MSE Department Holds 42nd Annual Hilliard Symposium
The event honors the memory of Professor John E. Hilliard, and included a keynote address from alum Andrew Baluch.
Professor Kathleen Stair poses with undergraduate awardees. 
Professor Peter Voorhees presents the Distinguished Career Achievement Award to Carolyn Duran. 
Hilliard Symposium presenters pose with Professor Chris Wolverton.
Professor Mark Hersam presents the Hilliard Keynote plaque to Andrew Baluch. 
Early Career Achievement awardee Phillip Barton, left, and Professor Lincoln Lauhon.Professor Kathleen Stair poses with undergraduate awardees. Professor Peter Voorhees presents the Distinguished Career Achievement Award to Carolyn Duran. On May 15, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Engineering held the 42nd Annual John E. Hilliard Lecture and Symposium. Organized by Professor Chris Wolverton, the event opened with a welcome from department chair Mark Hersam, followed by student presentations.
The symposium’s keynote address, “Beyond the Microscope: Using a Materials Science Mindset to Shape Law and Policy,” was delivered by Andrew Baluch (’03, MS ’04), a nationally recognized patent attorney with a background in science, law, and public service. Baluch reflected on his journey from the lab bench to the courtroom and halls of Capitol Hill, shared how his early research experience in the Hersam group provided groundwork for successful litigation outcomes, and offered practical advice to materials science students considering a path outside of traditional laboratory research.
The symposium was followed by the annual Materials Science and Engineering Awards Banquet, where Carolyn Duran (PhD ’98) received the Distinguished Career Achievement Award. At Apple, Duran leads a team of more than 700 technologists focused on product analysis and compliance engineering for the company’s hardware products. Her scope includes product safety, wireless regulatory and compliance, environmental technologies, electromagnetic compatibility, and advanced materials characterization and failure analysis.
Prior to joining Apple in 2023, Duran spent 25 years at Intel Corporation, holding leadership positions across the company. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in February 2024. In addition, she served as the 2022 president of the Materials Research Society and is an adjunct professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern.
Phillip Barton (’09) accepted the Early Career Achievement Award. A director of product Development at ASML, Barton was recognized for his contributions to the research, development, and commercialization of LED technology and products at Soraa and Lumileds. He was also cited for his involvement in advancing the technology and products of automated electron-beam inspection and metrology for the semiconductor industry at ASML.
Along with Baluch, 15 graduate students delivered presentations. They were:
Mike Barsoum – Vinayak Dravid and Omar Farha Groups
“Structural Evolution and Stability of a Metal–Organic Framework for Sustainable Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide”
Zhaoxi Cao – Ian McCue Group
“Enhancing NiTi Joining via Transient Liquid Phase Bonding”
Jessica Chiu – Teri Odom Group
“Engineering Functional Nanoconstructs with Small Molecule Ligands”
Ismael Coello Ramirez – David Dunand Group
“Effect of Sc and Zr Additions on the High Temperature Properties of Additively Manufactured Aluminum Alloy”
Dale Gaines – Chris Wolverton Group
“A Unified Understanding of Minimum Lattice Thermal Conductivity”
Jack Hegarty – Vinayak Dravid Group
“Moisture-Swing Direct Air Capture: Structure-Property Relations for Efficient CO2 Removal”
Lauren Irie – Nathan Gianneschi Group
“Allomelanin-inspired Polyurethane Nanocomposites with Multi-Radiation Resistance”
Broderick Lewis – Kenneth Shull Group
“Thermomechanical Investigation of Dynamic Epoxy Matrices for Constructing Lunar Habitats”
Dilara Meli – Jonathan Rivnay Group
“Charge-state Dependent Ion Condensation near Conjugated Polymer Backbones”
John Misiaszek – David Dunand Group
“Ink-Extruded Titanium Scaffolds That Last a Lifetime”
Siddhartha Nathan – James Rondinelli Group
“Towards Novel Functionalities in Heteroanionic Materials via Control of Chemical Ordering”
Mythreyi Ramesh – Peter Voorhees Group
“How Crystals Crack: Study of Brittle Fracture in Polycrystals using Phase-field Fracture Simulations”
Jakob Reinke – Scott Barnett Group
“Connecting Phase Instability and Electrochemical Degradation in SrTi1-xFexO3- δ as Solid Oxide Cell Fuel Electrode”
Nathan Rosenmann – Nathan Gianneschi Group
“Prediction of Rheological Properties via Structure Elucidation of Solvated Hydrogels”
Thomas Song – Mark Hersam Group
“Gate-tunable Magnetoresistance in Antiferromagnetic Van der Waals FePS3 Transistors”
Hegarty, Lewis, and Cao received first-, second-, and third-place awards, respectively. The participants and winners were recognized at the banquet.