mse – Page 2 – Materials Science & Engineering

Researchers discover design rules for protein-like polymers

Prof. Ting Xu and coworkers uncover new rules for designing protein-like polymers. Findings could lead to eco-friendly plastics and other materials. For details, see https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2026/01/researchers-uncover-new-rules-for-designing-protein-like-polymers/

MSE Newsletter Fall 2025

Click on the image below to open PDF of the 2025 MSE newsletter.

Peter Hosemann Named Adjunct Professor at Montanuniversitaet Leoben

Peter Hosemann has been awarded the honorable title of Adjunct Professor at Montanuniversitaet Leoben, his alma mater. This distinction is granted to alumni recognized for their outstanding achievements in research and teaching, demonstrated through international recognition and a significant publication record. The award will be presented on December 19th in Austria during the…

Prof. Katherine Faber Delivers 2025 PPG Foundation Lecture

On Oct. 23, 2025, Prof. Katherine T. Faber, Simon Ramo Professor of Materials Science at Caltech, delivered the PPG Foundation Lecture. The PPG Foundation Lectureship for Materials Innovation and Service Excellence is presented to distinguished professors from various institutions who exemplify extraordinary commitment to promoting diversity, overcoming personal and professional hardships, providing…

Prof. Omar Yaghi shares 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry!

Yaghi is a professor of chemistry with a joint appointment in MSE. He created a field called reticular chemistry, which involves stitching together molecular building blocks to form porous structures — metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — with myriad applications. For details, please read: https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/10/08/uc-berkeleys-omar-yaghi-shares-2025-nobel-prize-in-chemistry/

Prof. Peter Hosemann Joins Journal of Nuclear Materials as Associate Editor

Professor Hosemann will serve the nuclear-materials community in structural materials for nuclear applications, with emphasis on radiation damage, corrosion, and mechanical performance, among related topics. In this role, he will help guide the journal’s scientific direction, uphold rigorous peer-review standards, and accelerate the dissemination of impactful results. He looks forward to collaborating with authors and…

Advanced Electron Microscopy Reveals Short Range Ordering Motifs in Semiconductors

In a recent paper published in Science, Prof. Minor’s group used energy-filtered scanning nano electron diffraction (4D-STEM) to uniquely identify short range ordering motifs in GeSiSn. This publication represents the first direct evidence of SRO in a semiconductor material, an exciting new area for exploration in the field of microelectronics. Read the full article here.

Prof. Junqiao Wu’s group developed in-memory sensors that mimic neurons

Concept image of an autonomous underwater robotic snake surveying metal construction. (Image by Andrey Suslov/iStock) The Wu group reports a high-speed in-memory sensor based on vanadium dioxide (VO2) that operates without an external voltage by leveraging built-in electric fields within the Debye length. The “memsensor” mimics Caenorhabditis elegans chemosensory plasticity to guide a miniature…

A smarter approach to designing metamaterials

A team led by researchers in UC Berkeley’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (led by Prof. Rayne Zheng and postdoc Marco Maurizi) has developed a new AI-driven method for the fully automated design of engineering materials with complex physical behaviors. The approach enables the inverse design of metamaterials for advanced functionalities such as energy…

Passing of Professor-in-Residence Digby Macdonald

Photo credit: UC Berkeley NE Department We are deeply saddened by the passing on June 12, 2025 of Professor Digby Macdonald. Digby was appointed Professor of Residence in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Nuclear Engineering at University of California, Berkeley in 2012. His appointment at Berkeley was preceded by a Professorship in…