Despite thousands of years of engineering use, the process of developing or selecting a new alloy and process for a given application is far from straightforward. Metals research at UF is focused on designing new alloys and processes for extreme environments, including hypersonic flight, nuclear reactors, space exploration, and blast impacts. Other avenues of metals research focus on biocompatible implantable alloys or flexible, stretchable metallic circuits for wearable electronics.
Faculty
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
Yijia Gu, Ph.D., received his doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2014. Prior to joining UF, he served as a faculty member at Missouri University of Science and Technology for six years. He also held positions as Senior and Staff Engineer at Alcoa Technical Center (now Arconic Technology Center), where he led projects in computational alloy design and process optimization.…
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
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
Ph.D., McGill University, 2017
Research Interests: Engineering Education; Material Characterization; Non-destructive Evaluation (Electromagnetic Measurements); Structure-Property Relationship; Micromagnetics
Ph.D., 2016,
Research Interests: High-temperature Materials; Metastability and Interface Engineering; Electron Microscopy; In-situ Microscopy; Microstructure Evolution; Deformation Behavior and Mechanical Performance in Extremes; Green Processing & Energy
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