UConn MSE e-Bulletin 2022

This outreach bulletin is produced for the students, alumni, faculty,

and friends of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the

of

direct any questions or comments to mse@uconn.edu.

STUDENT STAFF WRITERS

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Elected to the European Academy of Sciences

Alum Burc Misirlioglu reflects on his experience at UConn and discusses his position as the Department Head of MSE at Sabanci University

Adjunct Professor, Raytheon Techni cal Fellow, and External Advisory Board member Daniel Goberman discusses his unique role within MSE

Designing a Lighter Fuel Cell with Higher Current Density

Theo Kattamis professes for over 50 Years

SE Department Highlights

I am excited to bring you news of just some of UConn MSE’s accomplishments during 2021-2022.

It has been our most successful year ever in terms of research funding. Among our 20 core faculty, MSE now oversees more than $50M in active projects . Pamir Alpay leads a campus-wide $15M effort in partnership with the Air Force Research Labs, Lesley Frame has spearheaded the first CRaDA between UConn and the US Army, and Avinash Dongare is part of a $12.5M and 4 institution effort with the National Nuclear Security Administration. Overall, our faculty have added a re markable $22M since Covid struck, distributed widely among the departments of defense, energy, and edu cation, national science foundation, national institutes of health, and state and industry partnerships. Collec tively this supported yet another year with more than 120 publications among our 12 postdocs, 120 graduate advisees, and 52 undergraduates who conducted research.

We also celebrate two more career awards , this year for Xueju Sophie Wang (NSF) and Yuanyuan Zhu (DOE). Rainer Hebert, director of the UConn Additive Manu facturing center, became an ASM International fellow. Puxian Gao received his 35th patent. Dan Goberman, one of many talented and committed adjunct faculty, was recognized as a Raytheon Technical Fellow. Fiona Leek won the Undergraduate Career Mentor of the Year award from the UConn Center for Career Develop ment. And Cato Laurencin was presented with the Spin garn medal— the highest honor of the NAACP. In 2023 he will receive the Priestley Medal from the ACS—their highest honor as well.

More broadly, UConn faculty remain extremely active in professional leadership. Radenka Maric is the 17 th UConn President . Lesley Frame is the president of the ASM Heat Treat Society—the first woman in this role

in more than a century. C. Barry Carter is the editor in chief for the Journal of Materials Science. Mark Aindow, Avinash Dongare, Sophie Wang, and Puxian Gao serve various journals as topical editors. Serge Nakhmanson, Jasna Jankovic, Yuanyuan Zhu, and Prabhakar Singh each organized conference symposia. And I am now the chair for the University Materials Council, the Asso ciation of MSE department heads across the country.

It is noteworthy that two of our most storied professors announced their retirements this summer. Professor Hal Brody joined UConn in 1991 as the Dean of Engineer ing, establishing our Foundry for teaching and research that remains active today. Professor Theo Kattamis, hired to Storrs in 1969, has literally been here since the beginning of Materials at UConn. They are still sharing their wisdom through continued teaching and mentor ing, and this year we will celebrate their combined 80+ years of service to the field.

Most important of all, our students and alumni continue doing incredible things in their labs, careers, and com munity. Read further to learn about undergraduate The resa Nosel who led the winning NASA BIG Idea Chal lenge team, class of ’22 alum Robert Williams’ Fulbright Fellowship to Vietnam, PhD alum Burc Misirlioglu’s rise to MSE department head in Turkey, and others.

Especially as we move into a new ~200,000 ft 2 build ing by January of 2023—exclusively housing the Institute of Materials Science including MSE as well as an equally impressive and independent polymers pro gram—consider visiting us, donating to our programs, offering internships to our students, or otherwise engaging with our department. UConn MSE is clearly poised for an incredible year ahead.

Bryan D. Huey Department Head

UConn Names Radenka Maric as 17th President

Maric, previously vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, has served as interim president since February 1

Radenka Maric, an acclaimed innovator in clean energy technology whose leadership as a vice president helped propel UConn to new heights in research funding, has been selected as the University’s 17th president.

Maric has served as UConn’s interim president since Feb. 1, a period in which she raised its national profile by host ing leaders of several top federal agencies for on-campus visits to demonstrate UConn’s successes in various areas of research and academia.

She also brought a highly student-centric focus to her interim presidency and says she will continue and expand those efforts in concert with others at UConn to prioritize student success and inclusion, access to mentoring and lifetransformative educational experiences, and their personal and professional fulfillment.

The Board of Trustees unanimously confirmed Maric’s appointment Wednesday, saying she rose to the top of a highly competitive pool of candidates during the national search. Her five-year term began immediately upon the board’s vote.

“Being named president of the University of Connecticut is the honor of a lifetime. I am proud and humbled to have your confidence and your trust,” Maric told trustees and au dience members at Wednesday’s meeting. “I will work ev ery day to continue to earn it, as well as that of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, patients, and many supporters.”

Maric was vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship for five years – during which time UConn received record-high levels of grant funding — before be coming interim president earlier this year upon the depar ture of previous Interim President Dr. Andrew Agwunobi.

Maric joined UConn’s School of Engineering faculty in 2010 and holds the rank of Board of Trustees Distinguished Pro fessor. She is also the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund Pro fessor of Sustainable Energy in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

In her eight months as UConn’s interim president, Maric has hosted visits from the leaders of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Depart ment of Education, National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and several other high-level state and federal officials.

She also teamed with Gov. Ned Lamont, other state lead ers, and a UConn contingent in a highly successful eco nomic development mission to Israel; and hosted Theresia Bauer, Germany’s Minister for Science, Research, and the Arts when Bauer spoke at the Neag School of Education’s undergraduate commencement ceremony.

Maric was among more than 150 applicants for the posi tion, from which previous President Thomas C. Katsouleas stepped down in July 2021. She said Wednesday that among her many priorities, she plans to put students first and “lead with love and compassion,” ensuring their aca demic success and a positive college experience at UConn.

She added that the University will strive to cultivate trust among the campus community and statewide; provide students with vital resources, including those addressing mental and physical well-being; ensure affordability and ac cessibility; serve the state’s economic development needs; and build strong connections with alumni, elected officials, philanthropic supporters, and others.

Maric is the first internal candidate to be named to the posi tion since Harry Hartley was selected president in 1990, and is UConn’s second female president after President Emeritus Susan Herbst, who served from 2010 to 2019.

“She is a force of nature: deeply committed to UConn, de termined to get results, and all-in when it comes to leading this institution into a future that will be defined by success and achievement,” UConn Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Toscano said Wednesday.

He noted that Maric is deeply committed to student success and well-being; diversity and inclusion in the student body and workforce; supporting and growing the University’s re search enterprise, including through innovations in emerg ing technologies; and engaging stakeholders across many realms such as alumni, families, UConn Health patients, fans of UConn Athletics, and others.

Radenka Maric, UConn's 17th President.

Peter Morenus/UConn

Photo

“There is a lot to do and Dr. Maric has her work cut out for her. We as a board have the utmost confidence in her to advance our priorities and achieve our highest aspirations,” Toscano said.

More than 150 people applied or were nominated for the president position, comprising a large pool of diverse and experienced leaders in the competitive candidate pool. Nine semifinalists were selected for interviews, including four sitting presidents, four provosts or chief academic of ficers from highly prestigious institutions, and one dean.

The steering committee recommended three outstanding candidates among those semifinalists to move forward for interviews with the full advisory committee and Board of Trustees. One finalist voluntarily withdrew from the search, and the remaining two finalists were interviewed last week by trustees and Gov. Lamont, who is president of the Board of Trustees per state statute.

The board also held six listening sessions over the search period to gain input from faculty, staff, and students from across all campuses, all of which were held virtually to max imize participation. Trustees say that after the interviews, it was clear that Maric was the unanimous choice.

“Dr. Maric has proven herself to be hard working, innova tive, and dedicated to UConn students working hard to develop themselves personally and professionally,” Gov. Lamont said.

“Several years ago, I appointed Dr. Maric to serve on the board of Connecticut Innovations based on the incred ible contributions made in improving and strengthening UConn’s prowess in research. She understands that mak ing Connecticut the most innovative state in the nation requires collaboration between the world’s leading busi nesses and our higher education institutions,” he added.

“The strength of our colleges and universities benefits everyone who lives in the state, not just those directly enrolled in them, and she operates from a philosophy that success for UConn means success for Connecticut. Our Huskies will remain in good hands under her leadership,” Lamont said.

Maric has a wide range of skills and achievements, includ ing holding multiple patents and publishing hundreds of scholarly works. She has also received more than $40 million in research grants, has been elected to prestigious professional organizations, and is fluent in the Croatian, English, German, and Japanese languages, with a working knowledge of Italian.

Maric said Wednesday that she came to UConn as a fac ulty member because she wanted to be part of a top-tier public research institution where she could educate and advise gifted, creative, and motivated young people, and especially where she could help students from middleclass and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Today, as president, I aspire to have UConn join the ranks of the greatest universities in the world while serving our state, our nation, and students from all walks of life,” she said Wednesday. “UConn has the talent, perspective, and confidence to create a better future by becoming a

The newest US News rankings reward UConn MSE with the biggest jump ahead for any materials program nationwide.

UConn MSE leaped 11 spots to 35th, and is now tied at 24th among public institutions.

more powerful research university that produces an even greater flow of ideas, sparks invention and collaborations, and works to improve the human condition and the quality of life in our community, state, and nation.”

As someone who has mentored scores of students and whose three children graduated from UConn, Maric also can relate to the perspectives of families who want to ensure their children have the best academic and personal experiences possible during the critical formative years they spend in the UConn community.

“We need to keep UConn affordable and accessible: A college degree and the college experience has never been more important for motivated leaders of our future,” she said.

“Our society badly needs an innovative workforce to address pressing issues in areas such as public health, cli mate change, and social justice. We provide the best and most transformative education to our students by giving them opportunities in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and more to help them tackle those challeng es,” she said.

“However, attaining a college degree has also never been more expensive. We must always strive to provide the highest quality education at the greatest value for students and families.”

Maric was born and raised in the former Yugoslavia and earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Belgrade in Serbia before moving to Japan to earn her master’s and Ph.D. in materials science and energy at Kyoto University. Her time in Japan was critical not only professionally, but also personally. She was studying at Kyoto University when Yugoslavia broke up in the early 1990s, seeing her scholar ship disappear and eventually finding that even affording food was difficult, much less juggling academic costs and responsibilities.

With the support of a mentor, however, she was able to overcome that challenge; in fact, they still stay in touch with regular emails even now, decades after that experience.

It was so impactful that she has committed to assisting stu dents herself as well; she has personally established more than $100,000 in fellowship funds through the UConn Foundation to assist students.

Like UConn itself, Maric has multi-faceted interests and skills. Having lived and worked in several countries, her in ternational experience is expected to be a boon to UConn as it prepares students to live and compete in a global economy and to celebrate other cultures and traditions.

After graduation from Kyoto University with her advanced degrees, she stayed to work in Japan for about a decade before moving to Atlanta to work for a fuel cell research company in 2001. She transitioned in 2004 to become a group leader and program manager for Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation in Canada, then joined UConn in 2010 as a faculty member in the departments of Chemical & Biomo lecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineer ing.

She is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has also earned many other professional honors and designations for her work.

In addition to her scientific pursuits, Maric’s personal interests are as diverse as the University’s portfolio itself, particularly in humanities realms. She is a talented painter and pianist, an amateur chef, and designs and makes much of her wardrobe, having been first inspired by receiving a sewing machine as a birthday gift when she was a child.

Several trustees said Wednesday that they had gotten to know Maric well over the past eight months in which she has been interim president, and have been impressed by her many personal and professional talents. Her com mitment to UConn and its students has been especially evident, they said, and they praised her as an ideal choice to lead the University to the next level.

Trustee Sandy Cloud, who also is chairman of the UConn Health Board of Directors, said they are confident in Maric’s strength as a leader and her commitment to that portion of the University’s enterprise, in addition to the talents she brings to Storrs and the regional campuses.

“She understands the mission, and the challenges and op portunities to reach our full potential at the Health Center,” Cloud said.

The presidency is complex and requires skill to understand and lead in many areas, trustee Jeanine Gouin ’87 (ENG) said Wednesday, and Maric is the perfect choice for the challenges.

“It’s her unwavering commitment to students and their suc cess, to the faculty who are so critical to our mission, and to academic excellence. With everything that is required day in and day out, Radenka is first and foremost a leader of academics and everything that is required around that to achieve excellence,” Gouin said. “We are most fortunate to have her talents, unending enthusiasm and her bright, forward-looking vision.”

UConn Trustee Thomas Ritter said he had always known of Maric’s reputation and often heard people discussing “Radenka” with the kind of admiration that made her known by just her first name.

“Now after working with her, I’ve come to learn that just as rock stars go by one name, she qualifies as our rock star,” he said. “She is the perfect change agent, one that can strategically and thoughtfully make meaningful change from within.”

UConn Today, Stephanie Reitz

Pamir Alpay Named Interim Vice President for Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Dr. Pamir Alpay was ap pointed interim Vice Presi dent for Research, Innova tion, and Entrepreneurship (VPRIE) at UConn.

He is well known through out UConn for his tire less work in supporting faculty research, fostering industry partnerships, and setting an example of inno vation with his own work in smart/functional materials and multi-scale materials modeling.

S. Pamir Alpay, Interim Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

He came to UConn in 2001 from the University of Maryland, where he received his PhD in materials science and engineering in 1999 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher for the next two years, specializing in model ing of functional materials systems.

He joined the UConn School of Engineering as an assis tant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, moving to the rank of associate professor (with academic tenure) in 2007 and then to full professor in 2010. He also served as MSE’s department head from 2013-17.

Pamir distinguished himself quickly and consistently in those roles, earning a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award in 2001 and the School of Engineering’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2004. He was named General Electric Endowed Professor in Advanced Manufacturing in 2017, and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, ASM Interna tional, and the American Ceramic Society.

He has authored more than 180 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, four invited book chapters, and an invited book co-authored on com positionally graded ferroelectric materials.

He was selected in 2017 as executive director of the IPB at the UConn Tech Park and has done outstanding work managing that state-of-the-art facility and coordinating associated industry partnerships. He has also continued to innovate in his field, including as the lead researcher on an $8 million project with the Air Force aimed at improv ing aerospace manufacturing processes.

Pamir’s skills in leadership, creativity, and collaboration make him an ideal fit for the interim position leading UConn’s burgeoning research enterprise.

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin Elected to the European Academy of Sciences

The prestigious European Academy of Sciences has recognized UConn's Dr. Cato T. Laurencin for his visionary and pioneering work in the field of regenerative engineering

In recognition of his pioneering work in the field of regenerative engineering, UConn professor Dr. Cato T. Laurencin has been elected to the prestigious European Academy of Sciences (EURASC).

“It’s very gratifying that a number of different parts of the world consider the work we are doing to be break through,” Laurencin says. “The world is embracing the concepts behind regenerative engineering and has come to realize the importance of this field.”

EURASC is an independent organization comprised of the world’s leading scholars and engineers at the fore front of research. Founded in 2003, its major objective is establishing efficient collaboration among scientists, researchers, educators, engineers, and leaders across the globe to develop policy for solving critical science and technology problems.

Membership is highly selective. New members are peer nominated and the vast majority are from European nations, though there is a small fraction of Americans. Honorary members include dozens of Nobel Prize and Fields Medal recipients, among other honors.

Laurencin is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the UConn School of Medicine. His seminal and singular accomplishments in tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, and nanotechnology, and regenerative engineering, a field he founded, have made him the foremost engineer-physician-scientist in the world.

Laurencin also serves as CEO of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health and professor of chemi cal engineering, materials science and engineering, and biomedical engineering at UConn.

His breakthrough achievements have resulted in trans formative advances in improving human life. Laurencin’s

fundamental contributions to materials science and engi neering include the introduction of nanotechnology into the biomaterials field for regeneration.

Laurencin will formally be inducted into the European Academy of Sciences during the Academy’s reception in Belgium in October. Last year’s reception was virtual because of the pandemic.

“I am looking forward to meeting my Academy colleagues from throughout the world when we gather in Brussels,” Laurencin said.

EURASC marks Laurencin’s sixteenth membership in a national or international scientific academy, including four in Europe, four in Asia, three in Africa, and five in the United States. This year, in addition to the EURASC, he has been elected into the Academia Europaea, the Senegalese Academy of Science and Technology, the Benin Academy of Science and Arts, and the Indian Academy of Sciences.

Laurencin is the first surgeon in history elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.

In January, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held a ceremony with Laurencin and UConn officials celebrating the awarding of the Spingarn Medal, the organization’s highest honor. Laurencin joined the company of such American heroes as Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou, George Washington Carver, Jackie Robinson, Duke Ellington, Charles Drew, and oth ers over the award’s 106-year history.

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin has been elected to the European Academy of Sciences. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

UConn Today, Matt Engelhardt

MSE Adjunct Professor Daniel Goberman ‘never lets the class get bored’

Materials Science and Engineering Adjunct Professor Daniel Goberman says the root of his teaching philoso phy is to “never let the class get bored.”

This has been a guiding mission to Goberman since he first began his career as a professor. According to him, when he entered the MSE department over 13 years ago as an adjunct faculty member, he was determined to show his students how interesting and exciting materials science and engineering could be.

“I love teaching. I really enjoy the challenge of mak ing technical topics interesting and even entertaining,” Goberman says.

Goberman recalls being a student and dreading the classes where the professor turned their back from the students, spoke to the blackboard, and wrote deriva tions and problems from the book. Throughout his years standing in front of the blackboard, he has made it a goal not to do this.

“I believe that no matter how dull the basic material might be, it can be applied to something interesting. I try to find that interesting thing and use it to teach. If I can’t find an interesting example, then it is up to me to break-up the monotony with a joke, funny observation or simply a five-minute break… Students don’t learn much when they are sleeping,” he says.

Though he might have snored through a few lectures as a student, Goberman, who has been associated with the department in some way for over 25 years and the University for over 30, has certainly never tired of UConn MSE. Not to mention, his two brothers and sister also studied at UConn. So when it came time to complete his PhD in 2002, fate would have it that he didn’t venture far from his home in Storrs.

Just when he was finishing his PhD research, the UConn surface modification laboratory manager at the time an nounced he was going to retire.

“Here I was with a bunch of knowledge about how to run all the machines, analyze the data, and apply the technol ogy to advanced research… The perfect fit,” Goberman says.

He spent over five years in this position before, in 2008, he joined the United Technologies Research Center as a senior engineer, moving up the ranks to Discipline Lead er in Materials Characterization and Associate Director by 2017. In 2020, the company merged with Raytheon form ing a new parent company Raytheon Technologies. In January of 2022, Goberman was promoted to his current role of Technical Fellow in Materials Characterization.

All the while, Goberman has taught as an adjunct faculty member at UConn MSE. He is also a member of the MSE External Advisory Board.

“Having over 13 years of experience in industry as well as over 25 years associated with the department, I have a unique perspective when it comes to understanding what industry might want from graduates as well as what the department is able to offer,” he says.

As a technical fellow, he works hands on in the labora tory supporting materials characterization focused on surface analysis. He also acts as a materials analysis fo cal point for any related questions from engineers within Raytheon.

Goberman’s work with Raytheon spans both failure analysis and advanced research. According to him, recent efforts have included the analysis of discoloration of bolts on a commercial airliner and advanced analysis to try to determine the root cause of electronics failures in fighter jets. As for research at Raytheon, Goberman says he has been involved with the analysis and devel opment of high temperature ceramic materials for future use in aerospace and defense applications at Raytheon Technologies.

Much of his current focus is related to the goal of improv ing aircraft technology. However, Goberman relishes his work the further up the atmosphere it is. In his words, he’s a “space junky.” A few years ago, when NASA came

MSE Adjunct Professor and Raytheon Technical Fellow Daniel Goberman.

Photo courtesy of D. Goberman

Adjunct Professor, Raytheon Technical Fellow, and External Advisory Board member Daniel Goberman discusses his unique role within MSE.

knocking with an issue that needed solving, he was more than happy to lend a materials science hand. The problem concerned a space suit which was holding up a critical spacewalk needed to fix the International Space Station… No pressure.

“Myself and my colleagues worked several really long days but had answers that allowed NASA to approve the suit for use in just a few days from when this issue was identified,” he says.

Aside from being able to bring this story back to his students, there are many ways that his two jobs have become a collaborative pair as he pulls experience and networks from one and brings it to the other.

“Being an adjunct professor gives me the opportunity to maintain my connections to the university. I can keep in touch with the faculty and stay abreast of changes in personnel and technologies in addition to getting to meet the students. Both of those aspects help me in my professional life outside the university by allowing me to facilitate the interactions between Raytheon and UConn,” he says.

According to Goberman, the work that he does at Ray theon defines how he teaches.

“It gives me a treasure trove of examples — not directly from Raytheon, but similar enough that the public domain example is just as good,” he says.

It’s this question of “real life” application that Goberman believes distinguishes his students’ learning.

“True success will come when you understand how items you learned are applied to real world situations. Asking ‘What is this good for?’ for each topic makes the knowl edge useful by connecting it to applications and you are much more likely to remember it in the future when you need it,” he says.

This semester, he teaches a graduate class, Surface Science for Materials. According to Goberman, the class focuses on the surface of materials with a detailed exploration of the interactions that occur between those surfaces and the analysis tools used to understand them.

No matter the class, Goberman finds a way to make the material interesting. Though he enjoys being creative with his lessons, this is not his favorite part of being a professor. The best part of teaching, according to Gober man, is when a student says, “I don’t understand.”

“First, this lets me know that they care enough to ask for help! But secondly it is a challenge for me to find a new way to explain the topic that I thought I had just ex plained. The challenge is so satisfying, and it allows me, in that instant, to see the world around me in a different way,” he says.

This year two storied MSE professors anounced their retirements.

THEO KATTAMIS joined UConn as an Assistant Professor in 1969.

HAL BRODY joined UConn as the Engineering Dean in 1991.

Both Hal and Theo are remaining active in teaching, mentoring, and research as emeritus faculty.

XUEJU "SOPHIE" WANG received the NIH trailblazer award, $643,591 in total, for her proposal entitled “Mul tifunctional 3D Bioelec tronic and Microfluidic Hybrid Systems for On line Monitoring, Regula tion, and Vascularization of Organoids” as an early stage investigator.

FIONA LEEK , Director Undergraduate Labo ratories, was selected as this year’s Under graduate Faculty Career Mentor of the Year. The student nominated award was established to recognize that students search for career advice from a variety of people: faculty, staff, alumni, and employee partners.

Theo Kattamis professes for Over 50 Years

Theo Kattamis has played a vital role in the de velopment of the MSE Department at UConn. Over more than 50 years, he has witnessed the creation of an undergraduate program, ex pansion of the department, and new research findings. He remained loyal to UConn because he “liked the University’s environment which was very friendly and helpful, and the job which offered the possibility of growth.”

When Professor Kattamis first came to UConn in 1969, he joined the Metallurgy Department which offered only a graduate program. “Since the Department was located from the early seventies in the Institute of Materials Science building, its name evolved to the Department of Metallurgy and Materials,” says Kattamis. “Many years later we added an undergraduate program, and shortly thereafter, following a world-wide trend, we became the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.”

Over the years, Kattamis taught three gradu ate courses: Solidification of Metals, Welding Engineering, and Powder Metallurgy Process ing. He also taught two non-engineering elec tives for undergraduates: History of Materials and Technology and History of Engineering Until the Dawn of the 20th Century. More recently, he taught important core courses for the department related to processing, and has taught literally thousands of UConn engineers through the Introduction to MSE course.

Kattamis first obtained his bachelors in mining engineering from the Université de Liège, Bel gium. During his fifth year he was appointed as an assistant lecturer and decided to obtain a second degree in geological engineering. But, “after practicing as a geological engineer in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I changed my mind as I was walking through the jungle full of snakes. Instead, I finished my studies with an extra year focused

Theo Kattamis’ dedicated career in materials science and engineering spans more than 50 years

on extractive metallurgical engineering” he says. After that he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he obtained his MS in metallurgy with a research focus on the den dritic structure in low alloy steels and the way the alloying elements are distributed within the solid (“micro-segregation”). 18 months later he received his ScD focused on the microstructure and me chanical properties of solids formed from highly undercooled (up to 300oC) melts.

In the field, Kattamis’ expertise is solidification of metals and ceramics, materials joining, and ma terials processing in the liquid and vapor state. Out of his 128 published research papers, his two favorites are "Influence of Coarsening on Dendrite Arm Spacing of Aluminum-Copper Alloys" and "Influence of Coarsening on Dendrite Arm Spacing and Grain Size of Magnesium-Zinc Alloy" because of their focus on coarsening. “For a long time, my peers did not believe in coarsening. But, interface instability of the growing crystal leads to the forma tion of arms and an increase in the specific solidliquid interface area and there comes coarsening which pushes back the dendrite arms trying to reduce that interface area,” says Kattamis. “I had to do more work to convince them that I was right.”

At MIT Kattamis fell in love with an academic career. “I stayed at MIT as a research associate for three years and felt very much attracted by an academic career,” he states. “My desire to join an academic institution and contribute to the educa tion of future generations encouraged me to start exploring available academic openings.”

Kattamis’ professor and mentor at MIT, Merton C. Flemmings, is the reason why Kattamis teaches at UConn. “Professor A. J. McEvily, at that time Head of the UConn Metallurgy Department, established at UConn in the Fall 1968, called Professor Flem ings looking to hire a young professor specializing in the area of solidification,” Kattamis says. “I was interviewed, offered, and accepted the job as an

assistant professor, starting in January 1969.”

When he first came to UConn, Kattamis was in shock. “There was only one restaurant/ coffee shop (Kathy John’s), a drugstore, a pizzeria, and a cinema!” he exclaims. Since then, Kattamis claims that the Uni versity has physically and academically grown tremendously. But the University is still growing! “The MSE Department is rapidly growing, and this Fall will have a new building (Science 1),” says Kattamis. “[The major] has several concentrations, such as classical Metallurgy, Biomaterials, Nanoma terials, Energy Materials and Electronic Materials. MSE graduates find well-paying jobs and will join a group of very successful alumni”.

Theo Kattamis, Emeritus Professor

He was promoted to associate professor in 1971, awarded tenure in 1973, and became a full pro fessor in 1975. As current MSE department head Bryan Huey notes, “UConn students are fortunate that Theo continues to share his wisdom and excitement for the field now more than 5 decades into his career. ”

“Kattamis has been an essential asset to the creation and development of UConn’s MSE Depart ment. The program would not be what it is today without his years of expertise. His knowledge, teaching, humor and insight have been indispens able.

MSE Researcher Earns DOE Career Award

Professor Yuanyuan Zhu knows that tungsten is going to play a critical role as scientists work toward the ambitious goal of building nuclear fusion reactors and harnessing new energy sources.

Conceptual image representing the process of nuclear fusion, specifically the creation of helium from hydrogen.

“Tungsten is a gift from nature,” says Zhu, an assistant profes sor and director of the honors program in materials science and engineering. “It’s special because it has the highest melting point of any metal and stays strong at very high temperatures, making it ideal to use as the plasma-facing divertor armour in fusion.”

Assistant Professor Yuanyuan Zhu

As a result, scientists and engineers view tungsten as a top candidate for building fusion reactors. In terms of factors such as strength, good thermal conductivity, and radiation tolerance, there are few metals that can match it.

However, there are presumed dangers in the event of an air-ingress leak. Zhu says that when tungsten oxidizes, it becomes unstable and volatile. Since tungsten is exposed to nuclear radiation during normal operation, the resulting oxide dust is radioactive, and release of it is extremely dangerous.

The problem is one of many scientists must solve to develop fusion as a clean and safe energy source for constant baseload electrical power. Zhu is dedicated to better understanding thermal oxidation of tungsten under fusion extremes, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is taking significant interest in her research.

This summer, the DOE’s Office of Science announced Zhu’s selection for an Early Career Award for her work in the field of fusion energy sciences. She is the third UConn researcher to earn a DOE Career Award since 2015. This award differs from the National Science Foundation’s Early Career Program awards.

Zhu is one of 56 university scientists across the country selected for an award. The grants are planned for five years, with university researchers receiving $150,000 per year to fund their projects. Eligibility is limited to untenured or tenure-track assistant or associate professors who com pleted their Ph.D. programs within the past 10 years.

“Supporting talented researchers early in their career is key to fostering scientific creativity and ingenuity within the national research community,” said DOE Office of Sci

ence Director Asmeret Asefaw Berhe. “Dedicating resourc es to these focused projects led by well-deserved investi gators helps maintain and grow America’s scientific skill set for generations to come.”

Zhu says the grant will likely allow her to hire two graduate assistants as well as paying equipment user fees for experi mentation at the Institute of Material Science at UConn. She is humbled to earn the grant and begin a new chapter in her research.

The potential of the work is “transformative,” says Zhu. Fusion energy is key in replacing fossil fuels for electrical power needs, but harnessing such energy is demanding and requires materials like tungsten that can cope with ex treme environments and conditions.

Zhu’s project addresses a well-known safety hazard associ ated with high-temperature oxidation of tungsten plasmafacing materials in case of air ingress accidents. Currently, scientists do not completely understand the fundamental nanoscale processes of tungsten oxidation under pristine or irradiated conditions. Her research intends to understand how tungsten oxide evolves, how fast it grows during the oxidation, and, based on the new mechanisms, to develop strategies for making reactors safer and more resistant.

The process for experimentation is also novel. Zhu’s project leverages in-situ environmental microscopy methods along with computer vision models to allow for new results under the oxidation conditions that cannot be obtained by conven tional methods. Using a small gas cell the size of a thumb nail, the in-situ experiment mimics the oxidation process under off-normal events.

The team will be able to see the evolution of tungsten oxide layers as they happen, including the possible effects of radiation-induced defects on oxidation.

“It’s exciting to apply modern techniques to explore such a fundamental, classical question on tungsten oxidation,” Zhu says.

UConn Today, Matt Engelhardt

Yuanyuan Zhu's research into tungsten oxida tion could lead to key breakthroughs in nuclear fusion technology.

Getty image

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin won the 106th annual Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Xueju “Sophie” Wang Receives CAREER Award

MSE Assistant Professor Xueju “Sophie” Wang has been awarded the NSF Faculty Early Development Program CAREER Award for her pro posal entitled “Mechanics of Active Polymers and Morphing Structures: Determine the Role of Molecular Interactions and Stiffness Heteroge neity in Reversible Shape Morphing.” It is one of NSF’s most prestigious awards.

PUXIAN GAO now holds 34 patents, transferring the technologies developed in his Nanomaterials Science Laboratory to commercial success through 3D Array Technol ogy LLC, which he cofounded.

Wang’s NSF CAREER award will support her research on fundamental studies of the mechanics of innova tive active polymers and morphing structures. Soft active polymers that can change their shapes and there fore functionalities upon exposure to external stimuli are promising for many applications, including soft robotics, artificial muscles, and tissue repair. This research project aims to establish the missing correla tions across the molecular, material, and structural levels of novel active polymers for their rational design, manufacturing, and applications, by using liquid crystal elastomers as a model material system. “I am very grateful and honored to receive this prestigious award, and I look for ward to working with my students to address challenges in innovative active polymers and to apply them in emerging fields like soft robotics,” Wang said.

of Materials and Structures (MOMs) program in the Division of Civil, Me chanical, and Manufacturing Innova tion (CMMI) in support of early-career faculties who have led academic advancements in research or educa tion in mechanics as related to the behavior of deformable solid materi als and structures.

UConn’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering congratulates Wang on her impressive achievement.

RAINER HEBERT, Director of the UConn Additive Manufactur ing center, was elevated to being a fellow for both ASM Interna tional as well as the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engi neering.

Through this award, Wang will expose students and the general public to research frontiers in morph ing materials and structures through starting an overarching program, “Morphing Beyond Imagination,” where simple and entertaining demonstrations of morphing flowers, spiders, and octopuses will be pro vided to elementary school students. Additionally, Wang’s program will be used to help develop curricula for high school students to promote their pursuit of STEM related studies.

The award and funding are administered through the NSF Mechanics

Wang joined MSE in 2020. Her research group focuses on mechan ics, advanced materials, and func tional structures for applications from flexible electronics to soft robotics. In 2016 she received her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. After completing her post-doctoral research at Northwestern University, she served as an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engi neering at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

In addition to the NSF CAREER award, her research has been rec ognized through numerous awards including the ASME Orr Early Career Award, the ASME Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Award, and the Gary L. Cloud Schol arship Award from the Society of Experimental Mechanics.

Assistant Professor Xueju “Sophie” Wang

LESLEY FRAME , Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Materials Processing Data (CMPD) was recently recognized as UTC Professor of Engineering Innovation, a three-year award of the School of Engineering. Frame is currently serving as the ASM Heat Treating Society’s president, the first woman to hold this position.

Designing a Lighter Fuel Cell with Higher Current Density

A team of UConn engineering researchers is working with Technology Commercialization Services to bring a tubular design of a fuel cell to market.

Fuel cell technology is continuously evolving as renew able energy and alternate energy sources become an increasingly important means of reducing global depen dence on fossil fuels. Planar fuel cells, a prevalent design, can be bulky, have compression issues, and uneven current distribution. Other drawbacks include problems with reactant gas transport, excess water removal, and fabrication challenges associated with their design.

A team of UConn researchers led by Jasna Jankovic, an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Sci ence and Engineering in the School of Engineering, has devised a novel design for a tubular polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell that addresses those short comings and improves on existing tubular PEM fuel cell designs, most of which take a planar PEM fuel cell and curl it into a cylinder.

Jankovic and two grad students, Sara Pedram and Sean Small, took a more holistic approach that rethinks tubu lar fuel cell design from the ground up. Their disruptive, patent-pending concept could potentially have nearly twice the energy density of other tubular PEM fuel cells, be 50 percent lighter, have a replaceable inner electrode and electrolyte (if liquid), a leak-proof configuration, and require fewer precious metals.

"That’s a big deal," says Michael Invernale, a senior licensing manager at UConn’s Technology Commercial ization Services (TCS) working with Jankovic to bring the concept to market. "Much of the effort to improve fuel cell design," he says, "has focused on the end user instead of the greater good."

“A fuel cell with refillable components is a kind of solu tion that does that,” says Invernale. “An airline relying on this technology would have more incentive to rebuild a component. Right now, it might be cheaper to replace the whole unit. That’s really where this design shines. The features of the design are green and sustainable and renewable.”

Assistant Professor JASNA JANKOVIC presented in Session 4 of H2 View’s Virtual Hydrogen Summit Europe 2022 event. She was one of three panelists for Women in Green Hydrogen (WiGH) whose goal is to amplify the voices of women working in green hydrogen.

Fuel cells are essentially refuelable electrochemical power generation devices that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, heat, and water. Each type is classified primarily by the kind of electrolyte it uses. Planar fuel cells are constructed using sandwich-

BRYAN HUEY, Chair, 2022-2023, University Materials Council (association of MSE department heads, representing and supporting nearly 120 materials programs from North America and beyond).

like stacks of large, rectangular flow field plates made of graphite or metal, which account for about 80 percent of their weight and 40 percent of their cost. UConn’s design uses a single tube-shaped flow field that reduces its weight by half.

The concept is still in discovery and has I-Corps and Partnership for Innovation (PFI) funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The program was created to spur the translation of fundamental research to the mar ketplace, encourage collaboration between academia and industry, and train NSF-funded faculty, students, and other researchers in innovation and entrepreneurship skills.

Participating research teams have the opportunity to interview potential customers to learn more about their needs. Jankovic and her team conducted some 60 inter views during a UConn Accelerator program in early 2022 that helped them size up the market and answer impor tant questions about whether or not to start a longer process, make the product themselves, or license the technology to another company.

“It was very useful to get feedback and guidance from people in industry,” Jankovic says.

Jankovic led the team as PI, with Pedram and Small, act ing as Entrepreneurial Lead and Co-Lead respectively. Leonard Bonville, the team’s industrial mentor, will sup port the team with his decades of industrial experience. The team will conduct another set of 100 interviews with industry to discover the market for their product and get guidance on its final design. NSF-Partnership for Innova tion (PFI) funding will then be used to develop a proto type and pursue commercialization.

Fuel cells have a wide range of applications, from power ing homes and businesses, to keeping critical facilities like hospitals, grocery stores, and data centers up and running, and moving a variety of vehicles, including cars,

buses, trucks, forklifts, trains, and more. Jankovic’s team is working toward obtaining a full patent on their design and thoroughly testing the concept. In the short term, they are focused on commercializing the technology and attracting potential partners.

Jankovic envisions creating a fuel cell roughly the size of a AA battery however, as a scalable and modular technology, it could be scaled-up to any practical size. "The cylindrical shape would allow for more fuel cells to occupy the same amount of space as those in use now and be cheaper to manufacture," Invernale said. Jankovic views her fuel cell design as a replacement for LithiumIon batteries.

Jankovic said her seven years in industry before coming to UConn convinced her there was a need in the market for a new and better fuel cell design.

“From that experience, I knew that planar fuel cells had a few issues,” she says. “I kept asking around, and I said, ‘let’s do it and find out yes or no.”

C. BARRY CARTER, Emeritus Professor and CINT Distinguished Af filiate Scientist (Sandia National Lab, NM) has been serving as editorin-chief for the Journal of Materials Science (Springer Nature) since 2004.

MARK AINDOW, Executive Director for Innovation, External Engagement, and In dustry Relations is cur rently serving as chair of the Phase Transfor mations Committee. The committee is part of the Materials Pro cessing & Manufactur ing Division of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS).

Left to Right: Graduate students and entrepreneurial leads Sara Pedram and Sean Small, industrial mentor Leonard Bonville and principal investigator and technical lead Jasna Jankovic.

UConn Today, Loretta Waldman

UConn Student Team Aims for the Moon with Lunar Rover Design

An interdisciplinary team of UConn undergraduate students took a big-time shot at the moon last semester and it landed them right where they aimed – as finalists in the 2022 NASA BIG Idea Challenge.

They spent last fall semester developing ideas and writing a proposal. Spring and summer were spent designing and building a prototype. This fall they test the prototype’s ability to navigate extreme terrain and harsh conditions. Their work is being supported by $150,000 in project funding from NASA

Material sciences and engineering and chemical engi neering major, Theresa Nosel ’22 (ENG) is the UConn team’s leader. Nosel completed multiple past intern ships at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio and the NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi

“I was encouraged by one of my friends to apply for my first program, and it took a lot of encouragement, because you think of NASA as the most brilliant minds, and I was like, ‘That’s not something I could do,’” she says. “And then I applied for my first thing, and it just snowballed into more and more and more and more programs with them. And I just wanted to open it up to new people.”

Nosel was looking for a way to share her NASA experi ence with other UConn students. She learned about the Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge during her first NASA internship in 2019. Now in its seventh year, the competition invites university students to solve critical needs facing space exploration. Students propose, design, develop, and demonstrate their technology over the course of a year and a half.

The 2022 BIG challenge seeks novel modalities to navigate the more challenging lunar terrains. It aligns with NASA’s Artemis program goal of using innovative technologies to explore the moon’s surface then to use what was learned for manned missions to Mars.

“Traditional wheeled rovers cannot reach many of the unexplored areas of the moon and Mars,” organizers wrote in announcing the challenge last fall. “Student teams….will develop innovative and cost-effective ro bots that go beyond wheeled rovers capable of explor ing other worlds.”

Beginning of March, seven finalists received funds to fully develop and build out their technologies. This is the first team from UConn to compete in the BIG Idea Challenge and the first to be funded.

An interdisciplinary team of UConn undergraduates are finalists in the NASA Big Idea Challenge

AMBER

Fifteen undergraduate students from various back grounds came together to form the initial team. After receiving funding, eleven additional students were re cruited to help fill the knowledge gaps the team needs to be successful. The team named their design AMBER, which stands for Adaptive Morphing and Balanced Exploratory Rover.

“It was a bit of a rocky start…,” says Kalin Kochnev ’25 (ENG), a first-year computer science major. Kochnev leads the team’s product design and build efforts. The team initially worked on a soft-body robotics concept composed of balloons and motors that would move almost like a wheel. They worked on that design until the end of October, when they were finally able to have an in-person meeting on Halloween night. That meet ing proved to be a critical turning point with the team recognizing critical flaws in their complicated concept.

The product design team was forced to quickly regroup and think on their feet, jumping quickly from concept to concept until they landed on the current design - a modality that morphs. The team believes this concept offer huge advantages for navigating the highly vari able terrain of the moon’s south pole.

“The morphing modality involves four appendages that function as quadruped mode, which allows the modality to walk, and then in tank mode, where it has tank-like movement, and then finally in a combination mode, which allows for any combination of appendages to conform to a leg or tank,” explains Sabrina Uva 22 (CLAS), Human Development and Family Sciences. “

The design simplicity – taking a leg and adding a tread to the bottom half – is its strength.

“It’s going to operate like a tank, and it’s going to oper ate like legs,” Nosel says. “We’re developing this for extreme lunar terrain, but you’re not always going to have extreme terrain. Sometimes, you’re just going to be going across a flat surface, and in those instances, you don’t really need some crazy, many-degrees-offreedom contraption. You can just go across it like a tank. Tanks are energy efficient. They have excellent traction and a durable stability to them. Then, when you do go up and down these slopes, or maybe on more uneven terrain, you can change it to a leg or some combination of the two with the adaptable stability and obstacle avoidance that comes with it. So, it’s just extremely versatile.”

A simple concept, though, doesn’t always mean a simple process. The design took months of work – all while the students balanced classes and other respon sibilities.

Hritish Bhargava ’23 (ENG), Engineering Physics noted “The modality isn’t hard to see. But designing it is hard. We had a lot of discussion about suspension, and there’s not enough space in there, so you have to figure out some new way to put suspension in there. I hadn’t worked on something this extensive before. I’ve done other CAD work. I’ve done other projects engineering wise, too, but this was definitely a lot more painful than most projects – late nights, just do ing CAD work."

”Math is a significant part of robotics,” says Vihaan Shah, ’25 (ENG), Computer Science. “The math behind a robot gets more challenging as your robot becomes complex. And I am excited to be working with the team to solve this problem.”

The team continues to refine and challenge AMBER this fall semester as they prepare for the November BIG Idea Challenge Forum in California.

Their proposal details a wide variety of testing ter rains chosen to put AMBER through its paces. The team built a mini slope lab, similar to one at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, to challenge AMBER to climb slopes of up to 30 degrees. AMBER’s ability to handle extreme cold, ice, and extremely low pressures will be tested through alliances the team made with com mercial businesses such as Caveman Cryotherapy in Farmington, Bolton Ice Palace skating rink in Bolton and National Technical Systems Laboratory in Massa chusetts.

It’s an immense amount of work for the team.

“The challenge ahead is to bring this idea to life and put it through its paces in the face of several extreme lunar-simulated scenarios,” says Fiona Leek, an assis tant professor-in-residence with the School of Engi neering’s Materials Science and Engineering Depart ment and one of the team’s faculty advisors. Leek says that the team’s accomplishments thus far have been completely student driven, with inten tionally minimal faculty involvement. The students are incredibly passionate about this project and its outcome.

“No doubt the next few months will be very challeng ing,” she says. “Hopefully, they will also be exciting and a great deal of fun.”

The team is realistic about the amount of work ahead of them, but also excited about the potential broader applications of their technology. “Even if ultimately this project isn’t the final one chosen by NASA” says Nosel. “Someone can use this modality, and we want

to put it out as much as we can. Everything that we do becomes open source, so anyone can use it.” The team is connected with Collins Aerospace and Peer Robotics. They are interested in connecting with other companies. They also hope that their efforts will encourage other stu dents to aim for the moon, take risks, and attempt what might seem impossible.

“I’m basically the prime example of coming from a social science background onto a NASA team and really learn ing how to apply my expertise and my research and learning new skills,” says Uva. “I never imagined myself in this position.”

“Don’t be afraid of putting yourself out there,” says Kochnev. “Not knowing is probably the number one thing that I got out of this project. When you don’t know things, it’s extremely terrifying, because there are so many pos sible ways to go about something, you don’t even know where to start. And I think that’s something that is a really valuable skill, just being able to be comfortable with not knowing and being able to find the answers.”

Nosel hopes their lunar rover adventure might inspire other students to consider how an agency like NASA

could be a part of their future.

“We’re the first team to ever enter, but I don’t want us to be the last team,” she says. “I just want to really encourage other people to look into all the opportunities that are out there, and especially with NASA. Because I’ve been doing things with NASA now for four years, and they love students, and they are so incredibly supportive and collabora tive with students. It’s an incredible organization to be doing projects for, and even if it’s not this one, there are so many others out there.”

Based on UConn Today article written by Jaclyn Severance

Robert Williams Selected for a Fulbright Fellowship

Undergraduate student

Robert Williams was select ed for a Fulbright Fellowship in Vietnam. The Fulbright Program is a prestigious worldwide program whose purpose is to unite the people of the United States and the people of other countries through education al and cultural exchanges.

“To be selected to be a Fulbright grant recipient, it is expected that you serve as a cultural liaison in addition to up holding the Fulbright mission: Respect all peoples and cultures, value diversity, and commit to international education and mutual understanding while serving as a catalyst for a peaceful and intercon nected world inspired by international educational exchange,” says Williams.

Robert Williams MSE Graduate ('22)

Williams will serve during the 2022-2023 academic year. He chose to apply for the fellowship in Vietnam for personal reasons: “As a biracial VietnameseAmerican, I applied to the Vietnamese ETA position to gather a deeper understanding of my culture and heri tage, bridge cross-cultural discrepancies and similari ties of Vietnamese and American culture, and provide opportunities for students, staff, and locals to grow as individuals,” he states. At Fulbright in Vietnam, Williams will interact with his local community, work collabora tively with international partners in scientific fields and participate in research.

UCONN NASA TEAM

Michael Aisevbonaye ‘23 (ME)

Jonathan Bane ‘23 (MSE)*

Hritish Bhargava ‘23 (ECE & PHYS)*

Jamison Cote ’22 (DMD)*

Alaa Emad El Din, grad student (ECE)

Abhiram Gunti ‘24 (CS)

Grayson Hall ‘23 (ME)*

Ali Al Hamadani ‘24 (CSE)

Rany Kamel ‘25 (CSE)*

Kevin Knowles ‘23 (ECE)*

Christina Lawrence ‘23 (CHEG & MCB)*

Theresa Nosel ’22 (CHEG & MSE)*

Arav Parikh ‘25 (CSE)*

Blake Pember '23 (ECE)

Sana Qureshi ’22 (MATH & MSE)*

Emily Rondeau ‘23 (MSE)*

Alaa Selim '26 (ECE)

Vihaan Shah ‘25 (CS)*

Matt Silverman ‘24 (ECE)

Elliott Trester ‘23 (MSE)*

Sabrina Uva ‘22 (HDFS)*

Anna Vladimirskaya ‘25 (CSE)

* initial team members

AMBER (Adaptive Morphing and Balanced Exploratory Rover

Undergraduate Student’s Internship Success at IBM

Paranjape’s success at her three IBM summer internships

Each academic year, college students frantically search for summer internships. It’s a tricky and stressful endeavor. But UConn’s MSE undergraduate student, Ria Paranjape has had not one, not two, but three summer internships at the global technology company, IBM.

Paranjape is a senior studying materials science and engineering after switching from chemical engineering her freshman year. “After arriving at UConn, I learned more about the materials science program through some introductory classes and found that it aligned more closely with what I was interested in pursuing,” she says. “Additionally, I knew MSE was an ‘up and coming’ field, which furthered my interest in the major.”

In the field of materials science, Paranjape is most interested in polymers research with a focus in sustainability, and product design and development in materials selection.

Undergraduate Laboratory Director Fiona Leek has provided Paranjape with a positive and enriching experience. “As a professor, she makes a huge effort to show support to her students and help every step of the way,” says Paranjape. “She is incredibly passionate about what she does, and it influences myself and my peers to work harder in our major and post-graduation when we’re in industry.”

When Paranjape was first searching for an internship, she wasn’t entirely sure on what she wanted to do. But she picked IBM because they are heavily involved in technology, and materials science is a very important part of that. “My first internship involved studying corrosion resistance, and from there my research narrowed down to what I worked on this previous summer, which was superconductor electroplating for quantum computing applications,” she states.

During her first summer at IBM, Paranjape mainly worked in the lab and ran tests on various samples with her manager. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her two following summers were online. Since she could not physically be in the lab, she focused on experiment planning, design of experiments and data analysis.

But the pandemic did not stop Paranjape from enjoying her time at IBM. “I constantly was challenged and had to think about things in ways that I hadn’t before, which helped me develop my critical thinking skills in a very welcoming environment,” she says. “Everyone I would talk to would be so open to helping me or talking to me about their area of expertise, giving advice, etc. It goes back to how I really appreciated being valued as an intern.”

Paranjape has three pieces of advice for MSE students to succeed as an intern: keep an open mind, always ask questions and be confident! “Sometimes you might land a role that isn’t exactly what you expected yourself to be doing, but the beauty of materials sci ence is that it can be applied to almost anything,” she states. “I tend to get imposter syndrome when I’ve achieved something because I think I don’t deserve it, or I’m not smart enough to be at this place, however, being confident in yourself will help alleviate that.”

And as for future students, Paranjape recommends studying materials science. “Right now, especially, the field is expanding rapidly and offers so many excit ing opportunities right out of undergrad. UConn MSE, specifically, prepares you for a career in industry by of fering a wide range of materials classes you can take,” she says. “The professors make sure to drill impor tant concepts and give you valuable information you can use past graduation. With the new MSE building underway, the growth that the department will have in the near future is incredibly exciting and even more reason to consider the program!”

Ria Paranjape, MSE Graduate ('22)

Senior Design 2022

Team

Team

Industry

Industry Sponsor: Corrosion Probe, Inc. Industry Advisor: Kienan Tierney (primary), Christina Ponte, Doug Sherman

Advisor: Jasna Jankovic

TEAM

of

Team Members Laura Lee Ethan Shan Yu Pei

Industry Sponsor: Mott Corporation Industry Advisor: Vincent Palumbo (primary), James Steele

Advisor: Yuanyuan Zhu

TEAM

Team Members Jack Gibbons Thomas Greene Theresa Nosel

TEAM 5

Material And Structural Response Under Dynamic Loading

Team Members

Brianna Westenfield Alexander Sutherland Nicholas Villandryson

Industry Sponsor: Pratt & Whitney

Industry Advisor: Shadd Bradshaw, Ernest Boratgis

Faculty Advisor: Volkan Ortalan

TEAM 6

High Temperature Strain Ageing Of Cold Worked Austenitic Stainless Steel

Team Members

Ryan Gordon

Gavin Foley

Peiyuan Zhang Sana Qureshi

Industry Sponsor: Ulbrich

Industry Advisor: Sean Ketchum, Keith Grayeb

Faculty Advisor: Mark Aindow

TEAM 7

Team Members

Hale Tresselt

Andrew Christenson (ME)

Madeleine Siegel (ME)

TEAM 8

Computational Modeling

Team Members Ria Paranjape Martin Birnbach Yirui Xiong

Industry Sponsor: DEVCOM Army Research Lab

Industry Advisor: Chris Rinderspacher, Rob Jensen

Faculty Advisor: Pamir Alpay, Lesley Frame

TEAM 9

Prediction

Industry Advisor: Matt Guziewski, Rob Jensen Faculty Advisor: Lesley Frame

Industry Sponsor: National Center for

Industry Advisor: Victoria Rodriguez Minowitz

Faculty Advisor: Jorge Paricio, Fiona Leek

Industry Sponsor: DEVCOM Army Research Lab

Stresses Associated

Team Members Shane Williams David Roche Quenten Dean

Hale Tresselt Chose to Study Materials Science and Engineering Over Mechanical Engineering

Undergraduate student Hale Tresselt ('22) didn’t always know she wanted to study materials science and engi neering. In fact, it was UConn MSE’s very own Professor Serge Nakhmanson, who convinced Tresselt to pursue a degree in materials science and engineering during the “Exploring Engineering” program for high school students. “Initially I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. That was until I came to UConn and took a tour of the School of Engineering. There I actually met Profes sor Nakhmanson and he described the Materials Science program to me,” Tresselt says. “Originally, I wanted to pursue sustainable design. When I spoke to Professor Nakhmanson, I realized that I actually wanted to work in sustainable materials research and design. This conver sation really propelled my interest in material science further.” Nakhmanson, the other professors, facilities, and overall community influenced her ultimate decision to pur sue her bachelors at UConn MSE.

Once at UConn, her passion for materials science and en gineering immediately skyrocketed. “I may be biased but I think materials science is so cool. Everything is made of something and I just love being able to look at things and know why they are made of a certain material or why something has cracked the way it has,” Tresselt exclaims.

While Tresselt was inspired by Nakhmanson, another MSE faculty member inspired her as well: Undergraduate Laboratory Director Fiona Leek. “Professor Leek is incred ible and I truly cannot say enough good things about her. She provides great and thoughtful feedback and has really improved my writing as an engineer,” says Tresselt. “She provides clear direction and organization that is very applicable to time management in the real world. I am so grateful that I have gotten to work with Professor Leek as much as I have.”

Currently, Tresselt does research with Nakhmanson alongside PhD student Mohamad Daeipour. Their research involves simulating the effect of different pour temperatures on solidification of cast metals. On campus she is also a part of the Materials Advantage Club and the UConn Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team.

Following her freshman and sophomore year, Tresselt had summer internships at Philips Healthcare, and follow ing her junior year she had a summer internship at the Los Alamos National Lab. “At Philips I did a lot of foam and ad

Hale Tresselt, MSE Graduate ('22)

hesive testing so most days I would be creating samples and running different tests on their strength,” she says. “I learned so much about regulation and just how much thought has to go into every aspect of design and then later tested. I left this job far more aware of the small de tails that design engineers have to deal with constantly.”

While Tresselt loved her internships, unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic made things difficult. “We found our selves having to find ways to get large amounts of testing done with far fewer days in the office. This made for some extremely long nights,” Tresselt says.

But, working at these internships helped Tresselt feel more confident as a woman in materials science and engineering. “My boss was fantastic. She was a young engineer with so much advice to give about being a young woman in a very male dominated field,” she says. “I learned so much from her, not only about how to be a better engineer, but about how to present myself with confidence.”

Post-graduation, Tresselt wants to continue in academia. “I am hoping to move on to getting my masters and po tentially my PhD,” she states. “My goal is to help others by researching sustainable materials as well as more sustain able manufacturing processes to help lesson our harm on the environment.”

While Tresselt originally wasn’t studying materials science and engineering, she is happy that she chose this field. “This degree can take you in so many different directions and provides so much information about things you might not have even thought to wonder about,” says Tresselt. While her journey had some bumps along the way, she had many mentors that helped her come out of her shell and bloom into a confident woman in the field of MSE.

MSE continues to strongly enhance our undergraduate laboratory facilities in order to better train our students in modern materials processing and properties. This includes >$200k in thermal, optical, and electron microscopy equipment, with another $300k of investments to come by 2023 for new metallog raphy and diffraction capabilities as we move into our new building.

MSE PhD Candidate Encourages Other Female Researchers to Not Doubt Their Own Voices

Though the journey of earning a PhD in materi als science and engineering is a long one, Suman Kumari has not let any challenge stop her.

As of 2021, female PhD researchers like Suman Kumari are welcoming the challenge of pursuing a passion in a still male-majority field. Though representation has improved compared to decades ago, the imbalance in a classroom or lab can still be intimidating. According to Kumari, though it hasn’t been easy being a female in her discipline, this shouldn’t dissuade others from pursuing materials science and engineering.

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS

STUDENT OF THE YEAR Robert Williams (Senior)

STUDENT OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP Charles Schwarz (Junior)

Outstanding Research

• Gina Parlato (Senior)

• Martin Birnbach (Senior)

OUTSTANDING TEACHING

• Brianna Westenfield (Senior)

• Jack Kaszas (Junior)

OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP

Theresa Nosel (Senior)

Outstanding Frosh/Sophomore Charlotte Chen (Sophomore)

“Though the world is changing, it’s challenging as a female in the materials science and engineering field, but nothing is impossible if you have the will to do it. I would say, ‘listen to yourself, you know what you want to do,” she says.

In much of her career so far, Kumari has not let any hesita tion stop her.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineer ing and computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) in 2017. During her undergraduate years, she did a summer internship at Clemson University. Following graduation, she worked as a project associate for an IT firm, Cogni zant. A year later, she went back to IITGN to be a junior research fellow.

As an intern at Clemson assisting in computational model ing of fluids through membranes, Kumari began to realize her particular interests which led to her future decision to pursue her PhD. She was involved in developing the framework for the fibrous membranes and determining the permeability of the flow when she became engrossed by the significant change in the flow properties which oc curred when changing the microstructure. Kumari recalls this as a precipitating moment leading to her future as an MSE PhD candidate.

“I was more interested in understanding the material’s behavior irrespective of their application in different do mains,” she says about materials science and engineering as opposed to chemical engineering.

Students in MSE often face two paths as they progress throughout their career leading up to their undergradu ate graduation. Many students will find themselves drawn to either the realm of scholarly research or leaving formal academia behind for industry. According to Kumari, her exposure to research from Clemson to her fellowship at IITGN reinforced her affinity for the fundamental science of investigation, innovation, and experimentation in a university setting.

In particular, Kumari felt inspired by the collaboration and kinship which can occur in group research. As a female— a minority in MSE—her sense of purpose in groups that are often all male drove her past any intimidation or chal lenge.

“I liked the scientific discussions with my group mem bers. It is the journey that one goes through and skills one obtains during their PhD that was exciting for me. Even though I knew that it can become stressful sometimes, coming out of that and starting fresh again is something we need in all aspects of life, not just a PhD. So, basically, the entire journey of 4-5 years full of challenges and learning intrigued me to pursue a PhD,” Kumari says.

With her decision to pursue her PhD, Kumari then had to figure out where exactly she would want to be for the next few years. She came to know of UConn MSE from a past colleague she met as an undergraduate who had gone on to the department at UConn.

“From her, I heard that the MSE department is quite good here, and she connected me to a few students in MSE from whom I got to know more and was impressed. Therefore, I chose UConn for my higher studies,” Kumari says.

Kumari initially joined the UConn MSE Department with the thought of staying in her comfort zone doing com putational work in polymers. However, this intention did not work out as planned, she says. Ultimately, she came to know about other groups doing similar work, though different from her prior work. One of the faculty members who was scouting for students was Associate Professor Volkan Ortalan. After talking with him about her interests, Kumari found upon closer introduction that his research would complement her past experience well while also pushing her.

“The only thing was I didn’t have any experimental expe rience at all. I was very confused at that time, but I took it as a challenge to learn, and to my surprise, I started liking it,” she says.

As of 2021, Kumari makes up the majority female student group led by Ortalan. Within the group, Kumari says she has been investigating the structure-property relation ship of polymeric systems using in-situ TEM (Trans mission Electron Microscopy) and understanding the fundamental science of such systems by capturing their dynamics on extreme spatial and temporal scales with Ultrafast TEM.

“It’s a bottom-up approach to understand the system from atomic to macroscopic scale. These in-situ techniques could fill up the gap in the fundamental knowledge to help with the processing and manufacturing of materials for a given application. It could be helpful in various disci plines apart from materials science,” she says.

According to her, she is most interested in the forces of space and time.

“Capturing the ultrafast dynamics on the extreme scale is fascinating to me. It can give a lot more information about how things are changing over such small space and time scales, consequently affecting the behavior at a macro scopic level,” she says.

According to Kumari, she and the rest of the group are given a lot of independence by Ortalan to perform their research. This is something, she says, that makes him a great leader.

“He is great as an advisor and provides his full support for our holistic development. He encourages us to take responsibility for our own progress and let us find our own way,” she says.

Additionally, Kumari’s appreciation for collaboration in research is something Ortalan also values. According to her, the group has open discussions during the meetings and works in smaller groups with one another.

MSE graduate student Suman Kumari

“Learning from each other is something I like about the group,” she says. This is something she has found with UConn MSE as a whole that differentiates it from other universities.

Kumari says that unlike other schools she spent time at, UConn MSE has “hands-on experience with advanced instruments, collaboration with other universities and research groups, and working with diverse groups of people.”

“Overall, it’s a great experience so far at UConn… The students, faculty, facilities, opportunities, and everything,” she says.

Though she has not yet decided exactly where or what she will find herself doing following graduation, she has an idea she won’t venture far from academics and inspir ing rising women in STEM.

“Whatever it would be, I’ll be involved in teaching science and its wonders.”

Avanish Mishra’s Journey from Astrophysics into the Field of MSE

Postdoc, Avanish Mishra, describes his journey of discovering his passion for materials science and engineering.

When it comes to your major or career, have you ever had a change of heart? UConn’s former MSE Postdoc toral Researcher, Avanish Mishra, certainly had. By his educational background, he is a physicist with a special ization in astrophysics, something he describes as “quite an exciting field to explore.”

GRADUATE AWARDS

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH AWARD

• Amir Peyman Soleymani

• Yi Li

OUTSTANDING TEACHING

• Karla del Cid Ledezma

• Peinan Zhou

OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP

• Luis Ortiz

• Shayani Parida

PhD Student Presentation Award (Spring)

Amir Peyman Soleymani

Grad Student Elevator Pitch Award (Fall)

1st place: Kevin Sala

Runners up:

• Ching Chen

• Suman Kumari

• Binchao Zhao

Although he enjoyed this area of concentration, while preparing for his PhD entrance exams and interviews, he began to enjoy materials science and quantum mechan ics. “Here, I saw how the principles of quantum mechan ics dictate materials functionalities and responses,” says Mishra. And so, Mishra’s passion for MSE began. Thus, he decided to change career paths and get a Ph.D. in Computational Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, in 2019 under the guidance of Professor Abhishek Kumar Singh.

In his Ph.D., Mishra co-developed India’s first computa tional materials database aNANt. The database “shares the structures and electronic properties of computa tionally designed two-dimensional functional materials (MXenes) in a single platform” and currently contains data records for over 23,000 materials data. “As a gradu ate student, I worked on the first-principles modeling of materials and informatics, along with that I also learned about different length scales for materials modeling and respective challenges,” he says.

C. Barry Carter, MSE Professor, encouraged Mishra to apply for a postdoctoral position with Professor Avinash Dongare at UConn. “He told me about Professor Don gare’s research and exciting future possibilities for me,” states Mishra. “I liked the idea of learning a new set of materials modeling tools and extending my understand ing of first-principles modeling onto a higher lengthscale.” Hence, he joined Professor Avinash Dongare’s research group in May 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher.

Professor Avinash Dongare’s research group focuses on “the development and application of materials modeling, data analysis, and visualization methods to investigate structure-property relationships of materials as well as

Avanish Mishra, Postdoctoral Researcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

the evolution of microstructures ranging from atomic scale to mesoscale in various environments.”

“I really enjoyed working with Professor Dongare, especially because I felt he has been very supportive throughout, gave me constructive feedback during our discussions, and most importantly trusted me with utter confidence,” says Mishra. “I am very fortunate to have a mentor like him, and I feel he has contributed significantly towards my professional and personal development.”

One highlight from his time at MSE was getting to work as a part of the Center for Research Excellence on Dy namically Deformed Solids (CREDDS). Mishra and gradu ate student Marco Echeverria ran virtual experiments of shock deformation in metallic materials. They used this research to characterize defect structures, which helps validate current computational methods and guide future experiments. “I acknowledge all the members of CREDDS for their immense help and support,” states Mishra. “It gave me an excellent opportunity to work closely with experimentalists.”

In 2021, Mishra co-published five research papers along side Professor Dongare and others. His published firstauthor paper focuses on fingerprinting shock-induced deformation via virtual diffraction, which helps to comple ment and explain experiential in-situ diffractograms and characterize materials without any destructive means. His second first-author paper centers on understanding the phase transformation mechanisms and factors affect ing the dynamic response of Fe-based microstructures at

the atomic scales, which is essential for studying various other properties of multiphase metallic materials. “Avanish has always been excited to learn new capa bilities and loves the challenge to build something of his own that can help us understand the science,” says Professor Dongare. “His time here working with me and the students in my group has led to several new com putational capabilities at UConn that are currently being finalized for publication. It has been a pleasure working with him and to see him grow as a researcher.”

As a prior MSE professional staff member, Mishra is ex panding his gained knowledge of atomistic modeling and machine learning with Professor Dongare and Professor Singh to understand materials response and get funda mental insights by characterizing atomistic structure using machine learning. His work is important for designing high-performance materials for applications in extreme environments. For instance, he works to find an alterna tive for existing materials, such as replacing or improving metals and alloys in various applications. “The work I carried out at UConn has direct application in designing promising materials for extreme applications and could be extended to various fields where the materials un dergo slow or fast dynamic deformation. Understanding of dynamic deformation of metallic materials is fundamen tal to the maintenance of nuclear deterrents as well,” says Mishra.

Recently, Mishra started a position at Los Alamos Nation al Laboratory (LANL) as a postdoctoral researcher. LANL’s goal is to solve national security challenges. Here, he analyzes atomistic structures using machine learning and extends that insight to the next level of modeling.

Mishra hopes that he will always be a part of the field of materials science and engineering. “I like doing research and want to mentor the next generation of scientists and engineers to make the world a better and safe place by addressing challenges in MSE,” he says. For those wishing to pursue a career in MSE, Mishra suggests that students should be curious, should ask questions without any fear of judgment, should be open to new ideas, and be keen to build connections with their peers. He also recommends meeting UConn’s two favorite dogs: Jona than XIV and Officer Tildy! “Every time I saw any one of them, it made my day,” says Mishra.

Overall, Mishra’s journey into the field of MSE is inspiring not only for current students but for those who’ve recent ly discovered their passion for MSE. His narrative teaches people that it is okay to change career paths. Following your heart will not only make you successful, but you’ll have fun too!

Thoughtful Insights with Alumnus Burc Misirlioglu

Misirlioglu’s current research involves ferroelectric oxides and how their interfaces with other types of materials either enable or limit functionality in devices. Alongside this work, he has on-going collaborations that focus on the response of oxide/semiconductor interfaces in the optical and THz spectrum for tunable optics. Misirlioglu is also working on the response of nanoscale magnets to external electric fields, which can pave the way for future designs and development of more efficient devices in the semiconductor industry.

We sat down with Burc Misirlioglu to discuss his experiences as a UConn alumnus, and how that affects his career in MSE.

What inspired you to enter the field of materials science and engineering?

MSE alum reflects on his experience in UConn’s doctorate program and discusses his current po sition as the Department Head of MSE at Sabanci University, Turkey.

Alum Burc Misirlioglu joined UConn’s doctorate pro gram for materials science in 2001 after obtaining his MSc and BSc in metallurgy and materials engineering from Istanbul Technical University. He was Professor S. Pamir Alpay’s (MSE professor, Interim Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship) first PhD student. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2006, Misirlioglu completed post-doctoral work at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Germany and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2008 he became an assistant professor at Sabanci University in Turkey. Currently, at Sabanci University, he is the Department Head of MSE, Professor of MSE and Co-director of Center of Excel lence for Functional Surfaces and Interfaces (EFSUN).

While I was preparing to take the university entrance examination in Turkey in early 1990s, my father had a vision that metallurgy (which later on transformed into materials science and engineering) would become a very important field in technology. I was more interested in chemical engineering at that time (also due to my exam score) but it was my father who encouraged me to study metallurgy and materials at Istanbul Technical University. After I got my B.Sc. in metallurgy, I went for M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees thinking that I would become a materials engineer or some sort of a materials specialist working in aerospace, a field that I enthusiastically have followed since my childhood years. So, I can say that it is my father and my passion for aerospace that inspired me to obtain degrees in materials science and engineering.

Why did you choose UConn for your graduate studies?

In the year 2000, I met Professor Nejat Olgac from the Mechanical Engineering Department at UConn who gave a lecture about his research during a visit to Is tanbul Technical University. I was doing my M.Sc. at the time. He suggested that I apply to the MSE program at UConn. He told me that there were highly dynamic fac ulty members at the department, carrying out research with aerospace companies nearby, as well as cutting edge facilities at the Institute of Materials Science. I got very excited, reviewed the program on the internet and decided to apply. At UConn, I never got to work on aerospace materials for my Ph.D. research but stepped

Alum Burc Misirlioglu, Department Head of MSE, Sabanci University, Turkey

into a field that was just as interesting. I had some of my most challenging and at the same time most rewarding times at UConn MSE between 2001 and 2006. The MSE department at UConn has grown further since and be come one of the best programs in materials science and engineering in the USA.

Describe your experience working with Professor Alpay during your doctorate program.

When I first met Professor Alpay in 2001 at UConn, I was struck by his scientific brilliance and his patience with the students. He had just started to work at UConn as an assistant professor and I was his first Ph.D. student. I often had the impression that he was carrying out research as a hobby, a quality every enthusiastic scientist possesses. I could easily say he was a role model for me during my Ph.D. and I believe I inherited some of his admirable qualities during that time. I try to implement these qualities when interacting with my own students here at Sabanci University. Professor Alpay’s creative approach to research problems and his perspective and guidance on a number of scientific challenges I was facing in my Ph.D. are two other points I must mention. His sense of humor and positive, approachable personality were also among his qualities I enjoyed, and we are still in contact to this day.

How did your experience at UConn prepare you for your career?

The working style of Professor Alpay definitely influenced the way I approach science and academics. Next to Professor Alpay, Professor Mark Aindow was another inspirational faculty. His command over the field of microscopy, how organized and smoothly he delivered his lectures were invaluable scientific and learning experiences for me. I must admit Professor Aindow was famous among the grad students for his demanding assignments and lab reports, but at the end attending his lectures proved highly rewarding especially when I was asked to teach fundamentals of electron microscopy at Sabanci. I also greatly benefited from interacting with him as he was co-supervising my research on dislocation studies in thin films using transmission electron microscopy. I must not forget to mention Professor Nitin Padture (now at Brown University) from whom I took

the mechanical properties course in the Fall of 2002. He always tried to provide a clear view of the subject and demonstrated how one can benefit from intuition when approaching engineering problems. All these experiences have contributed to the way I carry out research and prepare for lectures in my own academic career.

Why did you decide to accept the demanding role of Department Head of MSE at Sabanci University?

When my name was mentioned as the next program head (equivalent of the department head title) in late 2020 for the materials program at Sabanci, I was somewhat hesitant as I thought it would interfere destructively with my research. I then tried to convince myself that this was an opportunity to update or implement some policies that I always had thought would benefit our program. Apart from research, implementing new agendas and methods to enhance the effectiveness of materials research and education has been a “thought exercise” I sometimes found myself in. The encouraging, cooperative atmosphere among the faculty members we have here at Sabanci eventually resulted in my acceptance of the offer in January of 2021.

What advice do you have for students interested in pursuing a career in MSE?

I advise students to keep a broad vision on the numerous possibilities in science and technology, as opposed to being focused entirely on a single direction of study. Academic courses are certainly the starting point for achieving critical and advanced levels of thinking. But at the same time, a productive career starts when one is determined to go beyond her/his existing experience. I highly recommend students to follow other areas, such as mechanics, physics, electronics, biosystems and alike, and to interact with the people in these areas to identify the material related issues or opportunities that may lead them to highly interesting and rewarding paths in their careers. And just as important, I advise them to remain curious learners throughout their careers as scientific knowledge and methods are constantly evolving.

Photo credit Sabanci University

GET INVOLVED with UConn MSE

Senior Design, Educating the Next Generation of Engineers

Seize the opportunity to become a Senior Design industry partner and tap into the exceptional student talent, distinguished faculty, and state-of-the-art laboratory equipment that the UConn Department of Materials Science and Engineering has to offer.

Students who join the No. 1 public MSE program in the Northeast enjoy excellent employment, internship, and scholarship opportunities, first-rate faculty instruction with the best faculty-student ratio across the School of Engineering, and numerous hands-on research opportunities. The experience culminates with Senior Design, a two-semester project that exposes student teams to real-world engineering problems, design challenges, and collaboration with industry.

As an industry partner, you can expect expert interactions with UConn MSE, polished project updates and documentation, secure proprietary information, and a direct pipeline to our skilled students. Visit our Senior Design webpage at mse.engr.uconn.edu/seniordesign for more information.

Your Continued Support Helps Power Materials

Over 50 years after our first awarded PhD, and more than 15 since our first Bachelor of Science degrees, there’s never been a better time to support those who are following your lead as members of the rapidly expanding UConn MSE community. We continue to grow, with 20 faculty members and almost 250 dedi cated students, postdocs, staff members, and faculty who excel in all areas and facets of our discipline.

And, as we move into our new building this year, we need your help to fill it with upgraded equipment to enhance our teaching and research mission.

Please consider donating to the MSE Department, where your contributions will directly enhance our ef forts to promote research, education, and outreach.

For further information about personal and corporate oppor tunities for matching donations, establishing endowments, naming labs in our new building, equip ment donations, sponsored lectures, hosted events, or other ways to give back to UConn MSE including potential tax benefits, please reach out to Department Head Bryan Huey.

Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) General Fund Account (22156)

This account supports the overall efforts of the MSE Department, with a primary focus on opportunities for students, professional networking, investments in our teaching labs, and outreach. These funds also help students attend conferences, and this year helped to establish the new Metalworking Club which already has more than 100 members.

The Boland/Devereux MSE Undergraduate Excel lence Scholarship (31727)

The funds will be used to provide undergraduate mer it-based scholarships in honor of James Boland and Owen Devereux to students in the MSE Program.

Connecticut

Congratulations to the Class of 2022!

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE GRADUATES

Cole Anthony Accardi

Elise Marie Bessette

Martin Birnbach

Quenten Dean

Michael George Geragotelis

Liam John Gerety

Jack Gibbons

Ryan Gordon Thomas Henry Greene

Laura Anne Lee Camille Joie Martinez Ria Paranjape

Yu Pei

Sana Qureshi

David Charles Roche

Ethan David Shan

Alexander Gordon Sutherland

Hale Elena Tresselt

Nicholas James Villandry

Brianna Hazel Cassedy Westenfield

RobertMinh Lu Williams

Shane Riley Williams Yirui Xiong Peiyuan Zhang

GRADUATES WITH MSE MINOR

Aaron Daniel Beams

Jonathon Thomas Intravaia

Frank A. Lewis

Dean Moshe Segal

Raghavi Shanmuganathan

Leah Sobotka

Kristen Anne Soldau

Rachel Laura Boislard

Alexis Patricia Kacmarcik

Joanna Liang

Nia Tseyon Samuels

Garrett Powell Collins

Phillip David Tsurkan

Amanda M. Reid

MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATES

Kevin Co

Nils Eric Jonsson

Michael Robert Reisert

Chase Sheeley Shuyang Xiao

MASTER OF ENGINEERING GRADUATES

Jillian Murray

Nicole Elizabeth Powers

PHD GRADUATES

Benjamin Alexander Bedard

Major Advisor: Mark Aindow

Doctoral Dissertation: Microstructural Development in Cold Sprayed Al 6061: Feedstock Powders, Single-Particle Impacts, and Consolidated Coatings

Tyler John Flanagan

Major Advisor: Seok-Woo Lee

Doctoral Dissertation: Mechanical Characterization of High Strain Rate Deformed Metallic Materials

Cain Jin Hung

Major Advisor: Rainer Hebert

Doctoral Dissertation: Al-Co and Al-Ce Based Alloys for As-built Additively Manufactured Parts

Hannah Leonard

Major Advisor: Mark Aindow

Doctoral Dissertation: The Morphological Development and Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Powder-Processed Icosahedral-Phase-Strengthened Aluminum Alloys

Jessica Marisol Maita Maita

Major Advisor: Seok-Woo Lee

Doctoral Dissertation: Mechanical Characterization of Nano crystalline and Medium-range Ordered Materials

Michael Robert Reisert

Major Advisor: Prabhakar Singh

Doctoral Dissertation: The Degradation Mechanism of Iron Alloys under Air/Hydrogen Dual Atmosphere Exposure Conditions

Jianhang Shi

Major Advisor: Menka Jain

Doctoral Dissertation: Investigations on Magnetocaloric and Multiferroic Properties of Perovskite-type Rare Earth Chromites

Junfei Weng

Major Advisor: Puxian Gao

Doctoral Dissertation: Multifunctional ZSM-5 Nanoarray based Monolithic Catalysts for Low Temperature Emission Control and Utilization

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