News

  • Nov 24
    2020
    Professor Chabinyc Elected Fellow of AAAS
    Professor Michael Chabinyc, Chair of UC Santa Barbara’s Materials Department, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. This year, AAAS members selected 489 fellows from around the world for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its... read more »
  • Nov 18
    2020
    Excellence Cited
    Three Materials Faculty among World’s Most Influential Scientists John Bowers, Nobel Laureate Alan Heeger, and Chris Van de Walle, three materials professors in UC Santa Barbara’s College of Engineering, are among the most influential scientists in the world, according to the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers List released by the Web of Science Group, a Clarivate Analytics... read more »
  • Nov 2
    2020
    Esmat Farzana, Materials; Yating Wan, ECE; Deeksha DangWal, Comp Science
    Three UC Santa Barbara scientists are among the one hundred fifty women nationwide who have been invited to the 2020 Rising Stars in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Workshop. Esmat Farzana, a postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Department, Yating Wan, a postdoc in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department... read more »
  • Oct 12
    2020
    Advancing Multiprincipal Alloys
    The most significant advances in human civilization are marked by the progression of the materials that humans use. The Stone Age gave way to the Bronze Age, which in turn gave way to the Iron Age. New materials disrupt the technologies of the time, improving life and the human condition. Modern technologies can likewise be directly traced to innovations in the materials... read more »
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  • Aug 26
    2020
    Quantum Future
    Researchers partner with national labs in DOE-funded collaborations to expand research in quantum sciences. The nation is poised to usher in a new era of knowledge and innovation in the quantum sciences, thanks to a new crop of federally-funded collaborations that bring together national labs, research centers, university and industry.   UC Santa Barbara... read more »
  • Aug 25
    2020
    Memory Protein
    Researchers uncover unusual glassy behavior in a disordered protein. When UC Santa Barbara materials scientist Omar Saleh and graduate student Ian Morgan sought to understand the mechanical behaviors of disordered proteins in the lab, they expected that after being stretched, one particular model protein would snap back instantaneously, like a rubber band... read more »
  • Aug 17
    2020
    Professor Hawker receives the 2021 Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success
    Professor Craig Hawker receives the 2021 Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, a national award of the American Chemical Society. The citation for the award is: "In recognition of Dr. Hawker's innovative leadership in creating, developing, and commercializing revolutionary polymer-based therapeutics and personal care products through multiple successful start... read more »
  • Aug 14
    2020
    UCSB Names Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    UCSB has announced the appointment of our Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dr. Belinda Robnett, effective September 1, 2020, pending approval by the UC Office of the President. Dr. Robnett comes to UC Santa Barbara from UC Irvine, where she was the Inaugural Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity in the School of Social... read more »
  • Jul 30
    2020
    Materials COVID-19 Operations
      RESEARCH RAMP UP: College of Engineering Overview: https://engineering.ucsb.edu/information-research-ramp   Building Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) EII (Engineering II): /sites/default/files/docs/resources-forms/covid_phase_iii_engineering_2_building_access_6-17-20.pdf ESB (Engineering Sciences Building... read more »
  • Jul 29
    2020
    Push for Bio-based Polymers
    NSF awards UC Santa Barbara, UCLA $23.7 million for collaboration focused on using natural building blocks to make new materials. Synthetic polymers — think plastic and its chemical cousins — are among the foundations of modern life. The ubiquity of such petroleum-based materials has everything to do with their combination of strength, flexibility and chemical inertness,... read more »
  • Jul 28
    2020
    Solving a DNA Mystery
    “A watched pot never boils,” as the saying goes, but that was not the case for UC Santa Barbara researchers watching a “pot” of liquids formed from DNA. In fact, the opposite happened. Recent advances in cellular biology have enabled scientists to learn that the molecular components of living cells (such as DNA and proteins) can bind to each other and form liquid droplets... read more »
  • Jun 25
    2020
    UV Lights the Way
    Materials scientists work on the semiconductors that could transform how we disinfect surfaces, spaces, personal protective equipment — even the air we breathe The COVID-19 outbreak brought with it an almost immediate and unprecedented national shortage of personal protective gear needed by health-care workers and others seeking to prevent the spread of the virus. N95... read more »
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  • Jun 22
    2020
    Professor Saleh receives a W.M. Keck Foundation Award
    For UC Santa Barbara materials scientist Omar Saleh and synthetic biologist Enoch Yeung, there is no machine or material more inspiring and innovative than living tissue, no process more fascinating than life. “The most biologically important thing that happens in the cell’s nucleus is that there are genes, the genes get read and turned into proteins and you get all of... read more »
  • Jun 15
    2020
    Mayela Aldaz Cervantes receives the University Award of Distinction
     Mayela Aldaz Cervantes receives the University Award of Distinction this spring. The award recognizes students who have contributed greatly to the quality of life by providing unselfish service to others within a particular area.    Advised by Mehrabian Distinguished Professor of Materials Carlos G. Levi, Aldaz Cervantes is a PhD candidate in the Materials Department.... read more »
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  • Jun 9
    2020
    In Solidarity: Black Lives Matter
    In Solidarity: Black Lives Matter Friday, June 5, 2020 Over the past week, our nation has been convulsed in response to the appalling reality of yet another black individual being killed by a white police officer. The UC Santa Barbara College of Engineering stands with those in our community and around the world who are hurting and frustrated in the wake of... read more »
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  • Jun 4
    2020
    A graduate student perspective on surviving in the Covid-19 virtual world
    Victoria Christensen shares her experiences and suggestions on how to make the most of life under the work-at-home conditions generated by the Covid-19 pandemic in a recent piece written for the Ceramics Bulletin. She addresses not only handling coursework and research for an experimentalist with no access to labs, but also taking advantage of the opportunities to enrich... read more »
  • May 19
    2020
    Professor Frank Zok receives the 2020 Nadai Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
    Professor Frank Zok will receive the 2020 Nadai Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was selected for the Medal, “for advancing the understanding of the design and performance of structural materials, including ceramic and metal composites as well as lattice materials, through the development of novel test protocols, theoretical and... read more »
  • May 1
    2020
    News Roundup
               The Power of Light  https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2020/019860/power-light    UCSB Researchers Utilize Resources To Help Fight Coronavirus  https://dailynexus.com/2020-04-20/i-think-were-all-trying-to-help-out-as-much-as-we-can-ucsb-researchers-utilize-resources-to-help-fight-coronavirus/    Remote Research Solutions  https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2020/019865/remote-... read more »
  • Apr 17
    2020
    New Math: III-V Plus IV-VI Equal an NSF Career Award
    For the past four-plus decades, the vast majority of semiconductors used in LEDs, optical communication, and light detection have been “III-V” materials, so called because they are compounds made by combining elements from groups III and V in the periodic table. Kunal Mukherjee, an assistant professor in the Materials Department in the UC Santa Barbara... read more »
  • Apr 2
    2020
    2020 Fellowship Awardees
    The Materials Department would like to acknowledge our 2020 Graduate Student Fellowship Awardees The Department congratulates our NSF Graduate Research Fellowship recipients and those who received honorable mentions.   Department Chair, Prof. Michael Chabinyc says, “The NSF fellowships recognize the research abilities of our students as well as their plans for educating... read more »
  • Mar 30
    2020
    Materials Department 2020 Spring Class Information
    We are working on publishing information concering the Spring 2020 Class Instruction, please check back as this information will be updated as we receive it. 204: Introduction to Magnetism and Magnetic Materials Instructor: Wilson Format: Live Zoom lectures First class date: 3/30 3:30PM-4:45PM 209C: Transmission Electron Microscopy Instructor:... read more »
  • Mar 6
    2020
    Nicole Michelfelder-Schauser receives the 2020 Frank J. Padden Jr. Award
    Nicole Michelfelder-Schauser, a graduate student in the Segalman and Seshadri groups, has received the 2020 Frank J. Padden Jr. Award. The Frank J. Padden, Jr. Award recognizes a graduate student for "Excellence in Polymer Physics Research". This is the highest honor bestowed by the Division of Polymer Physics of the American Physical Society. Nicole was selected for her... read more »
  • Mar 5
    2020
    Materials students selected to participate in 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
    Two UC Santa Barbara Materials PhD students will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and learn from more than 40 Nobel Laureates this summer in Germany. Nicole Michelfelder-Schauser and Andrew Rowberg are among 660 young scientists from 100 countries selected to participate in the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. This year’s meeting is dedicated to... read more »
  • Jan 22
    2020
    Professor Shuji Nakamura to receive the 2020 NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science
    For “pioneering discoveries, synthesis and commercial development of Gallium nitride LEDs and their use in sustainable solid-state light sources, which are reducing global greenhouse gas emissions while also reducing costs to those adopting this technology,” Nakamura has been selected to receive the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 2020 Award for the Industrial... read more »
  • Jan 10
    2020
    Dr. Xie Zhang receives NERSC 2019 Early Career Award
    Dr. Xie Zhang, a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Van de Walle group, has been selected to receive the 2019 Early Career Award in High Performance Scientific Computing from the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). The award recognizes early-career scientists who make high-impact and innovative contributions to science. Xie Zhang has produced... read more »