UCSB Materials Department

When Guillermo Bazan asks students in his Organic Semiconductors Structures and Applications class at UCSB a question, he usually gets an answer right away. The response, however, might come from someone in a room almost 2,000 miles from Santa Barbara.

New NSF Program Helps Students Address Energy Challenges

A new program funded by the National Science Foundation means UC Santa Barbara is now able to offer graduate students deep and broad experience in solving the energy challenges facing the country.

ACerS 11 Best Papers in 110 years, 4 of the authors are at UCSB

As part of our 110th Anniversary Celebration, ACerS has identified the organization's 11 best published papers to commemorate the past 11 decades of continuous operation.

UCSB Grad Lands Prestigious National Fellowship

A University of California, Santa Barbara graduate will contribute to national science policy as part of a prestigious fellowship program. Heather Evans, who completed her Ph.D. in materials science at UCSB in 2005, has been named to a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Evans has just begun her fellowship at the National Science Foundation in the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office.

Chemist Stucky Earns Top Military Award for Life-Saving Gauze

A new blood-clotting gauze is saving the lives of soldiers who are injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Galen Stucky, professor of chemistry, has been recognized for his role in its development.

UCSB Chemist and Spouse Endow a Professorship in Materials with $1 M Gift

UC Santa Barbara has received a $1 million gift from UCSB organic chemist Fred Wudl and his wife, Linda, to endow a professorship in materials science in the College of Engineering. "We established the chair to maintain and foster excellence at UC Santa Barbara," said Fred Wudl, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry who also serves as co-director of the campus's Center for Polymers and Organic Solids.

Art Gossard wins Al Cho Award

The International MBE Advisory Committee is proud to establish the Al Cho MBE Award at every international MBE conference in honor of Al Cho, “Father of MBE”, and to recognize individuals who have made fundamental contributions to the science and technology of MBE or enabled by MBE.

DSM Performance Materials Award 2008 presented to Professor Craig J. Hawker

Craig J. Hawker, Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Materials and Director of the Materials Research Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, has been awarded the DSM Performance Materials Award 2008 in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the advancement of the materials sciences. Professor Hawker is one of the world's leading scientists in the field of polymeric performance materials. His outstanding fundamental and applied research and his dedication to innovative science have earned him a high reputation and a large following in the academic world.

Shuji Nakamura Awarded the 2008 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research

Five scientists, worldwide leaders in the creation of new materials for the benefit of mankind: the physicist, Sumio Iijima; the engineers, Shuji Nakamura and Robert Langer; and the chemists, George M. Whitesides and Tobin Marks, have been bestowed with the 2008 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, as made public today in Oviedo by the Jury responsible for conferring said Award.

2008 NIMS Award Winners, Prof. Clarke, Evans and Levi

At the NIMS Conference 2008, NIMS will present the NIMS Award for Recent Breakthroughs in Materials Science for Energy and Environment with a medal to a person or a group who has made a remarkable breakthrough in materials science and technology in recent years. The winner of the NIMS Award will be selected by the Award Committee of the NIMS Conference from the candidates recommended by leading international scientists in materials science and technology (undisclosed) appointed by the Award Committee.

DSM Performance Materials Award to Craig Hawker

MRL Director Craig Hawker was announced to be the first winner (for 2008) of the recently established DSM Performance Materials Award. This international prize is sponsored by the DSM Corporation in cooperation with IUPAC and will be presented at Macro 2008 this June in Taipei.

Evelyn Hu elected to the National Academy of Sciences

WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 9 countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Squid Beaks Point Pathways to New Research in Materials

The sharp beak of the Humboldt squid is one of the hardest and stiffest organic materials known and it is attached to flexible tissue. Engineers, biologists, and marine scientists at UC Santa Barbara have joined forces to discover how the soft-bodied squid can operate its knife-like beak without tearing itself to pieces.

UCSB Profs Fascinated by Squid Beaks

The beak of the Humboldt Squid, or Dosidicus gigas, is one of hardest organic substances known to scientists. Biologists, marine scientists, and engineers at UCSB are working together to try and understand how a squid’s gelatinous, soft body can operate with a knife-like beak and not rip itself to shreds.

2008 MRS Fellow- James S. Speck

James S. Speck was elected the 2008 Materials Research Society Fellow for seminal studies of strain relaxation in epitaxial films, and for the development of molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN, and applications of nonpolar orientations of GaN.

Squid Beaks May Have Medical Application

(WASHINGTON) — The razor-sharp beaks that giant squids use to attack whales — and maybe even Captain Nemo's submarine — might one day lead to improved artificial limbs for people. That deadly beak may be a surprise to many people, and has long posed a puzzle for scientists. They wonder how a creature without any bones can operate it without hurting itself.

SCIENTISTS FIND THAT SQUID BEAK IS BOTH HARD AND SOFT, MAKING IT A MATERIAL THAT ENGINEERS WANT TO COPY

Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– How did nature make the squid's beak super hard and sharp –– allowing it, without harm to its soft body –– to capture its prey? The question has captivated those interested in creating new materials that mimic biological materials. The results are published in this week's issue of the journal Science.

Bangalore Prof CNR Rao Bags Prestigious 'Nikkei Asia Prize'

Bangalore, Mar 1: The prestigious 'Nikkei Asia Prize' for Science, Technology and Innovation award has been bagged by Prof Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra (CNR) Rao, national research professor and president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore informs a press release from JNCASR.

Elusive Green Laser Is Missing Ingredient For Amazing Displays

Imagine a projection-style TV that fits in your hand, but which can fill a whole wall with a full-color, high resolution picture that's as bright as any you've seen.

2008 Stanley Katz Lecturer: Jacob Israelachvili

Jacob Israelachvili was named the 2008 Stanley Katz Lecturer at the Department of Chemical Engineering in the City College of the City University of New York.

BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR: Areas to Watch

Science magazine recently selected its top seven "Areas to Watch" in all of science for 2008. One of their selections, and the only one in the area of Materials Science, was the field of "Multiferroics", in which UCSB Materials is a world leader.

UCSB's Guillermo Bazan Elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

October 25, 2007–– Five faculty members at UC Santa Barbara have been awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

Craig Hawker: 2007 Humphrey Memorial Lecturer, University of Vermont

UCSB's Robert M. McMeeking Awarded the 2007 Brown Engineering Alumni Medal

In 1997 as part of our celebration of 150 years of teaching engineering at Brown, we introduced the Brown Engineering Alumni Medal as a means of recognizing distinguished Engineering alumni. These medals are awarded to Division of Engineering graduates who have established exceptional records of accomplishment in their engineering careers.

UCSB's Frederick Lange Awarded the 2007 Distinguished Engineer Award from Rutgers Engineering Society

Frederick Lange received the 2007 Distinguished Engineer award for his research in the development of new ceramic materials. Two materials resulting from his work are Silicon Nitride and Zirconium Oxide, currently used in diverse applications from high performance engine parts, extreme service bearings, hypersonic radomes, thermal barrier coatings, to biomedical and dental devices.

UCSB's Edward Kramer Awarded the 2007 PTN Medema Award

Edward Kramer was awarded the 2007 PTN Medema Award from the National Dutch Graduate School of Polymer Science & Technology.

Researchers Led by Shuji Nakamura Achieve Major Breakthrough in Laser Diode Development

A team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara led by Shuji Nakamura, winner of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize, has reported a major breakthrough in laser diode development.

UCSB's Tony Evans Elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Santa Barbara, Calif. - August 7, 2006 - Tony Evans, a professor of Materials and Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of his internationally-renowned research leadership in the micro-mechanics of advanced materials for aerospace and ship structures, including composites, multi-layers, sandwich panels, lattice solids, ceramics and interfaces.

UCSB's Guillermo Bazan received the 2007 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society

"For his creative design of catalysts for the synthesis of commodity polyolefins and for the synthesis, study and applications of organic molecules with delocalized electronic structures"

UCSB's Fred Lange elected Miegunyah Distinguished Fellow

2007 Mark Scholar Award- Craig Hawker

Craig Hawker was awarded the 2007 Herman Mark Scholars Award. This award recognizes excellence in basic or applied research and leadership in polymer science by scientists of all ages.

UC Santa Barbara Researchers Set New Records in Energy Efficient Light Emitting Diodes

Santa Barbara, Calif. -- December 13, 2006 -- Researchers at UC Santa Barbara’s Solid State Lighting & Display Center and the Japan Science & Technology Agency’s Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology program (JST ERATO) have set new records for nonpolar and semipolar light emitting diode (LED) efficiency. This new class of gallium nitride-based LEDs is based on new nonpolar and semipolar orientations of GaN with record external quantum efficiencies, and they exhibit polarized light emission.

Beyond the Bonds That Bind: UCSB Researchers Discover Hydrogen Can Form Multicenter Bonds

Santa Barbara, California – December 3, 2006 -- Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have shown that, under the right circumstances, hydrogen can form multicenter bonds, where one hydrogen atom simultaneously bonds to as many as four or six other atoms. Tested for hydrogen in metal oxides, the discovery could have a broad range of technological impact. The research is available today in the advance online publication of Nature Materials.

UCSB researchers discover the origin of low capacitance in thin-film capacitors

Santa Barbara, California – October 12, 2006 -- Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered what limits our ability to reduce the size of capacitors, often the largest components in integrated circuits, down to the nanoscale. They have answered a 45-year old question: why is the capacitance in thin–film capacitors so much smaller than expected?

UCSB Announces $2.75 Million NSF Grant for Research and Education in Materials

UCSB will partner with Jackson State University to develop and apply new materials. Program will also educate, train and mentor minority students and postdoctoral fellows and develop a materials-focused master’s program at JSU. Partnerships are designed to link minority-serving institutions with those already funded by NSF’s Division of Materials Research.

2006 Millennium Technology Prize Awarded to UCSB's Shuji Nakamura

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) - Professor Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara has been awarded the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize for his invention of revolutionary new light sources: blue, green, and white light-emitting diodes and the blue laser diode.

UCSB's Arthur C. Gossard received the Newcomb-Cleveland Award, AAAS

Shared with Micah Hanson, Jason Petta, Charles Marcus and four other Harvard collaborators for the best paper of the 2005-2006 year in Science magazine, "Coherent Manipulation of Coupled Electron Spins in Semiconductor Quantum Dots"

Thin, Flexible Solar Panels Revealed: Nobel Prize Laureate Alan Heeger Presents Advancements in Solar Energy

Today’s solar panels are heavy, inefficient, and expensive. Tomorrow’s solar panels, according to Nobel Prize laureate and UCSB chemistry professor Dr. Alan Heeger, will be lightweight, economical, and affordable.

Archived Department News

Internet Video Links Materials Students at UCSB and Jackson State University