International collaboration through MSE

“Materials engineering is an interesting cross-section of a lot of different fields. It is heavy engineering, and it can be heavy chemistry or physics if you want it to be,” says Jacob Wheaton, graduate student in MSE. “It’s a very good balance of those three things, and that is exactly what I was looking for.”

While Wheaton was working his way through his undergrad studies and thinking about graduate school, Anson Martin Distinguished Professor Steve Martin offered Wheaton a chance to study glass in France over one summer after learning about his French double major. His connection to France grew even deeper during his time in MSE. He spearheaded a collaborative research project between researchers at the University of Rennes in France and Iowa State, and visited again this past year to facilitate collaboration and exchange research methods.