On March 10, aerospace manufacturing firm Pratt & Whitney announced it would help establish a center of excellence for solidification science and materials science at UCI, to be housed in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering. … The center will focus on the metal and material processing challenges in the manufacturing of critical jet engine components, such as single-crystal turbine blades …. Diran Apelian, UCI Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering, will be the center’s inaugural director. Read More