FEATURE
Left: Photo of Thomas Epps, III UD CHARM is advancing foundational understanding of new materials driven by theoretical and computational predictions paired with cutting-edge experiments led by interdisciplinary teams.
UD MAKES MATERIAL IMPACT Federally-funded center to advance materials research
A new center at the University of Delaware will advance research to transform the way materials are made.
Right: Distinguished Associate Professor LaShanda Korley mimicked the architecture of the bristle worm’s jaw system by adding a zinc-coordinated supramolecular polymer into a covalently crosslinked polyethylene glycol network.
The UD Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials (UD CHARM) will drive fundamental materials science research with the potential to enable critical innovations in biomedicine, security, sensing and more. The effort is led by UD’s Thomas H. Epps, III, the Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, with $18 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. Epps also holds a joint appointment in materials science and engineering. LaShanda Korley, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will co-direct and coordinate operational aspects of the center. The center is part of a network of academic partners and national labs focusing on the development of new materials. Regional research partners in the UD-led center include the University of Pennsylvania and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It is one of 11 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) across the country funded by the NSF in 2020. MRSECs are an important part of the materials science enterprise in the United States with a focus on fundamental research. They serve as hubs for national and international collaboration in research and in-
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Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
