Weston Fulton Professor Sergei Kalinin has accepted an invitation to join the Microsystems Exploratory Council (MEC), a group of researchers who conduct independent studies exploring emerging microsystems technologies—such as quantum circuits and their manufacturing infrastructure—with potential national security impact.  

MEC members share their perspectives with the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Microsystems Technology Office (MTO), which develops high-risk, high-reward technologies that enable revolutionary advances in materials, devices, and microsystems in support of DARPA’s mission to create and prevent strategic surprises. 

Twenty years ago, Kalinin began applying machine learning (ML) to microscope data analysis. Since then, he has continued pushing the bounds of atomic-level microscopy with ML and artificial intelligence (AI). In the last few years, he and his graduate students have successfully trained ML agents to autonomously conduct experiments, saving human operators hundreds of hours and significantly accelerating atomic-level material analysis. 

“It will be great to contribute to the development of strategies to incorporate AI, ML, and automated experimentation into the value-generating semiconducting and industry workflows,” Kalinin said. 

In addition to his role in the University of Tennessee’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kalinin holds a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he is the chief scientist in AI and ML for the physical sciences. He received the David Adler Lectureship Award in 2024. 

Contact

Izzie Gall ([email protected])