Dennis Quinto

Dennis Quinto is an internally renowned materials engineer. He taught for a year and then left for the USA to pursue an MS degree in metallurgy and a doctorate in Materials Science at Yale University. WIth a career spanning over forty years, today he is a well-respected consultant and professional manager who has extensive achievements in the fields of Steel Metallurgy and Materials Science.

Of pride to his family is the fact that Quinto’s father was one of the first engineering graduates of UP. During his sophomore year, he joined the Beta Epsilon fraternity, known then to be the fraternity of scholars and was Beta Epsilon’s Most Exalted Brother. But the most significant accomplishment of his terms in the fraternity was starting the project to construct a more durable concrete Beta Way, nearly ten years after the gravel path was created. The Beta Way was completed and inaugurated in 1962. To this day, Qunito would like to be remembered as one of the key builders of Beta Way because it stands his one tangible connection with the UP campus and its students. It was also very instructive and constructive in the shaping of the principles he was later to follow as an engineer.

Quinto spent ten years with Oerlikon Balzers Coating, 17 years with Kennametal Inc., and ten years with Inland (now Mittal) Steel Corporation, shuttling back and forth between the United States and Germany. He worked as a scientist and researcher in the early years of his career and subsequently handled the management of Science and R&D departments later on. His specialization lies in steel metallurgy where he is best known for his research in synthesizing different materials for cutting tools. Quinto has ten US patents on co-inventions assigned to Kennametal Inc. and/or Inland Steel Co.

Quinto has had a most multifaceted career both here and abroad, evidence of his excellence in many fields – professional practice, teaching, research and publication, administration and management. He also taught at the Metallurgy Department of Purdue University and became president of the Surface Engineering and Coating Association (SECA) of the USA. Quinto has more than 30 technical articles published in scientific journals in the fields of hard coating and tool materials technologies, steel metallurgy, and surface science.

Quinto feels that those Filipinos who have been lucky enough to go abroad, at some point in their careers, should then also focus on the Philippines. They should try to give something back for all the years of having been educated and trained well enough for them to start on a successful career abroad. He is now involved in the “Balik Scientist” program, a project he pioneered in partnership with the Department of Materials Science, Mining and Metallurgy.