uc berkeley – Page 2 – Materials Science & Engineering

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…

Prof. Zak Al Balushi wins the 2025 Schieber Prize!

Prof. Zakaria Al Balushi is awarded the 2025 Schieber Prize by the International Organization for Crystal Growth for his seminal contributions to interfacial crystallization of low-dimensional materials.

DOE Office of Science Features Prof. Kristin Persson on Data & Machine Learning

Scientists recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow Award are pursuing answers to science’s biggest questions. Kristin Persson is a professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Materials Project at DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/big-questions-kristin-persson-data-and-machine-learning?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery&nrg_redirect=473387

Prof. Ritchie is elected to NAS!

On April 29, 2025, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced its newly elected members. MSE’s Prof. R. Ritchie is one of them! Prof. Ritchie became one of the very few scholars who earned membership in both NAS and NAE (the National Academy of Engineering). Election to the National Academy is one of the highest…

Don’t sweat it! Wearable sweat sensor can track your hydration status during physical and mental activities

Photo by iStock You can read the full article here: https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2025/04/dont-sweat-it/

Prof. Phillip Messersmith has been named an AAAS fellow

Prof. Phillip Messersmith has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), for his distinguished contributions to the field of bioinspired materials and adhesives, particularly for pioneering work on mussel-inspired adhesive materials for biomedical applications. For details, see: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2025/03/27/two-berkeley-lab-scientists-named-aaas-fellows-2/?utm_source=LBNL&utm_campaign=4b85d8ccd0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_03_26_05_42&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4b85d8ccd0-253348736

A New Way to Engineer Composite Materials

Silica nanoparticles affixed with a distribution of polystyrene chains (purple) self-assemble into hexagonal lattices. Depending on how the chains are organized on the particle surface, they tangle together (purple) or unravel (blue) when compressed. (Credit: Tiffany Chen; Ting Xu) You can find the article here: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2025/03/06/a-new-way-to-engineer-composite-materials/