{"id":1932,"date":"2026-03-16T15:37:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T19:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/?p=1932"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T19:37:31","slug":"kalinin-receives-sec-faculty-achievement-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/kalinin-receives-sec-faculty-achievement-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalinin Receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sergei Kalinin, Weston Fulton Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville\u2019s Tickle College of Engineering, has received a 2026 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. One of the SEC\u2019s highest honors, the award recognizes excellence in teaching,\u00a0research\u00a0and service.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful for this recognition,\u201d Kalinin said. \u201cIt reflects not just our team\u2019s work but the collaborative efforts by many of my colleagues at UT, the unwavering support of UT leadership and the opportunity we have right now to shape the future of materials science.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Kalinin is\u00a0receiving the honor\u00a0for\u00a0driving innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence\u00a0and materials science, where his work is reshaping\u00a0how new materials are designed, tested and\u00a0studied.<\/p>\r\n

Automating the Future of Materials Discovery<\/h2>\r\n

Materials science\u00a0supports\u00a0nearly every\u00a0modern technology, from infrastructure and energy systems to microelectronics and advanced manufacturing.\u00a0Yet\u00a0until recently,\u00a0Kalinin\u00a0notes,\u00a0the process of discovering and\u00a0validating\u00a0new materials had\u00a0remained\u00a0relatively unchanged compared to his first research experience 30 years ago.<\/p>\r\n

Over the past decade, advances in big data and machine learning\u00a0have enabled researchers to predict promising new materials\u00a0computationally.<\/p>\r\n

More recently, attention has turned to automating the experimental side of science \u2014 and\u00a0Kalinin\u2019s work is\u00a0at the forefront of that shift. He\u00a0develops\u00a0machine learning-driven systems that can not only predict new materials but also\u00a0synthesize\u00a0and characterize them at unprecedented speed.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

At UT, Kalinin and his collaborators have built some of the nation\u2019s first fully autonomous experimental platforms, including scanning probe microscopes and electron microscopes capable of operating with minimal human intervention\u00a0and\u00a0at an\u00a0accelerated\u00a0pace. For now, UT\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the only universities\u00a0in the country with these capabilities fully built and operationalized.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDeveloping these systems requires expertise across many fields: materials science, machine learning,\u00a0computer science,\u00a0instrumentation\u00a0and engineering,\u201d he said. \u201cNo single person can do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

This highly collaborative approach has brought together researchers across disciplines to build capabilities that\u00a0remain\u00a0rare in the United States.<\/p>\r\n

Preparing\u00a0the Next Generation<\/h2>\r\n

Beyond research, Kalinin is preparing students to lead in a rapidly evolving scientific landscape.\u00a0Recognizing a growing workforce gap,\u00a0he has developed new courses that introduce students to machine learning in materials science and the design of autonomous laboratories, equipping them with skills that are increasingly in demand across academia and industry.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe need people who understand both\u00a0experimental research\u00a0and AI tools,\u201d Kalinin said. \u201cThe future belongs to those\u00a0who can use machine learning as\u00a0part of the experimental hands-on work in research and development labs, manufacturing and product\u00a0lines.\u00a0That\u00a0combination is still\u00a0very\u00a0rare\u00a0and very valued.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Positioning the University as a Leader<\/h2>\r\n

Kalinin sees this moment as a major opportunity \u2014 not just for his field but for the\u00a0university as a whole.\u00a0As federal agencies and industry continue to invest in AI-driven discovery, institutions that can connect\u00a0materials\u00a0science, artificial intelligence and manufacturing stand to lead the next era of technological advancement.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf we build the infrastructure that connects AI-driven\u00a0materials\u00a0discovery directly to manufacturing and deployment, UT\u00a0will\u00a0become a\u00a0major\u00a0hub for advanced materials innovation,\u201d Kalinin said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

About\u00a0the Award<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

For more than a decade, the SEC Faculty Achievement Award\u00a0recognizes\u00a0one faculty member from each SEC university for outstanding contributions in research and scholarship.<\/p>\r\n

Previous UT recipients<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0Paul\u00a0Armsworth,\u00a0Distinguished Service Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology;\u00a0Alison Buchan, Carolyn W. Fite Professor of Microbiology; Elbio\u00a0Dagoatto, Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics; Louis Gross, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; J. Wesley Hines, Chancellor\u2019s Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering; Suzanne Lenhart, Chancellor\u2019s Professor and James R. Cox Professor of Mathematics; Hap McSween, Chancellor\u2019s Professor Emeritus of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Susan\u00a0Riechert, Distinguished Service Professor and Chancellor\u2019s Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Tony Schmitz, Richard Rosenberg Distinguished Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering; Daniel\u00a0Simberloff, Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies; Gregory Stuart, Professor of Psychology; Carol\u00a0Tenopir, Chancellor\u2019s Professor Emerita of Information Sciences; Leon Tolbert, Min H. Kao Professor and Chancellor\u2019s Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Penny White, Professor Emerita of Law.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Media Contact<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jennifer Johnson (865-974-4448,\u00a0jjohn522@utk.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sergei Kalinin, Weston Fulton Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville\u2019s Tickle College of Engineering, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":1933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3,14],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-1932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accolades","category-faculty","category-news","tag-sergei-kalinin"],"yoast_head":"\nKalinin Receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award - Materials Science and Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sergei Kalinin, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has received a 2026 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mse\/kalinin-receives-sec-faculty-achievement-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kalinin Receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award - 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