Faculty News

UNT's Materials Science and Engineering chair, Dr. Narendra Dahotre, was featured in the Dallas Business Journal for a patent he filed on technology that could replace surgical saws, hammers and drills with lasers to cut bones. View the original Biz Journals article, or find additional information on the InHouse website.

Associate professor of materials science and engineering Dr. Nigel Shepherd has been awarded an NSF grant of nearly $300,000 for his project, "Workfunction Modification of ZnO Anodes for Second Generation OLEDs." He is assisted by his team at the Optoelectronics and Thin Films Laboratory (OTFL) and also by co-investigator Dr. Jincheng Du, associate professor of materials science and engineering, who will use computational modeling to assist the experimental work.

Read more about Dr. Shepherd's award and project.

Dr. Srinivasan Srivilliputhur, Associate Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, had his research work recently published in the prestigious journal Nature. This work was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Chao Jiang of the University of Wisconsin and is titled, "Unexpected strain-stiffening in crystalline solids." Strain-stiffening—an increase in material stiffness at large strains—is a vital mechanism by which many soft biological materials thwart excessive deformation to protect tissue integrity. Using cementite and aluminum borocarbide as prototypes, Drs. Jiang and Srivilliputhur showed that strain-stiffening also unexpectedly occurs in simple inorganic crystalline solids. This phenomenon confers exceptionally high strengths to these two solids which otherwise have anomalously low resistance to deformation to begin with. Understanding the fundamental science of strain-stiffening and incorporating this concept into the design of metals and ceramics for advanced applications is an exciting prospect for developing ultrastrong materials. This work identifies two new mechanisms that cause this fascinating strain-stiffening response and challenge the conventional wisdom that large shear modulus is a reliable predictor of hardness and strength of materials, and provide new lessons for materials selection and design.

Nature is the world’s most highly cited peer-reviewed and interdisciplinary science journal with an Impact Factor of 36.3. It publishes research papers from all fields of science and technology that are original, timely, and have broad impact.

Dr. Zhenhai Xia was featured in the North Texas Daily, UNT's student newspaper, for his studies on the qualities of gecko feet. His group hopes to design a reusable, dry adhesive for uses ranging from ATM machines to medical applications. Read the full article featured on NTDaily.com.

MTSE Professors Witold Brostow, Wonbong Choi, Jincheng Du, Jim Williams, and Zhenhai Xia, as well as MTSE PhD student Jessica Rimsza, were featured in the Spring 2013 UNT Research Magazine, Volume 22 for sustainability research projects, graduate fellowships, collaborations, and new faculty announcements.

Congratulations to Dr. Witold Brostow, who is one of the eight recipients of the 2013 UAEM-UNT Seed Funding program. The program, administered by the Office of Research and Economic Development, supports joint research projects that strengthen the close academic relationship between the University of North Texas (UNT) and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, or Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM), and enhance the research training of graduate students. UAEM and UNT researchers are encouraged to submit joint proposals for scientific research, technological development, and/or creative projects that include the academic exchange of scholars and graduate students from both institutions. The award will help fund Dr. Brostow's proposed research project titled "Gamma Radiation and Luffa Fibers as a Novel Technology for Development of Polymer Concretes."

Read more about the 2013 intramural funding recipients.

Dr. Witold Brostow and his team at LAPOM have just completed their first contract with McKinney, TX based Encore Wire Corporation, an industry leader in the manufacture of wires for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Details of the partnership and research developments were featured in an article by the Office of Research and Economic Development. Read the full article featured on ORED.

Top researchers honored for scholarship, creative activities

Five University of North Texas faculty members have been honored for their leading contributions to research, scholarship and creative activities in areas ranging from botany to engineering to film to public health.

The annual awards, presented Nov. 7, by the Office of Research and Economic Development, celebrate faculty whose efforts - often nationally and internationally recognized - support the university's goal of growing as the preeminent public research institution in the North Texas region. Awardees include:

• Nandika D'Souza, professor of mechanical and energy engineering, and materials science and engineering, who creceived the UNT Research Leadership Award; and
• Jincheng Du, associate professor of materials science, who received the UNT Early Career Award for Research and Creativity.

Read more about the faculty awardees.

Beginning Oct. 11, representatives from UNT and the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) will celebrate the universities' 10-year partnership with a luncheon, performances by a folkloric ballet troupe and a music trio from UAEM and the opening of an exhibit at UNT on the Square that will showcase works from three Mexican artists.

Witold Brostow, Regents Professor of materials science and engineering, was the first UNT faculty member to establish a connection to UAEM when he began collaborating on research with UAEM chemistry faculty member Gonzalo Martinez Barrera. Barrera had met Brostow when he worked in Brostow's Laboratory of Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials.

Read the full article on the UNT-UAEM celebration.

Sergei Shipilov,a Research Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (MTSE) at the University of North Texas (UNT) has been named a Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum (CIM) Distinguished Lecturer. He was chosen for this honor in recognition of his significant scientific, technical, management or educational contributions and achievements in the field of corrosion research, practice and education across Canada and the globe. He will speak at CIM Branch and Student Chapter meetings across Canada.

Prof. Shipilov joined UNT in July 2012 as part of MTSE's strategic initiative in the area of structural materials and the allied fields. After completing his PhD at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1987, he worked at the Institute as a research scientist. He was founding director of the Laboratory for Physical and Chemical Research in Fracture of the Russian Academy of Sciences and taught at Moscow State University. Later from 1999 onward he served as faculty member at the University of Calgary, Ryerson University, and most recently at the University of Minnesota Duluth as 3M McKnight Distinguished Visiting Professor. Sergei is globally known for his pioneering studies on crack-tip hydrogen embrittlement and fatigue crack growth mechanisms in advanced structural materials exposed to extreme environments. Several awards he has received so far for his accomplishments include the Morris Cohen Award from the Metallurgical Society of CIM, the Technical Achievement Award and the Distinguished Service Award from NACE International, and the G. MacDonald Young Award from ASM International. Prof. Shipilov is a Fellow of NACE International. He was also the ASM-Indian Institute of Metals Visiting Lecture in India in 2007 and the M. Brian Ives Lecturer in Canada in 2005.

Read a related article on Dr. Shipilov's achievement.

		Dr. Soumya Nag and Prof. Rajarshi Banerjee have recently published a peer-reviewed book chapter in the ASM Handbook Volume 23: Materials for Medical Devices. This authoritative reference book provides state-of-the-art information on the most common materials that are used for medical devices namely stainless steels, cobalt-base alloys, titanium alloys, shape memory alloys, noble metals, ceramics, and polymers. Also material properties like biocompatibility, bio-tribology, corrosion and implant wear are covered extensively along with a detailed discussion on failure analyses of implant materials. As a replacement for the Handbook of Materials for Medical Devices edited by J.R. Davis (ASM, 2003), this new volume expands the scope and depth of coverage, including a more in-depth discussion of materials and focus on applications.The ASM handbook series has a wide readability and one of the most widely cited handbooks by both industry and academia worldwide. This contribution by UNT researchers in the ASM Handbook series is expected to attract widespread attention in the materials community at large."MTSE department and personally I, are very proud of the achievement of Prof. Banerjee and Dr. Nag. This is an excellent chapter on the topic which is topical and popular both in academic and research communities. Especially, its appearance in a highly reputed and worldwide widely circulated ASM handbook is likely to provide our department and UNT tremendous exposure," said Prof. Narendra Dahotre, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The Department of Materials Science & Engineering (MTSE) is pleased to announce the part time appointment of Dr. Jim Williams a Distinguished Research Professor, effective July 1, 2012. Prof. Jim Williams also is Professor and Honda Chair Emeritus at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, Ohio. He was previously Dean of Engineering at OSU. Before coming to OSU, he was General Manager, Materials and Process Engineering at General Electric Aircraft Engines (now GE Aviation). Prof. Williams also spent 13 years at Carnegie Mellon University where he was Professor, President of Mellon Institute, and Dean of Engineering. Throughout his career he has been doing or leading research on structural metals with an emphasis on Ti and Ni alloys and has published more than 250 papers. Prof. Williams also has been extensively involved in technology policy at the national and international level where materials are concerned. Earlier he held research and leadership positions at Boeing and Rockwell. In addition, Dr. Williams has served in a volunteer capacity as Chairman of the National Materials Advisory Board, Member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Boardand General Chairman of the Congressionally Mandated Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. He consults for industry and government and is regularly invited to lecture at meetings and conferences both in the US and abroad. Prof. Williams has received numerous honors and awards including: Member, National Academy of Engineering, Fellow ASM International, Fellow TMS-AIME, ASM/TMS Distinguished Lecturer in Materials and Society (1997), ASM Campbell Lecturer (1999), and Member, GE Aircraft Engines Hall of Fame. Prof. Williams will contribute his experience and knowledge to MTSE department’s recently developed strategic plan in the area of structural materials.

Read a related article on Dr. William's contributions.

Dr. Rajiv Mishra received a two-year, $300,000 grant from the Department of Energy to develop high performance materials for use in high-temperature applications at coal-fired energy plants. UNT is one of only nine universities to receive a research project grant from the Department of Energy to support innovation and development of clean coal technologies. (Read Full Article)

Best wishes to Dr. Collins and Dr. Du who will serve as the undergraduate and graduate advisors, respectively, as of the Summer 2012 semester! Thank you Dr. Scharf and Dr. Shepherd for your great service and help with the transition. Prospective students, you can find contact information and learn more about undergraduate and graduate advising through our website.

MTSE Professors Peter Collins, Rajiv Mishra, Alan Needleman, Raj Banerjee, Jincheng Du, and Thomas Scharf were featured in the 2011-2012 UNT Research Magazine, Volume 21 for new I/UCRC sites, recent awards, and research contributions.

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