MSE Hosts 39th Annual John E. Hilliard Lecture and Symposium

The symposium is the department’s annual capstone event

On May 19, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) held the 39th Annual John E. Hilliard Lecture and Symposium. 

The keynote speaker was Amber Genau (PhD ’08), an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Genau’s address “Dendrites and Diversity: One Academic's Experience Navigating Complex Structures” discussed the key experiences of Genau’s journey to and through academia, including navigating the demands of teaching, research, and service as a junior faculty member in a way that met specific needs of her institution and student population while also staying true to her personal passions and priorities. 

Beyond Genau, the other speakers were MSE PhD students nearing graduation. They included:

  • Madison Brod (advised by Jeffrey Snyder): “The Chemical Origins of High Valley Degeneracy in PbTe for Thermoelectric Applications”
  • Julia Downing (Mark Hersam): “Scalable, Energy-Efficent Processing of 2D Exfoliated Nanosheets via Cross-Flow Filtration”
  • Sean Griesemer (Chris Wolverton): “High Throughput Computational Materials Discovery”
  • Jennifer Glerum (David Dunand): “Additive Manufacturing of L12-strengthened Aluminum Alloys from Elemental Powder Blends”
  • Elise Goldfine (Michael Bedzyk, Sosssina Haile): “In Situ Ammonolysis Guides Low Temperature Synthesis of High Surface Area Cubic Molybdenum Oxynitrides”
  • Maryam Kazemzadeh-Atoufi (Peter Voorhees): “Phase Field Modeling of Localized Thermal Oxidation of Monolayer WS 2”
  • Ian Madden (Erik Luijten): “Hydrodynamically Controlled Self-organization in Mixtures of Active and Passive Colloids”
  • Bradley Keck Moreno (Derk Joester): “Dynamics of Mineralization in Sea Urchin Primary Mesenchyme Cells”
  • Brandon Ohl (Dunand): “Fe Substitutions in γ’-Strengthened Co-based Superalloys”
  • Debadutta Prusty (Monica Olvera de la Cruz): “Charge Regulation in Poly-ampholyte Brushes - Insights from Molecular Theory”),
  • Stephanie Ribet (Vinayak P. Dravid): “The Phosphate Elimination and Recovery Lightweight (PEARL Membrane): A Sustainable Environmental Remediation Approach”
  • Lauren N. Walters (James Rondinelli): “Heteroanionic Materials Discovery via AB initio Hydrothermal Synthesis-by-Design”
  • Louis S. Wang (Haile): “Exploration of Off-Stoichiometric CsH2PO4: A Novel Superprotonic Compound and Non-stoichiometry in Cubic Cs1±xH2±xPO4”
  • Chi Zhang (Dravid, Kenneth R. Poeppelmeier): “Low Thermal Conductivity in Heteroanionic Materials with Layers of Homoleptic Polyhedra”
  • Zhehao Zhu (Lincoln Lauhon): “Towards the Rational Design of Printed 2D Materials”

Ribet’s presentation won first place, followed by Wang in second, and Glerum in third.

The event also saw Downing and fellow PhD candidate Sieun Ruth Lee (advised by Samuel I. Stupp) named the winners of the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company. This award recognizes those members of the MSE community who participate in outreach and inclusivity efforts, thus creating an environment in which students from underrepresented populations can succeed. Downing and Lee were recognized for their contributions to the MSE department, the University, the greater engineering community, and beyond. 

The John E. Hilliard Symposium is the MSE department’s annual capstone event, highlighting its senior graduate students’ original research. This symposium, named for late professor John E. Hilliard, encourages communication between the MSE department and representatives of companies and agencies that support its work. It is also an opportunity to welcome back alumni while promoting career paths and successes of graduates.

McCormick News Article