Materials Momentum: Annual Report 2024-25
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Dear Materials Science and Engineering Community:
As 2026 approaches, we can feel a step change coming across materials science and engineering nationwide. New materials are fueling advances in quantum computing and artificial intelligence, while these transformative technologies are, in turn, accelerating materials discovery and innovation at unprecedented speeds. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering is empowering our faculty and students to lead this revolution.
Our faculty gained remarkable momentum in Fiscal Year 2025, with annual research expenditures growing significantly—now exceeding $1 million per tenured faculty member. Assistant Professor Chris Anderson’s pioneering work at the intersection of materials and quantum computing earned national recognition, while Founder Professor Axel Hoffmann advanced the frontiers of spintronics. Professor Pinshane Huang directly visualized heat at the atomic level for the first time in history. Associate Professor Hua Wang was recognized with a Distinguished Scientist Award by the Sontag Foundation to engineer vaccines fighting back against glioblastoma brain cancer. Professor Qian Chen captured the first-ever observation of phonon dynamics in nanoparticle assemblies using liquid phase electron microscopy.
We are equally proud of our efforts to prepare students to be tomorrow’s research and industry leaders. Associate Professor Qing Cao and colleagues are developing innovative programs to train the next generation of semiconductor professionals, ensuring our department remains central to this critical sector. We expanded our programs at every level, welcoming 37 new Ph.D. students in FY25, and introduced our largest-ever freshman class, 140 outstanding students, in FY26. This record class also benefits from our new Materials Engineering + Data Science major, combining deep materials expertise with computational fluency to address tomorrow’s most complex challenges.
Yet as we celebrate these achievements, we recognize the evolving national research landscape. Federal priorities and funding mechanisms are shifting, presenting new uncertainties alongside unprecedented technological opportunities. Our department remains steadfast in advocating for sustained investment in fundamental research while supporting our community as we adapt and innovate. Our commitment to curiosity-driven discovery and translating materials science into societal benefit has never been more vital.
$24M
New Grant Funding (FY24)
$1M
Research Expenditure Per
Tenure Track Faculty (FY24)
$20M
Total Endowment (FY24)
Powering Tomorrow's Semiconductors
As the semiconductor industry races to fill 67,000 projected job openings by 2030, the nation faces a dual challenge: developing talent and advancing technology. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is tackling both, training tomorrow's workforce while driving breakthrough innovations in semiconductor materials and manufacturing.
Federal grant supercharges semiconductor training
The Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network, led by Associate Professors Qing Cao and Shaloo Rakheja, trains community college students through hands-on clean room experience. Using a $2 million grant to partner with colleges and businesses, the initiative creates direct employment pathways while prioritizing diversity in an industry where underrepresented groups comprise less than 13 percent of workers.
Pilot program paves path to workforce solutions
This groundbreaking pilot program, organized by Associate Professor Qing Cao in 2024, brought eight Parkland College students to campus for hands-on semiconductor training. Over three weeks, students progressed from classroom lectures to fabricating fully functional transistors and diodes in a state-of-the-art cleanroom. The program's success—confirmed by working devices and enthusiastic student feedback—provided the foundation for the $2 million Illinois Semiconductor Workforce Network expansion.
Scientists make imaging history, revealing hidden atomic vibrations
In a breakthrough paper published in Science and directed by Professor Pinshane Huang, researchers directly visualized heat at the atomic level for the first time in history. Using electron ptychography — an advanced imaging technique — the team captured the highest resolution images ever taken of a single atom, revealing previously undetected vibrational modes called phasons in twisted two-dimensional materials. These atomic vibrations, which manifest as heat, had eluded direct observation until now. The discovery could enable the development of next-generation electronics with improved thermal management by allowing scientists to identify and address heat-related defects in ultra-thin materials.
The Power of Spintronics
At The Grainger College of Engineering, researchers are unlocking new possibilities in spintronics — a field that manipulates the magnetic “spin” of electrons to create faster, more energy-efficient computing technologies. Founder Professor Axel Hoffmann is leading advances that span from fundamental spin behavior to quantum information science. His team recently developed a new experimental method to directly measure heating in spintronic devices, clarifying how electric currents and temperature influence magnetization. In parallel, Hoffmann and collaborators demonstrated that magnon pulses—quantum spin waves in magnetic materials—can be precisely controlled to form interference patterns, a key step toward quantum spintronic systems. Together, these discoveries position Illinois at the forefront of spin-based computing.
Health and Medicine
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is developing life-saving healthcare innovations, advancing technologies from solid-state nanopores for rapid DNA sequencing to injectable hydrogels that provide long-lasting immune responses. Researchers are designing biomaterials for more effective cancer immunotherapies and uncovering new strategies to address obesity.
Energy and the Environment
The global energy transition depends on breakthrough materials that can store, convert and deliver clean power more efficiently. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is advancing critical solutions across multiple fronts—from high-temperature battery materials that improve electric vehicle performance to precision-engineered catalysts that lower the cost of green hydrogen production.
Helical peptides boost conductivity for next-generation solid-state batteries
Associate Professor Chris Evans has discovered that peptide polymers with a helical structure—the same configuration found in biological proteins—conduct ions far more efficiently than conventional polymers. The helix creates a macrodipole that enhances charge transport, delivering higher conductivity and greater stability while remaining biodegradable for end-of-life recycling.
Perry lab helps unlock more efficient green hydrogen production
An interdisciplinary team has used precision defect engineering to boost catalyst performance for green hydrogen production, potentially lowering costs for this clean fuel. Professor Nicola Perry's thermogravimetric analysis revealed that electronic state changes, rather than oxygen content, drive the improved reactivity—a finding that redirected how researchers optimize these materials.
Pursuing a clean energy future through battery innovations
Professor Paul Braun is advancing battery technology on two critical fronts: developing materials that allow electric vehicle batteries to operate at higher temperatures, simplifying cooling systems and reducing costs, and pioneering efficient recycling methods that dissolve and redeposit electrode materials directly onto new components. His approach could make battery recycling both economically attractive and environmentally sustainable, cutting energy use dramatically compared to today's processes.
Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced manufacturing is being transformed by the ability to predict, observe and control material formation. Materials researchers are merging computational modeling with experimental precision—using predictive algorithms to design toughness-enhanced polymers, capturing real-time phonon dynamics to engineer programmable metamaterials and translating nature's patterning strategies into scalable processes that enhance strength and resilience.
Strength in Steel
From nuclear reactors to 3D printing, alloys are being reimagined for extreme performance and durability. Materials science and engineering researchers are revealing how metals can self-heal under continuous radiation, uncovering the microscale networks that give additively manufactured stainless steels superior corrosion resistance and developing computational tools that predict complex alloy behavior to accelerate the design of next-generation printable metals.
Examining corrosion resistance in 3D-printed alloys
Assistant Professor Marie Charpagne's team discovered that cellular structures formed during 3D printing create a protective microscale network that gives additively manufactured stainless steels superior corrosion resistance. This breakthrough establishes a framework for designing next-generation printable alloys with enhanced durability.
Mapping alloy behavior for advanced additive manufacturing
Professor Dallas Trinkle developed a computational framework that accurately predicts complex phase behavior in metal alloys, addressing key challenges in additive manufacturing. His approach maps how alloys behave in liquid immiscible systems, accelerating the design of next-generation printable metals.
Team discovers self-healing metals under radiation
A team led by Assistant Professor Marie Charpagne, Professor Emeritus Robert Averback and Professor Pascal Bellon discovered that certain metal alloys self-heal under continuous radiation by forming stable nanoscale precipitate patterns. When disrupted, the materials automatically reorganize back to this optimal structure, transforming radiation from a destructive force into a tool for resilience in nuclear reactors and space applications.
375
undergraduate students (2025-26)
231
graduate students (2025-26)
33
dedicated faculty (2025-26)
Paul Braun elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Professor and Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering Paul Braun has been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining an elite group of leaders and innovators. He is one of two Illinois Grainger Engineering faculty members in the academy's 2025 class of 250 distinguished honorees.
Qian Chen wins prestigious lectureship honors
Professor Qian Chen's groundbreaking research in the areas of nanotechnology and colloid and surface chemistry earned two awards from the American Chemical Society.
Sloan Research Fellowship awarded to materials faculty
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded the 2025 Sloan Research Feloowship to Assistant Professor Yingjie Zhang, recognizing his outstanding research involving complex interfaces and molecular systems. He is one of three winners in this class of awardees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Sontag Foundation, American Cancer Society support Wang Lab research
Assistant Professor Hua Wang is leading pioneering research in biomaterials-driven cancer immunotherapy, supported by two prestigious national awards from The Sontag Foundation and the American Cancer Society. His work focuses on next-generation exosome- and mRNA-based vaccines to enhance immune responses against aggressive tumors like glioblastoma and triple-negative breast cancer.
Anderson pursuit of quantum advancements earns CAREER honors, additional recognition
Assistant Professor Chris Anderson continues to lead in the quantum computing research field, from noise-free scalable quantum photonics to quantum entanglement. His breakthroughs are turning heads on a national scale and include National Science Foundation CAREER Award funding, the Google Academic Research Award, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award, and a Coherent II/IV Foundation Block Gift award.
Celebrated on Campus
Here at home in The Grainger College of Engineering, we are excited to recognize the faculty who make an impact in our community. This includes not just exciting advacements in research, but also the impact made on students every day in our classrooms.
Materials alumna wins National Academy of Science honors
Jennifer A. Lewis, a graduate of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and current professor at Harvard University, earned the prestigious 2025 James Prize in Science and Technology.
Department recognizes contributions of accomplished alumni
Materials science and engineering recognized two outstanding alumni at the spring 2025 banquet for their exceptional careers: Julie M. Schoenung ('83 B.S.) with the Distinguished Merit Award and Rob Shepherd ('02 B.S., '10 Ph.D.) with the Young Alum Award.
Impacting Lives One Gut at a Time: The Matt Lancor Story
Matt Lancor turned a simple grocery store discovery into Kombuchade, a gut-health focused kombucha brand formulated with athletes in mind. After leaving his engineering career to pursue his vision, Lancor has spent the past decade building his company from his parents' kitchen to a nationwide operation with a manufacturing plant in Chicago.
Students Celebrated at 2025 Awards Banquet
The Illinois materials community gathered in the Illini Union Ballroom to celebrate the students and alumni who are pushing the boundaries of materials science and engineering. The evening honored outstanding achievements and recognized the students who showcase incredible potential.
Meet Alice Gao: 2025 Knights of St. Patrick Honoree
When The Grainger College of Engineering named its Knights of St. Patrick awardees in 2024-25, senior Alice Gao was the only representative from the materials department. The award recognized her leadership, academic excellence and service to the Illinois community.
Arghya Patra earns Professor Joe Greene Postdoctoral Fellowship award
This award honors Greene's legacy of mentoring early-career scientists in materials science and related fields. Patra's research focuses on developing electrochemical manufacturing techniques for ceramic oxide electrodes in energy storage applications, continuing Greene's pioneering work in thin film materials science.
Dual Honors Earned at Materials Research Society Event
Jiahui Li, a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering, earned both the Graduate Student Gold Award and the Arthur Nowick Graduate Student Award at a spring 2025 Materials Research Society meeting. She is the first Illinois materials student to win the Nowick award.
Additional Student Awards
Materials Science and Technology (MS&T) 2024 Technical Meeting and Exhibition
Material Advantage: Illinois student society wins Chapter of Excellence.
Ray Tsai: Student wins second place in Undergraduate Student Speaking Competition.
Schleife bridges continents as quantum simulation instructor
Associate Professor André Schleife traveled to Nigeria in 2024 to teach computational materials science methods to approximately 50 students at the University of Ibadan. The hands-on course equipped students with the skills to run simulations and apply them to their own research while building international research connections.
Student supports water quality research in Tanzania
Ph.D. student Bengü Süeda Şengül applied her expertise in advanced characterization techniques to help a Tanzanian researcher evaluate biochar for water treatment, earning first place in a JUAMI Charz Research Proposal Competition for the collaborative proposal.
140 students
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering welcomed an all-time record class in 2025-26.
The future of materials research has never looked brighter!
Leading the Semiconductor Renaissance: Q&A With Rose Castanares
When Rose Castanares (B.S. '88, Ceramics Engineering) returned to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she was thrilled to share with students about her ascension to president of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Arizona, where she is overseeing the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.
Chen team publishes nanoparticle patterning breakthrough in Nature
Professor Qian Chen's research team developed an art-inspired atomic stenciling technique that allows precise patterning of nanoparticle surfaces. Published in Nature, the breakthrough enables large-batch production of "patchy nanoparticles" with more than 20 distinct designs for electronic, optical, and biomedical applications.
Stinville named inaugural winner of international collaboration grant
Assistant Professor Jean-Charles Stinville was announced in summer 2025 as the first recipient of the Shankari Subramanyam Impact Grant, supporting a May 2025 collaborative research visit to the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. During his two-week engagement, Stinville led lectures, workshops and discussions that fostered new research connections between Illinois and India's academic community.
Bellon studying irradiated steel behavior via Michigan partnership
Donald W. Hamer Professor Pascal Bellon's research team received funding through the Nuclear Science User Facilities program to investigate how special grain boundaries in stainless steel respond to low doses of radiation. The study aims to better predict and prevent radiation-induced damage that can lead to cracking in reactor components.