Alumni News

  • Nov 7
    2019
    Jessica A. Krogstad is Associate Professor of Material Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her PhD in Materials at UCSB working with Prof. Levi. Her doctoral work dealt with the fundamentals of phase stability in thermal barrier coatings based on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). This was considered a well-understood... read more »
  • Jun 3
    2019
    The Materials Department at UCSB would like to congratulate our 2017-2018 Ph.D. graduates and welcome them into the Materials Alumni family. Twenty-four students had their degrees conferred in Fall 2017-Summer 2018. Take a look and see where a few of our graduates have headed as they embark on their careers.      Tobias Brown-Heft, Ph.D. '18, ... read more »
  • Nov 30
    2018
    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rabobank, a leading global food and agribusiness bank, today announced the recipients of its annual Rabobank Leadership awards, which recognize trailblazing companies across food and agriculture in North America that have demonstrated remarkable strides across innovation, sustainability and market leadership. Over 300 companies were nominated... read more »
  • Nov 30
    2018
    Milo Sensors Milestone   Call it an idea whose time has come: Milo Sensors, a tech startup founded by a group of recent UC Santa Barbara alumni, has evolved from a student-driven, smart business proposal into a burgeoning leader in the next wave of wearable technology. The brainchild of of enterprising science and engineering students, the startup has now taken First... read more »
  • Jun 20
    2018
    Kristin is Founder & CEO of Fluency Lighting Technologies, Inc., an emerging startup company located in Santa Barbara, CA. Fluency Lighting’s mission is to bring next-generation, energy-efficient light sources based on laser technology and materials design to key areas of the lighting industry. Founded in 2014 based on innovations in energy-efficient lighting from UC... read more »
  • Jun 4
    2018
    Nancy is a Materials Researcher in the Polymers R&D group at Nike Air Manufacturing Innovation near Portland, Oregon. Nancy studied Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College, earning a BS with high distinction and departmental honors, and interning with the Idaho National Laboratory and Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. Nancy completed a PhD in Materials Science at... read more »
  • May 24
    2018
    Alexis is Vice President, Data Center Group and General Manager, Connectivity Group at Intel Alexis runs the Connectivity Group at Intel where they develop the silicon and photonic solutions that enable hyperscale data connectivity. The overarching objective of the group is to provide world-class end-to-end connectivity to enable distributed systems that enable high... read more »
  • Jun 30
    2017
    The Materials Department at UCSB would like to congratulate our 2016-2017 Ph.D. graduates and welcome them into the Materials Alumni family. Twenty-four students had their degrees conferred in Fall 2016-Summer 2017. Take a look and see where a few of our graduates have headed as they embark on their careers.    Daniel Becerra, Ph.D. '16,... read more »
  • Feb 2
    2017
    Siddha recently completed his first semester as an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh University after spending the past decade at UCSB as a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher. During his time as a graduate student, Siddha built an ammonothermal lab and systems for gallium nitride growth and, as a postdoc, utilized the systems he... read more »
  • Dec 14
    2016
    From the article "An (Edible) Solution to Extend Produce’s Shelf Life" in The New York Times, written by Stephanie Strom: SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — What if a Florida tomato could be left on the vine long enough to turn red and fully develop its flavor — and still be ripe and juicy when it arrived at a grocery store in New York days later? That is precisely the... read more »
  • Jul 28
    2016
    From a story in The Independent written by Maddie Lee: Three Central Coast companies are the recipients of the newest series of United States Department of Energy grants awarded to small businesses. Awarded in late June at $1 million each, the grants for SixPoint Materials, Inc., MicroBio Engineering Inc., and Freedom Photonics, LLC encourage further clean energy... read more »
  • Jul 15
    2016
    Craig is the Founder and CEO of DfR Solutions, a company providing software and consulting services to the electronics community. When Craig founded DfR eleven years ago, he noticed there were numerous industry standards in place to ensure quality manufacturing, while there was nothing that helped technology companies guarantee a reliable design.  He decided to change... read more »
  • Jun 30
    2016
    The Materials Department at UCSB would like to congratulate our 2015-2016 Ph.D. graduates and welcome them into the Materials Alumni family. Twenty-seven students had their degrees conferred in Fall 2015-Summer 2016. We had a chance to learn about the new journeys that some of our graduates have begun. Take a look and see the exciting places they have headed to!  ... read more »
  • Jun 6
    2016
    The UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association announced the election of five new members to its leadership, which includes Materials Department alumnus, James Rogers, Ph.D. 2012. James and the other newly elected Board members will each serve a three-year term, beginning July 1, 2016.  The UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association promotes and cultivates alumni connections to create... read more »
  • May 27
    2016
    Bob is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Milo Sensors, Inc., a startup whose first product is a wearable, non-invasive alcohol sensor.  In January 2015, Bob met Evan Strenk, another UCSB alumnus (B.S. in Film Studies, 2014), and they became teammates in the 2015 New Venture Competition for UCSB’s Technology Management Program. After winning the New Venture... read more »
  • May 11
    2016
    John is an Associate Professor and Vargo Teaching Chair in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry.  John’s primary research goal in structural materials is to improve the performance of materials as they relate to other fields. As a result,... read more »
  • Apr 18
    2016
    Eric is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the Colorado School of Mines and has a co-appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Through his research, Eric seeks to design new materials for energy conservation through a mixture of solid-state chemistry and material physics.  The nexus of heat, light, and electricity offers both challenging... read more »
  • Jan 26
    2016
    UCSB Materials alum Michael McGehee is a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Universtiy of Colorado-Boulder where his research group is currently doing research on perovskite solar cells as well as dynamic windows that have adjustable tinting. Michael’s research interests cover organic electronics, patterning materials at the nanometer length scale, and... read more »
  • Nov 9
    2015
    Mari Lou Balmer-Millar, recently named a General Manager in Large Power Systems Division at Caterpillar Inc., spent four years as Caterpillar’s Director of Research and Advanced Engineering in the Product Development & Global Technology division. In that role, she was responsible for the execution and governance of Caterpillar’s technology strategy, overseeing... read more »
  • Oct 26
    2015
    In 2012, alum James Rogers founded Apeel Sciences, where he now serves as CEO and leads an award-winning team of scientists who aim to help provide new organic technology solutions for sustainable agriculture. At Apeel Sciences, James and his team increase the shelf life of produce without the need for refrigeration using purely organic solutions, drastically reducing... read more »
  • Oct 13
    2015
    While living and attending graduate school in Santa Barbara, alum Michael Titus took advantage of the opportunities he discovered in a place where, as he says, anything is possible. Scientifically, he found the opportunities to make, model, test, and characterize materials, a grand slam combination that is a hallmark of UCSB. The level of expertise, and mentorship, he... read more »