM Educational Foundation. With his colleagues and students, he has founded 4 companies: Materials Strategies; Ascend Elements; Melt Cognition; and Solvus Ventures/Solvus Global.