The Department of Materials Science & Engineering is thrilled to welcome three new faculty members: Renato S. Navarro, Ph.D., Ravit Silverstein, Ph.D., and Yijia Gu, Ph.D. They have joined the department as assistant professors in Spring 2025. These new hires bring exceptional expertise and diverse experiences, which will enhance the department’s research and educational mission.
Navarro, a first-generation and non-traditional student, brings a unique perspective shaped by a military career that ignited his passion for engineering and regenerative medicine. Meanwhile, Silverstein, a seasoned research scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializes in groundbreaking approaches to materials characterization and design. Gu, an accomplished researcher with industry and academic experience, focuses on developing processing-structure-property relationships to improve material performance, particularly through computational modeling and aluminum alloy recycling. His work has attracted significant federal and industry support and reflects a strong commitment to both innovation and education. Together, they embody a commitment to advancing knowledge and mentoring the next generation of engineers and scientists.
Renato S. Navarro, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Navarro holds a Ph.D. in macromolecular science and engineering from the University of Michigan, where his research focused on developing sustainable biomaterials for cardiovascular engineering.
As a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, Navarro has been developing injectable hydrogels to deliver therapies after a heart attack. Beyond research, Professor Navarro also has a passion for mentorship and service. At Stanford, he mentored students from the Stanford BIO-X summer research program, Stanford Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and Foothill Community College, earning him the BIO-X Star Mentorship Award.
He’s also a board member for the Stanford Latinx Postdoc Association and supports the recruitment of underrepresented minority postdocs through the Stanford Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Sciences and Medicine program (PRISM). Ultimately, he plans to lead a research team that develops innovative, interdisciplinary solutions to cardiovascular clinical challenges via chemistry and materials engineering approaches.
Ravit Silverstein, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Before joining the University of Florida, Silverstein worked for three years as a research scientist in the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she also oversaw the Microscopy and Microanalysis suite.
Silverstein earned her doctorate in Materials Engineering from Ben-Gurion University, concurrently holding the position of research associate at the Applied Physics Division of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, Israel. From 2018-2021, she completed two prestigious international postdoctoral fellowships in the Materials Department at UCSB, focusing on refractory alloy design, the processing of refractories, and the microstructural evolution during laser welding.
Her current research focuses on metastability-driven alloy design and the development of processing approaches through metastability pathways. She integrates techniques such as spectroscopy, 4D-STEM, and in-situ SEM/TEM experiments with machine learning tools to probe chemical short-range ordering, twinning modes, orientation relationships, and misfit strains across complex datasets.
Silverstein is a member of the American Ceramic Society, the Microscopy Society of America, the Microanalysis Society, and the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. She has authored 26 peer-reviewed publications and holds one patent with a second pending.
Yijia Gu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Before joining the University of Florida in 2025, Gu served as an assistant professor in the Materials Science and Engineering program at Missouri S&T from 2019 to 2025. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a senior engineer and staff engineer at Alcoa Technical Center for four years. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Penn State in 2014.
His research includes the development of processing-structure-property relationships, emphasizing how processing can manipulate microstructure and influence material properties. Motivated by lifelong learning and a desire to solve real-world problems, Gu bridges theory and practical application through computational modeling.
To date, he has contributed to securing over $7 million in federal and industrial grants, including a recently awarded DOE FAIR grant to support his research on recycling aluminum alloys. He authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals and holds a distinguished teaching record.