Materials symposium highlighted research and industry cooperation

Panelists at the symposium — Panelists from industry and academia discussed the myriad ways materials science serves as a foundation for research. Photos by Frank Wojciechowski

Speakers and panelists at this year’s Princeton Institute of Materials symposium spanned the wide reach of materials science and reflected the discipline’s influence on the full spectrum of technological inquiry.

“I view materials as basically the underpinning of everything we do in engineering and science,” Andrea Goldsmith, the Dean of Engineering, told participants at the conference’s opening in Maeder Hall on April 6. “We weave materials through every advance – semiconductors; using materials in biology to mitigate climate change; for building the next generation of soft robots. Materials are the fabric of everything we do in engineering and applied science.”

Craig Arnold, director of the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials and the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, delivered closing remarks.

Goldsmith, the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and cofounder of two startups, said working with industry is a key role for the materials institute and the engineering school. “The most important problems in research come from industry,” she said.

Dean for Research Pablo Debenedetti said current industrial funding for research is the highest in Princeton’s history. He said the materials institute’s Imaging and Analysis Center and Micro and Nano Fabrication Center have been critical to building collaborations with industry.

“Today’s symposium will illustrate how materials research impacts and acts as an incubator for interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Debenedetti, the Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science and a professor of chemical and biological engineering. “Princeton, we are proud to say, is one of the premier locations around the world for materials science research and education. At its center is the Princeton Institute of Materials. It features a unique integration of world-class facilities, fundamental interdisciplinary research, and high-impact innovation engagement with industry.”

Students, researchers and industry representatives met during a lunch break.

Symposium Panels and Featured Speakers

Welcoming remarks

Craig B. Arnold, Director, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials. Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University.
Pablo G. Debenedetti, Dean for Research. Class of 1950 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University.
Andrea J. Goldsmith, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science. Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University.

Kelsey Hatzell, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Keynote

Innovation in Semiconductor Technology: From Design to Smart Manufactory

Ahmad Bahai, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Texas Instruments.

New Faculty Talk: Atomically Engineered Thin Films and Devices

Saien Xie, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University.

New Faculty Talk: Molecules in Optical Cavities: Precision Spectroscopy & Strong Light-Matter Interactions

Marissa L. Weichman, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University.

Glaucio Paulino, Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials.

Panel 1: Materials at the Heart of Bioengineering

Moderator: Andrej Košmrlj, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University.

Panelists:
Jingjie Hu, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University.
Nanshu Lu, Temple Foundation Endowed Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin.
Celeste M. Nelson, Wilke Family Professor in Bioengineering. Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Director, Program in Engineering Biology, Princeton University.

New Faculty Talk: Synchrotron Imaging of Solid State Batteries from the Nanoscale to Mesoscale

Kelsey B. Hatzell, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University.

New Faculty Talk: Design and Additive Manufacturing of Architected Cement-based Materials

Reza Moini, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University.

Researchers presented their work in poster sessions.

Luncheon Session, Friend Center Convocation Room

Enabling Category Defining Products Through Materials

Session Chair:  Craig B. Arnold, Director, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials. Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University.
Speaker: Christian Theriault ’07 *08, Partner, Material Impact.

Panel 2: Material Innovation for Water and Energy

Moderator: Z. Jason Ren, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Associate Director for Research, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University.

Panelists:
Kelsey B. Hatzell, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University.
Marta C. Hatzell, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Eric M.V. Hoek, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles.
Robert Kostecki, Senior Scientist and Division Director of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources (ESDR), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Marcus Hultmark, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering

Panel 3: Entrepreneurship and the Role of University Research and Facilities

Moderator: Marcus N. Hultmark, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University.

Panelists:
Jessica Freyer, Principal, Rhapsody Venture Partners.
Christina A. Pellicane, Lead Instructor, I-Corps Hub, Office of the Vice Dean for Innovation, Princeton University.
Christian Theriault ’07 *08, Partner, Material Impact.
Anthony J. Williams, New Ventures Associate with the Office of Technology Licensing, Princeton University.

New Faculty Talk: Metamaterials

Glaucio H. Paulino, Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Engineering. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University.

Panel 4: Advanced Manufacturing: Going Beyond the Limits

Moderator: Glaucio H. Paulino, Margareta Engman Augustine Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University.

Panelists:
Emily C. Davidson, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University.
Horacio D. Espinosa, James and Nancy Farley Professor of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and the Director of the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Program at the McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University.
H. Jerry Qi, Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Emily D. Sanders, Assistant Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Closing Remarks

Craig B. Arnold, Director, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials. Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University.