Structural materials are the backbone of engineering, defining the strength, durability, and resilience of everything from buildings and bridges to airplanes and automobiles. This field is ideal for those who aspire to engineer the materials that shape our infrastructure and want to contribute to the development of lighter, stronger, and more sustainable materials that can withstand the test of time and the challenges of our environment.
Participating Faculty
We have several faculty who work in computational materials science. Explore their research interests and their profiles below.
Hahn Choo
Professor
Profile
Research Areas
Mechanical behavior of materials; neutron and synchrotron x-ray diffraction; amorphous, nanocrystalline, and ultrafine-grained alloys; and advanced structural alloys and neutron/synchrotron X-ray diffraction.
Yanfei Gao
Professor & Associate Department Head
Profile
Research Areas
Analytical and computational mechanics of materials; small scale mechanical behavior; failure of advanced structural materials; thin film heterostructures; contact and friction.
Veerle Keppens
Department Head
Profile
Research Areas
Elastic constants and lattice dynamics of novel materials, including transition metal oxides; frustrated magnets and spin glasses; and thermoelectric materials
Peter Liaw
John Fisher Professor, Ivan Racheff Chair of Excellence, National Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor
Profile
Research Areas
Mechanical behavior; fatigue and fracture behavior; nondestructive-evaluation; neutron/synchrotron studies of advanced materials, including bulk-metallic glasses, nano-structural materials, high-entropy alloys, superalloys, steels, and intermetallics; NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program.
William Weber
Professor Emeritus
Profile
Research Areas
Theory and modeling of radiation-solid interactions; evolution of radiation effects in materials; ion-beam and electron-beam modification of materials; defects and defect/property relationships in ceramics; long-term performance of nuclear materials; and materials physics of radiation detectors.