History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back Viam’s laboratory of refractory alloys and its first chief A.S. Stroev towards the 55th anniversary of the organization Pod’yachev V.N. Demonis I.M. Baranova O.A. One of the laboratories of FSUE «All-Russian (All-Union) scientific-research institute of aviation materials» (FSUE «VIAM») has been chosen as an example for the analysis of the trends in scientific researches for industrial needs of our country over the last 50 years. The laboratory specialized in designing refractory-metal-base alloys, their production, treatment, and protection. Main achievements of the laboratory in aerospace applications are reviewed. They include designing materials for the components of gas turbine engine hot duct, the participation in the “Buran” project, the reduction of vacuum melting to commercial practice and many others. The facts of the biography of the first chief of the laboratory A.S. Stroev (1906–2006) twice awarded with the State Awards of the USSR are also presented together with the brief biographies of his two successors. A.S. Stroev and the specialists of the laboratory contributed to designing promising high-temperature alloys for aerospace purposes and yet in the 1990s the lack of orders and minimized demand resulted eventually in termination of the activity in this area. The authors hope that the article may be of some interest for the new generation of scientists. Keywords: refractory metals; high-chrome alloys; molybdenum, columbium, tungsten alloys; protective coatings; vacuum melting and casting. Contacts: E-mail: baranova-olga2006@yandex.ru Pp. 19-25.