Faculty

Photo of Cammy R. Abernathy Cammy AbernathyProfessor
Work 300 Weil Hall (352) 392-6000

Ph.D., 1985, Stanford University

Research interests: Synthesis of thin-film electronic materials and devices using metal organic chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy.

Photo of Assel Aitkaliyeva Assel AitkaliyevaAssociate Professor
Work 176 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3778

Ph.D., 2012, Texas A&M University

Research Interests: Nuclear Fuels and Materials, with emphasis on characterization and property evaluation; Mechanical and Thermal properties of materials; Reactor Irradiation; Radiation damage in materials; Ion Implantation; Kinetics; Composites; Nanostructured materials; Multi-Scale simulation of nuclear fuel.

Lab Website: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group

Photo of Josephine B. Allen Josephine AllenAssociate Department Chair, Professor, Genzyme Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work 496 Wertheim Lab for Engineering Excellence (352) 846-3328

Ph.D., 2009, Northwestern University

Research Interests: Stem Cell Engineering; Directed Stem Cell differentiation, Cell Materials Interactions; Tissue Engineering; Regenerative Medicine

Lab Website: Allen Research Group

Photo of Jennifer S. Andrew Jennifer AndrewProfessor, Margaret A. Ross Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work 170 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3345

Ph.D., 2008, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Interests: nanomaterials, nanocomposites for electronic and biomedical applications, magnetic materials, multiferroics, polymers

Lab Website: Andrew Research Group

Photo of James Baciak James BaciakProfessor, Florida Power and Light Professor
Work Nuclear Annex 113 (352) 273-2131

Research Interests: Applied aspects of cargo monitoring, detector testing and characterization for gamma-ray spectroscopy, as well as development and analysis of techniques for environmental sampling and surveys related to on-site inspections.

Photo of Megan Butala Megan ButalaAssistant Professor
Work 172 Rhines Hall (352) 294-7876

Ph.D., 2017, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Interests: Energy Storage Materials, Lithium-ion Batteries, Structure-Property Relationships, X-ray Diffraction, Pair Distribution Function Analysis

Lab Website: Butala Research Group

Photo of Krista Chisholm Krista ChisholmResearch Assistant Scientist

Ph.D., 2019, University of Florida

Research Interests: Engineering Education; Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration

Photo of Guilhem De Hoe Guilhem De HoeAssistant Professor
Work 162 Rhines Hall (352) 273-0264

Ph.D., 2019, University of Minnesota

Research Interests: Dynamic Networks, Polyesters, and Biodegradation

Photo of Andreas Enqvist Andreas EnqvistNuclear Engineering Program Director, Florida Power and Light Professor, Associate Professor
Work 156 Rhines Hall (352) 294-2177

Ph. D. Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden

Research Interests: Nuclear safeguards, detection statistics of radiation from fissile materials, and the physics behind particle-detector interactions. Neutron physics & detectors. Neutron noise signals. Radiation signal analysis

Lab Website: Enqvist Research Group

Photo of Ira Harkness Ira HarknessInstructional Assistant Professor, Director of IT and Facilities
Work 116 Rhines Hall 352-846-3329

Ph.D., 2018, University of Florida

Research Interests: Monte Carlo methods; neutron transport; nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation

Photo of Kyle C. Hartig Kyle HartigAssociate Professor
Work 210 MAE (202) 270-4721

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests: Remote Sensing, Nuclear Nonproliferation/counterproliferation, Nuclear Security, and Nuclear Policy

Lab Website: Hartig Research Group

Photo of Richard Hennig Richard HennigProfessor, Alumni Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work 154 Rhines Hall (352) 392-7327

Ph.D., 2000, Washington University in St. Louis

Research interests: Computational materials science, ab-initio methods, structure prediction algorithms, two-dimensional materials, materials for energy technologies, solid-liquid interfaces

Lab Website: Hennig Materials Theory Lab

Photo of Jennifer Hite Jennifer HiteProfessor
(352) 273-3714

Ph.D., 2006, University of Florida

Research Interests: Growth and Characterization of Wide and Ultra-wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials

Photo of Kevin S. Jones Kevin JonesDistinguished Professor, Frederick N. Rhines Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work 160 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3301

Ph. D., 1987, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests: Semiconductor Processing and electron microscopy characterization; Ion implantation of Si, Ge and compound semiconductors; Li ion battery anode and cathode development

Lab Website: Swamp Group

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Photo of Honggyu Kim Honggyu KimAssistant Professor
Work 168 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3766

Ph.D., 2015, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: Advanced electron microscopy techniques, Quantitative analysis of electron microscopy data, Digital image processing, Understanding materials properties at the atomic scale, Functional oxides and semiconductors

Lab Website: Kim Electron Microscopy Group

Photo of Chris McDevitt Chris McDevittAssociate Professor
Work 174 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3785

Ph.D., 2008, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: Computational and Theoretical Plasma Physics, Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Fusion, Plasma Turbulence, Momentum Transport, Runaway Electrons, Monte Carlo Methods

Lab Website: McDevitt Lab

Photo of John J. Mecholsky ,Jr. John MecholskyProfessor, MSE Undergraduate Coordinator
Work 206 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3306

Ph. D., 1973, Catholic University of America

Research Interests: Fracture of Brittle Materials; Fractal Geometry applied to fracture; Failure Analysis; Dental Ceramics; Biomedical Applications

Photo of Tori Miller Tori MillerAssistant Professor
Work 221 MAE (352) 846-3373

Ph.D., 2016, University of California Santa Barbara

Research Interests: Fundamentals of Structural Evolution in Crystalline Materials, Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques, Recovery and Crystallization, Deformation Mechanisms and Texture Development

Lab Website: Metallic Orientation, aNisotropy, and microSTructure Engineering Research (MONSTER) Group

Photo of Prajakatta Mulay Prajakatta MulayInstructional Assistant Professor
Work 325 Materials Engineering (MAE) (352) 846-3307

Ph.D., 2019, University of Akron
 
Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis and Characterization, Biomaterials, Enzyme Catalysis, High-Throughput Data-Driven Techniques, Machine Learning

Photo of Angelika Neitzel Angelika NeitzelRhines Rising Star Robert DeHoff Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work Rhines 216 (352) 294-6609

Ph.D., 2017, University of Minnesota

Research Interests: polymer synthesis; structure and phase behavior of charged polymer blends and solutions; small angle scattering; rheology and additive manufacturing

Photo of Jyothier Nimmagadda Jyothier NimmagaddaResearch Assistant Scientist
Work UFTR 557 (352) 294-2102

Ph.D., 2015, Idaho State University
 
Research Interests: Reactor Physics Experiments, Non-destructive radiation imaging, Monte-Carlo Methods, Pre and Post Irradiation Analysis, Medical Imaging, Radiation Detection

Photo of Juan Claudio Nino Juan Claudio NinoProfessor
Work 166 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3787

Ph. D., 2002, The Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests: Multifunctional ceramics; energy materials; dielectrics and ionic conductors in bulk and thin film; single crystal growth; nuclear materials and detectors; bioceramics

Lab Website: Nino Research Group (NRG)

Photo of David P. Norton David NortonProfessor and Vice President of Research
Work 223 Grinter Hall (352) 392-9271

Ph. D., 1989, Louisiana State University

Research Interests: Electronic, photonic, and magnetic thin film materials; electronic oxide materials; thin film deposition

Photo of Simon R. Phillpot Simon PhillpotDistinguished Professor, Vladimir A. Grodsky Professor of MSE
Work 164 Rhines Hall (352) 846-3782

Ph. D., 1985, University of Florida

Research Interests: Computational materials science; heat transport; nuclear materials; ferroelectrics and dielectrics; mechanical properties of metals; simulation methodologies

Lab Website: Phillpot Research Group

Photo of Nancy J Ruzycki Nancy RuzyckiMaster Lecturer, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories
Work 317C MAE (352) 846-2991

Ph. D., 2003, Tulane University

Research Interests: Engineering education, characterization techniques, surface physics, solid-state devices, dye-sensitized solar cells.

Photo of Aroba Saleem Aroba SaleemInstructional Assistant Professor
Work MAE 313 (352) 294-1789

Ph.D., McGill University, 2017

Research Interests: Engineering Education; Material Characterization; Non-destructive Evaluation (Electromagnetic Measurements); Structure-Property Relationship; Micromagnetics

Photo of DuWayne Schubring DuWayne SchubringInstructional Professor
Work 317A MAE (352) 294-7870

Ph.D., 2009, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests: Two-phase flow, nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, quantitative visualization, nuclear reactor safety, computational and numerical methods including coupled codes, advanced nuclear power systems

Photo of Wolfgang Sigmund Wolfgang SigmundProfessor
Work 225-A Rhines Hall (352) 846-3343

Ph.D., 1992, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany

Research Interests: Semiconductor oxides for energy harvesting and storage, photocatalysis and photolysis, electrodes for secondary batteries, barrier coatings, nanostructures in surface science and, biomedical applications of nanoparticles

Lab Website: Sigmund’s Group

Photo of Michael Tonks Michael TonksInterim Department Chair, Professor, Alumni Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
Work 100D Rhines Hall (352) 846-3779

Ph.D., 2008, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: Computational materials science, Computational mechanics, Coevolution of microstructure and properties, Materials in Harsh Environments, Mesoscale modeling and simulation, Nuclear materials, Numerical methods

Lab Website: Tonks Research Group

Photo of Don Wall Don WallDirector, UF Training Reactor (UFTR), Professor of Practice
Work 311 MAE Building (352) 273-2662

Ph.D. 2001, Florida State University

Photo of Nathalie Wall Nathalie WallProfessor
Work 323 MAE Building (352) 273-0279

Ph.D., 1993, University of Paris, XI

Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Wastes, Nuclear Forensics, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Environmental Behavior of Radionuclides

Lab Website: Wall Research

Photo of Justin Watson Justin WatsonAssociate Professor
Work Rhines 178 (352) 273-0241

Ph.D., 2010, Penn State University

Research Interests: Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics, Neutronics, Thermal Hydraulics, Multiphysics Simulation, Advanced Numerical Methods, Applied Mathematics, Advanced Code Coupling Techniques, Scientific Software Development, High Performance Computing

Lab Website: Florida Advanced Multiphysics Modeling and Simulation (FAMMoS) Lab

Photo of Jiangeng Xue Jiangeng XueProfessor
Work 237A Rhines Hall (352) 846-3775

Ph. D., 2005, Princeton University

Research Interests: Nanostructured electronic materials, organic-inorganic hybrid materials, surfaces and interfaces, energy materials, photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes and other optoelectronic devices

Lab Website: Xue Research Group

Photo of Yang Yang Yang YangResearch Assistant Scientist
Work 177 Rhines (906) 370-0273

Ph.D., 2020, Michigan Technological University

Research Interests: Mechanical Behavior, Kinetics, Crystallographic Properties, Materials Processing and Characterization

Photo of Yong Yang Yong YangAssociate Professor
Work 202A Rhines Hall (352) 846-3791

Ph. D., 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests: structural and fuel materials for nuclear energy systems; LWRs sustainability and aging management; advanced fabrication and joining technologies; used fuel dry storage and disposition.

Lab Website: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group