Professor Rick Laine has been named a recipient of the “SPSJ International Award” for 2013 by the Society of Polymer Science, Japan. The SPSJ International Award has been given to three or less polymer scientists every year who have done great contributions to the development in the field of polymer science.

The Award...

University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering student Katherine Sebeck has been chosen as the 2013-2014 fellow for the J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellows Program.

Katherine is a Ph.D. candidate and NDSEG fellow in the Kieffer Group within the Materials Science and Engineering Department.  As a Beyster Fellow,...

Prof. Rachel S. Goldman has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society for "contributions to the fundamental understanding of strain relaxation, alloy formation, and diffusion, and their applications to nanostructure processing." The criterion for election is exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise; e.g., outstanding physics research, important applications...

Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.

"This is for the first time a thin-layer, conducting, highly aligned film for high-performance, paintable, directly writeable...

Akram Boukai, Manos Kioupakis and Brian Love are leading projects in the innovated MCubed program. MCubed is a two-year seed-funding program designed to empower interdisciplinary teams of University of Michigan faculty to pursue new initiatives with major societal impact.

The MSE-related projects are:

Characterizing the efficacy...

A nanoscale coating that's at least 95 percent air repels the broadest range of liquids of any material in its class, causing them to bounce off the treated surface, according to the University of Michigan engineering researchers who developed it.

In addition to super...

A dozen University of Michigan researchers will play an integral role in a national multimillion-dollar collaborative effort to develop breakthrough batteries for longer-range electric vehicles and a power grid that can store electricity generated from solar and wind energy.

Efficient plastic solar cells could make solar energy cost-effective, but their development has been hindered by the near-impossibility of predicting how much of the sun’s energy a polymer can turn into electricity. Now, Michigan engineers have found a shortcut.

At...

The MSE department welcomes Alan Taub, who has joined the faculty as Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

Taub will pursue research in advanced materials and processing and lead an initiative to establish a new center within the U-M College of Engineering. The center...

It takes between 10 and 20 years to develop a new material — an advanced metal alloy, for example, that can be used in lighter cars, trucks and airplanes. That's too long, says John Allison, professor of materials science and engineering.

A smart filter with a shape-shifting surface can separate oil and water using gravity alone, an advancement that could be useful in cleaning up environmental oil spills, among other applications, say its University of Michigan developers.

The system could provide a more efficient way...

Rachel Goldman has been named a Fellow of AVS.  Fellowship recognizes AVS members who have made sustained and outstanding scientific and technical contributions in areas of interest to AVS.  Professor Goldman's citation reads:

For contributions to the fundamental understanding of strain relaxation,...

Liquids that thicken dramatically when you zap them with electricity are used today as shock absorbers in car brakes and clutches, among other applications. University of Michigan researchers have developed an innovative new "smart fluid" that is cheaper and easier to make than current versions.

Nerve gases are colorless, odorless, tasteless and deadly. While today's soldiers carry masks and other protective gear, they don't have reliable ways of knowing when they need them in time. That could change, thanks to a new litmus-like paper sensor made at the University of Michigan.

Rick Laine has been named a Fellow of The American Chemical Society Division of Polymer Chemistry for 2012. Selection from among the eligible nominees is based on demonstrated achievements in and contributions to polymer science and the profession. POLY Fellows have both achievements in and contributions to both science and to...

For the first time, engineering researchers have been able to watch in real time the nanoscale process of a ferroelectric memory bit switching between the 0 and 1 states.

Ferroelectric materials have the potential to replace current memory designs, offering greater storage capacity than magnetic hard drives and faster write...

Xiaoqing Pan has been named a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) for 2011.
Elevation to "Fellow" is a peer recognition—each nomination is signed by at least seven ACerS members, and the new class is selected by the Society’s Panel of Fellows. Fellows are selected for their outstanding contributions...

The Materials Research Society (MRS) has named Peter F. Green as editor-in-chief of its newest publication, MRS Communications.

Green is the Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering and Chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. He is also the

Director of...

The MSE department welcomes Manos Kioupakis, who has joined the faculty as an assistant professor.   

Kioupakis uses parallel first-principles computational methods and high-performance computing to study the structural, electronic and optical properties of materials at the atomic scale.

With a bachelor's degree in physics from the University...

Pierre Ferdinand Poudeu joined the Department as an assistant professor.

Poudeu studied chemistry at the University of Yaounde-I in Cameroon and earned his doctoral degree in inorganic solid-state chemistry from the Dresden University of Technology in Germany in 2004. He held postdoctoral research positions at Michigan State University and Northwestern...

Professor Sharon Glotzer is one of two UM faculty members named to the 2011 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious society that recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions in scholarly and professional fields.

She is among 212 new fellows and 16 foreign honorary members,...

University of Michigan engineering researchers have designed an exceptionally efficient fluorescent blue OLED, or organic light emitting diode.

OLEDs are the next generation display technology. They are already used in televisions, cell phones and computers, and they are candidates for a vast array of light sources...

The Center for Solar and Thermal Energy (a Department of Energy Energy Frontier Research Center) at the University of Michigan works on developing solar energy technology as a possible solution to the global energy crisis.  This College of Engineering video explains the energy problems we face and potential solutions.  For...

Engineering researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to improve the performance of ferroelectric materials, which have the potential to make memory devices with more storage capacity than magnetic hard drives and faster write speed and longer lifetimes than flash memory.

In ferroelectric...

One of the most influential chemists to emerge in the last decade is a professor from Michigan Engineering.

Nick Kotov was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Chemists, 2000-2010.” Kotov is a professor in the departments of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering.

Michigan Engineering researcher Jinsang Kim and his colleagues have developed a new class of material that shines with phosphorescence---a property that has previously been seen only in non-organic compounds or organometallics. Kim is an an associate professor of materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, macromolecular science and engineering, and biomedical...

Professor John Allison is one of three College of Engineering faculty members newly elected to the National Academy of Engineering.  The NAE honors researchers for outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education including: pioneering new fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional engineering fields and developing and...

Professor Rachel S. Goldman is the recipient of the 2011 the College of Engineering Monroe-Brown Foundation Service Excellence Award.  The award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated significant service contribution at the College and/or University levels.   Professor Goldman has shown an extraordinary commitment to service on...

Assistant Professor Anton Van der Ven is the 2011 recipient of the College of Engineering 1938E Award. This award is presented in recognition of an outstanding teacher in both elementary and advanced courses, an understanding counselor of students who seek guidance in their choice of career, a contributor to the...

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), College of Engineering, University of Michigan, invites outstanding applicants for a tenure-track faculty position in the area of computational materials science and engineering.  Emphasis will be placed on applicants with a record of research accomplishment in the area of...

In January of 2011, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, welcomed Emmanuelle Marquis to the faculty.  Emmanuelle comes to the University from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where she was the holder of a prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship in the...

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program is open to scientists and engineers at research institutions across the United States who received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last five years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research.

The objective of this program is...

In what could be a step toward higher efficiency solar cells, an international team including University of Michigan professors has invalidated the most commonly used model to explain the behavior of a unique class of materials called highly mismatched alloys.

New mixing methods such as "molecular beam epitaxy" are allowing...

In the Fall of 2010 the Materials Science and Engineering Department of the University of Michigan will welcome John Allison as a professor.

Allison comes to the University from Ford Motor Company, where he was a senior technical leader in the Research and Advanced Engineering organization. Over the twenty seven...

Prof. J. Wayne Jones, FASM, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan will receive ASM International's 2010 Alfred Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award. He is being cited for "his research to increase the knowledge of materials science and engineering, and...

The members of the Materials Science and Engineering Department were saddened to hear of the passing of Donald N. Frey, one of its most famous alumni. Dr. Frey was the engineer who headed up the design and development of the Ford Mustang, the sporty, stylish and affordable "muscle car" that...

Joanna Mirecki Millunchick has distinguished herself as a tireless proponent of sophisticated instructional technologies, an innovator in curriculum development and a committed educator. She continually seeks new ways to enhance student learning and shares her techniques and findings with colleagues university- and nationwide.

Since joining the faculty in 1997, Professor...

John R. Smith has joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as a new member of its faculty. 

Smith earned his PhD in physics from The Ohio State University and conducted postdoctoral research in physics at the University of California, San Diego, with chemistry Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn. 

Computer simulations of hard tetrahedra have uncovered a new type of quasicrystal —the first to be formed from hard or non-spherical particles. The findings, reported in the December 10 issue of Nature[1], show that particle shape is enough, by itself, to produce highly complex, ordered structures.  Sharon Glotzer...

We are pleased to present the Fall 2009 incoming MSE gradaute students, including 23 Ph.D. and 10 M.S. students.  Our new class comes from institutions all over the world, including China, France, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Turkey, and the east, west, midwest, and southern United States. Welcome to Michigan MSE!

Anish Tuteja has accepted a faculty appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and will assume the position of assistant professor.

Tuteja earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Panjab University in India and a PhD in chemical engineering from Michigan State University. His postdoctoral research in...

Akram Boukai has joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as an assistant professor. His plans are to develop a program for Innovative Green Energy Research.

A native of Southern California, Boukai attended University of California, Los Angeles, where he double-majored in electrical engineering and chemistry. While earning...

Ron Gibala has been selected to receive the Albert Sauveur Achievement Award for 2010. The citation reads:

"For seminal research on interstitial solutes in metals; internal friction; mechanical behavior of materials, including effects of surface films; and outstanding complementary service to materials science and engineering."

This award, which was established...

The University of Michigan will be home to an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) that will explore new materials to better convert solar energy to electricity, the White House has announced. The DOE plans to fund this center at a level of about $19.5 million.

It is one of 46...

Yu Jin, a graduate student in Professor Rachel Goldman's group, won the Michigan Student Poster Award at the 2009 Michigan AVS Spring Symposium for her poster "Effects of Annealing and Dopants on the Electronic Properties of GaAsN Films".  Congratulations!

At commencement on May 2, 33 undergraduates received degrees from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.  These students are now start their careers with companies including Accelormittal, Alcoa Howmet and Northrup Grummen, or graduate schools such as Georgia Tech, Northwestern University, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Michigan.  More...

Professor Tresa Pollock has been inducted as a Fellow of TMS (The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society).  She was nominated for her "seminal contributions in the understanding of high temperature alloys, and for distinguished leadership in materials education and the materials profession."  To be inducted, a candidate must be...

Assistant professor Anton Van der Ven has been awarded the Early Faculty Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation for research leading to the development of first-principles methods to predict thermodynamic and kinetic properties of alloys, oxides and semi-conducting compounds at finite temperature.

First-principles electronic...

Katsuyo Thornton, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has been awarded the Early Faculty Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation for her research in three-dimensional (3D) materials science. Three-dimensional materials science is an emerging field in which complex structures within...

Max Shtein received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Dr. Shtein is one of  67 researchers from across the nation to receive the award from the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy. It is the highest honor the federal government gives to early-career...

The department is pleased to announce below the winners of the 2009 Imaging Microstructure Contest. The Grand Prize winners are Alejandro Perez-Bergquist (Scientific Merit) and Laura Ligeski (Artistic Merit).  Over sixty individuals entered a total of seventy-five images for consideration. The panel of judges: Justin Scanlon, MSE; John Mansfield, MSE/EMAL,...

Professor John Halloran has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. JACerS is among the top sources for ceramic materials science research, providing scientists, engineers, and students with critically assessed, original research for nearly 100 years.

Ranked first in impact factor among all journals in the...

Materials research, because of its critical focus on structure-property relationships, offers abundant opportunities to capture or simulate images of microstructure that have visual impact, as well as scientific significance. It is with this in mind that the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Electron...

It is with great sadness that we report that our friend and colleague, Frank Edward Filisko, died on November 11, 2008, after a two-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Frank was born and raised in Loraine, OH on January 29, 1942. He attended Colgate University (in Hamilton, NY) as an...

Metal alloys can fail unexpectedly in a wide range of applications—from jet engines to satellites to cell phones—and new research from the University of Michigan helps to explain why.

Metal alloys are solids made from at least two different metallic elements. The elements are often mixed together as...

Sharon Glotzer will receive the Charles M. A. Stine Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for her work in pioneering simulations of glass-forming liquids and self-assembled nanomaterials, and for her leadership and service to the materials community.

The department is pleased to announce below the winners of the 2008 Imaging Microstructure Contest. The Grand Prize winners are Wen Tu (Scientific Merit) and Jeff Hendricks (Artistic Merit) Thirty-three individuals entered up to a maximum of three images for consideration. The panel of judges: Justin Scanlon, MSE; John Mansfield,...

A new type of plastic coating made from vapor could lead to better biomedical devices such as stents and catheters that are "bioactive," meaning they can interact with the living cells around them in unique ways.
The coating binds to a broad range of materials including glass, stainless steel, Teflon...

Like a smart highlighter, immunofluorescent labeling can zero in on a specific protein, helping scientists understand the structure of a cell and how diseases affect that structure. Current techniques have disadvantages, though.
University of Michigan scientists developed a non-toxic, organic nanoparticle for immunofluorescent labeling that makes a bright, longer-lasting glow...

The method to the madness of quasicrystals has been a mystery to scientists. Quasicrystals are solids whose atoms aren't arranged in a repeating pattern, as they are in ordinary crystals. Yet they form intricate patterns that are technologically useful.
A computer simulation performed by University of Michigan scientists has given...

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has selected Jonathan Madison as its 2008 "Graduate Student of the Year" because of his "outstanding professional achievements in the fields of engineering and science." Madison received the award on March 22 during NSBE's Golden Torch Award ceremonies in Orlando, Florida.
Jonathan is...

TMS honored two Michigan MSE faculty at the 2008 Annual Meeting. Professor Wayne Jones received the Alexander R. Scott Distinguished Service Award. This award is given to a member of TMS that has "exhibited devotion of time, effort, thought, and action toward furthering the Society's mission through administrative/functional activities."
Assistant...

Two research projects investigating next generation photovoltaic technology that will accelerate the use of solar power have received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative. Stephen Forrest, professor of physics, electrical engineering and material science and Vice President for Research, will lead a project to demonstrate effective...

Much of the research conducted in Materials Science and Engineering labs makes its way from bench to business venture, thanks to the current of entrepreneurship that runs through the department. These start-up endeavors offer students unusual work-study and internship experiences, potential job opportunities after graduation and the chance to see...

Assistant Professor Joerg Lahann will be the 2007 recipient of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF) Young Investigator Award. This award is bestowed annually and recognizes outstanding interdisciplinary research in nanoscale science and engineering by a scientist or engineer in the early stages...

Wayne Jones, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been appointed associate director of the U-M ADVANCE Project and director of the ADVANCE Project in the College of Engineering (CoE), beginning September 2007.

Jones will work closely with David Munson, CoE dean, Tony...

The title of his career proposal is "Self-signaling and Signal Amplifying Conjugated Polymer Biosensors and Sensor Arrays" The awarded was granted by NSF DMR Biomaterials Program.

… and a 15-year old mystery solved. Using simulations UM researcher Kieffer and his postdoctoral research associates Huang and Durandurdu have uncovered a ubiquitous mechanism by which certain inorganic compounds densify under pressure. This finding is important for understanding the response of materials under severe mechanical impacts and the deformation...

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan has been awarded several fellowships by the U.S. Department of Education for Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN). We solicit applications for these fellowships, which are to be used to educate a new generation of Ph.D....

WHAT: Lead by Max Shtein (Material Science and Engineering) and Matthew Shlian (Art and Design), this upper-division class aims to unite artists, engineers, architects and designers to work collaboratively to develop scientific projects in a studio classroom setting. We will focus on issues of energy harvesting and lighting, combining artistic...

In the future, it is possible to envision engineered devices that are seamlessly integrated into living systems. There are many examples of this from science fiction and popular culture, including artificial bionic limbs, eyes, and ears. Consider movies such as "Star Wars", and television programs such as "The Six Million...

Assistant Professor Jinsang Kim is the 2006 Jon R. and Beverly S. Holt Awards for Excellence in Teaching, College of Engineering, University of Michigan .

Two faculty members are presidents of majors MSE societies this year. Professor and Department Chairman Peter Green is President of MRS, and Professor Tresa Pollock is President of TMS. The only other time both societies president's were from the same University was in 1999 when UM-MSE faculty Ron Gibala was...

Tresa Pollock awarded the Lee Hsun Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute for Metals Research (IMR). The Award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of materials science and engineering. The award was presented in conjunction with a lecture she gave on new...

A five year Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) has been awarded to a team of University of Michigan Investigators from Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), Physics and the Center for Ultrafast Optical Sciences (CUOS). The objective of this MURI program is to develop the scientific basis for use of ultrahigh-intensity...

MSE Graduate, Jonathan Madison, has received a 2005 MLK Spirit Award. Jonathan was one of 9 students across the College of Engineering who were recognized for their leadership and vision of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Their dedication to building relationships among diverse groups and volunteering both inside and...

David Martin was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He received this award for "For seminal contributions in developing polymer coatings for improving the biocompatibility of implantable microelectrodes in the nervous system". Photo taken at the National Academy of Science. left...