College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Alina Kirillova 3D printing hydrogels for biomedical printing applications

“We have made significant progress in 3D printing hydrogels into porous 3D structures, which is a challenging task due to the softness of these materials. Vat photopolymerization of biocompatible hydrogel systems has proven to be an efficient strategy to achieve well-defined porous architectures,” Kirillova said.

David Eisenmann is bringing Ground Penetrating Radar to agriculture at the CNDE

Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Teaching Professor David Eisenmann has several projects at the CNDE, including innovating Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to help the precision agriculture industry. He has been using GPR for over a decade, and has now turned his attention to South America, where he is helping crop producers track their planting rate using GPR.

Qi An and team develop general, high-speed technology to model, understand catalytic reactions

A research team led by Qi An, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Iowa State University, has developed artificial intelligence technology that could find ways to improve researchers’ understanding of the chemical reactions involved in ammonia production and other complex chemical reactions.

Lin Zhou explores the atomic realm at the Sensitive Instrument Facility

The Sensitive Instrument Facility (SIF), a part of Ames National Laboratory, boasts two-feet thick concrete floors with built-in vibration-dampening layers, aluminum-plate lined bays, and fiberglass reinforced concrete for electro-magnetic isolation and vibration-free heating and ventilation. These features help ensure that state-of-the-art instrumentation housed in the SIF achieves the most accurate results.

From uncertain to passionate, Erik DeMeyere found his path in materials engineering

“I was really struggling with what path I wanted to take. I enjoyed physics and chemistry in high school but knew I didn’t want to be a chemist or physicist,” DeMeyere said. “And then I saw materials engineering listed, which, at the time, I didn’t even know existed. After doing some research, I realized I had been interested in materials science all along.”

Jacob Wheaton gains international collaboration through MSE

“I like the fact there are a lot of different problems to solve in engineering,” Wheaton said. “There is always something to work towards, and it’s very satisfying when you find the solution. And I just really enjoy learning, and with materials engineering, it is easy to do a deep dive into a range of topics.”

Peter Collins and Richard LeSar to lead multi-university team for ONR-funded metallic gradient materials project

The Office of Naval Research has funded a new project to conduct critical fundamental research on gradient metallic materials. The project, “Design and Manufacture of Metallic Gradient Materials,” is a three-university, five-year research partnership led by Iowa State University.

Exceptional contributions: Mufit Akinc and Ick-Jhin Rick Yoon inducted into MSE Hall of Fame

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering inducted two new members to the Materials Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 13 – honoring both for outstanding achievement and contributions to the discipline.

Brad Swan is finding the right balance between classes, research and family

“The greatest challenge was finding the balance of time between classes, research and family so that I could succeed professionally while still being a devoted father and husband. I was fortunate to find Dr. Cornelius, and he understands the challenges as a father and as an atypical student.”

Quantum mechanics and machine learning: Qi An is unlocking the secrets of strong and ductile materials 

Qi An focuses on using quantum mechanics and data-based computational methods to study materials science. In recent studies conducted by An and his team, significant progress was made in the field of ceramics. One of their works focused on improving the ductility of superhard materials. Normally, these materials have high strength but limited plasticity. 

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