Professor Amanda Krause of Carnegie Mellon University visited the Department of Materials Science and Engineering on October 13, 2025, as part of the Hassel and Marianne Ledbetter colloquium series. Her lecture explored the use of advanced characterization techniques to understand grain boundary engineering and microstructure evolution in ceramics, offering promising implications for tailoring materials to specific applications.
Written by Joseph Kallal
Pictured: Associate Professor Jessica Krogstad (left) and Professor Amanda Krause (right)
On Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, had the pleasure of hosting Professor Amanda Krause, an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, for the Hassel and Marianne Ledbetter colloquium series. Professor Krause is a leading researcher exploring microstructure evolution, grain boundary structure-property relationships and crystal nucleation and growth in ceramics.
Krause received her B.S. and M.S. in materials science and engineering from Virginia Tech, and her Ph.D. in materials science from Brown University. Before CMU, she was a lecturer and postdoctoral research associate at Lehigh University, later becoming an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award (2022) and the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering George Tallman Ladd Research Award.
In her lecture, she focused on how her research uses advanced characterization techniques like High Energy X-ray Diffraction Microscopy (HEDM) to determine how to influence grain growth and engineer grain boundaries. These factors will help us understand how to alter processes to tailor materials to specific needs.
Professor Krause’s insights and research will open the door to many new possibilities and advancements for the future of materials science and engineering.