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Get Excited About Materials Science (GEMS) Camp brought high school students to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the summer of 2026 to learn about materials science. They took part in lectures and exciting hands-on experiments at the brand new Eltoukhy Family Innovation Lab. 

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology hosted the "Roadmap for In-Space Manufacturing of Resilient Structures" workshop, bringing together NASA, Air Force Research Laboratory, industry and academic leaders — including  Nancy Sottos — to chart research priorities for manufacturing, materials and infrastructure beyond Earth. 

Donald W. Hamer Professor Pascal Bellon has been named the interim director of the Materials Research Laboratory, effective Aug. 16, 2026. He will replace Professor Paul Braun, who is set to become department head of materials science and engineering, in this role. 

Samyak Chordia, a fifth-year PhD student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will give a presentation at the fall 2026 American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago. He earned a Graduate Student Travel Award from the ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE), which provides partial travel support for him to attend. 

Associate Professor Nicola Perry was named to the 2026-27 Emerging Research Leaders Academy as part of a cohort of 16 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty. Participants will take part in monthly workshops to hone leadership traits, acquire team science skills and learn to effectively communicate their research.

Materials science and engineering undergraduate student Hailey Pohl was part of a project named a finalist in the NASA Space to Soil Challenge, which asked teams to develop or describe innovations for small satellites. Her collaboration with Dibyansh Choudury was titled, "LOOP: Lightweight Onboard Observation Pipeline for Small Satellites."