Core and Emeritus Faculty

Core Faculty

Lorenzo Valdevit, Ph.D.

Chair, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Director, Institute for Design & Manufacturing Innovation (IDMI)
Research Interests: Architected materials, mechanical metamaterials, additive manufacturing, optimal design
Email: valdevit@uci.edu
Research Lab

Diran Apelian

Diran Apelian, Sc.D.

Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Solidification processing, aluminum metallurgy, clean metal/melt refining, plasma processing / spray forming, powder metallurgy, nanostructured materials, semi-solid processing, thermal processing, resource recovery and recycling, innovation in engineering education
E-mail: dapelian@uci.edu
Research Lab

William Bowman

William Bowman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Materials for energy conversion and storage, advanced transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy, correlating multiscale properties, electrical properties of ceramics, electrochemistry and defect chemistry, interfaces, grain boundaries and surfaces, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, ceramic processing and thin-film growth
Email: will.bowman@uci.edu
Research Lab

Stacy Copp, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Physics and Astronomy; Samueli Faculty Development Chair
Research Interests: Soft matter-based photonic materials, metal nanoclusters, polymer nanostructures, self-assembly, biomimetics, machine learning for materials discovery
Email: stacy.copp@uci.edu
Research Lab

Ty Christoff-Tempesta, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Molecular design, polymer chemistry, small-molecule self-assembly, macromolecular architectures, soft matter dynamics, bio-inspired materials, sustainability and health
E-mail: ty.christoff@uci.edu
Research Lab

Shen Dillon

Shen Dillon, Ph.D.

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Materials characterization, interface science, in situ microscopy, materials for extreme environments, materials structure-properties relationships in crystalline materials
E-mail: sdillon1@uci.edu

James Earthman

James Earthman, Ph.D.

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Biomaterials, compositionally complex materials, nanocrystalline alloys, quantitative percussion diagnostics, deformation and damage processes
Email: earthman@uci.edu

Kai He

Kai He, Ph.D.

Department Graduate Advisor for Continuing Students, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and holography, nanostructured multifunctional materials, energy conversion and storage, quantum materials and devices
Email: kai.he@uci.edu
Research Lab

Allon Hochbaum, Ph.D.

Department Undergraduate Advisor and Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Chemistry; Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Research Interests: Biological materials, protein materials, electronic conductivity in proteins, materials and methods to study microbes and microbial communities
Email: hochbaum@uci.edu
Research Lab

David Kisailus

David Kisailus, Ph.D.

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Investigation of synthesis – structure and structure - property relationships in biological and biomimetic materials, development of multifunctional structural materials, synthesis and crystal growth of nanoscale materials for energy conversion, storage and environmental remediation
E-mail: david.k@uci.edu

Elizabeth M.Y. Lee, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Samueli Faculty Development Chair
Research Interests: Computational materials and chemistry; quantum, electronic and energy materials; nanoscale transport phenomena; machine learning
Email: elizabeth.lee@uci.edu
Research Lab

Daniel Mumm

Daniel Mumm, Ph.D.

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Materials for extreme environments, power generation and propulsion systems, inorganics for energy conversion and storage, coatings for thermal/environmental protection, additive manufacturing, materials degradation, and advanced materials characterization via electron microscopy, spectroscopy, and diffraction analysis
Email: mumm@uci.edu

Xiaoqing Pan

Xiaoqing Pan, Ph.D.

Henry Samueli Endowed Chair, Distinguished Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics and Astronomy; Director, Irvine Materials Research Institute
Research Interests: Atomic-scale structure, properties and dynamic behaviors of advanced materials including thin films and nanostructures for memories, catalysts, and energy conversion and storage devices
Email: xiaoqing.pan@uci.edu
Research Lab

Regina Ragan

Regina Ragan, Ph.D.

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research Interests: Self-assembly, nanophotonic sensors for medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring, machine learning analysis of spectral data
E-mail: rragan@uci.edu
Research Lab

Qi Song

Qi Song, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Discovery of Low-dimensional quantum materials through atomic-scale synthesis, spectroscopy characterization, and device development leveraging interface states and emergent quantum effects
Email: qi.song@uci.edu Research Lab

Emeritus Faculty

Enrique Lavernia

Enrique Lavernia, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Nanostructured materials, additive manufacturing, powder metallurgy, mechanical behavior
Email:lavernia@uci.edu

Martha Mecartney

Martha Mecartney, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Ceramics for energy applications and for extreme environments, flash sintering, interfacial design of thermal conductivity, transmission electron microscopy
Email: martham@uci.edu
Research Lab

Farghalli Mohamed

Farghalli Mohamed, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Research Interests: Mechanical behavior of engineering materials such as metals, composites and ceramics, the correlation between behavior and microstructure, creep and superplasticity, mechanisms responsible for strengthening and fracture
E-mail: famohame@uci.edu
Research Lab

Julie M. Schoenung, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor Emerita of Materials Science and Engineering and Co-Director of the World Institute of Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM)
Research Interests: Materials selection, green engineering, materials processing and characterization, nanostructured materials, structure-property relationships
E-mail: julie.schoenung@uci.edu

Visiting Faculty and Lecturers

Horst Hahn

Horst Hahn, Ph.D.

Distinguished Visiting Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Research Interests: Defects and diffusion in metals and ceramics, nanostructured and amorphous materials, tailored and tunable properties of nanostructures, energy materials, printed electronics, high entropy materials
E-mail: horst.hahn@kit.edu

Chris Hoo

Chris Hoo, Ph.D.

Continuing Lecturer of Materials Science and Engineering
E-mail: cmhoo@uci.edu

Jim Shackelford

James Shackelford, Ph.D.

Visiting Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering
E-mail: jfshacke@uci.edu