Faculty appointment (2020)

SungWoo Nam

The MAE Department is pleased to welcome SungWoo Nam to our faculty as an associate professor. Nam's research interest is at the intersection of materials, mechanics and multifunctionality, where he focuses on understanding mechanically coupled properties in low-dimensional materials and building devices based on advanced materials. He earned a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from Seoul National University, where he graduated as valedictorian from the College of Engineering. Following three years of industry experience, he completed a master’s degree in physics (2007) and a doctorate in applied physics (2011) from Harvard University. He then worked as a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Berkeley. Between 2012-2021, he was an associate professor and the Anderson Faculty Scholar in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is a recipient of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society Early Career Faculty Fellow Award, NSF CAREER Award, AFOSR and ONR Young Investigator Program Awards, NASA Early Career Faculty Award, UIUC Center for Advanced Study Fellowship, UIUC Campus Distinguished Promotion Award, UIUC Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, UIUC Engineering Rose Award for Teaching Excellence, and UIUC Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising. Many of his advisees have gone on to positions at universities and national laboratories to pursue their independent careers. Nam is excited to join the UCI MAE department, and will create new as well as continue existing collaborations in the fields of advanced materials and mechanics.