Awards and Accolades News

  • Nov 19
    2024
    Prof. Raphaële Clément has been awarded the 2024 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship from the Royal Society of Chemistry.  This is an international award for early career researchers that have made significant contributions to the field of materials chemistry. You can find the announcement here, and an associated themed collection of Raphaële's papers here.
  • Oct 15
    2024
    Chris Van de Walle, a distinguished professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, has been awarded the American Physical Society’s 2025 Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics, the highest honor given by APS for work in that field. The prize, which dates back to 1993, honors Aneesur Rahman, a founder of the field of molecular dynamics who pioneered computational... read more »
  • Oct 10
    2024
    Daniel Oropeza, an assistant professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Early Career Faculty Initiative grant. A joint endeavor between LLNL and UC National Laboratories at the UC Office of the President, the initiative seeks to foster long-term academic partnerships and provide... read more »
  • Oct 4
    2024
    UC Santa Barbara materials professor Stephen Wilson is among the 149 researchers who have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society (APS) for 2024. No more than one-half of one percent of the society’s 50,000 members receive the honor from their peers each year in recognition of their exceptional original research and publication, or significant innovative... read more »
  • Sep 17
    2024
    UC Santa Barbara materials professor Jim Speck is one of only eleven people — from an initial  group of 170 applicants, of whom 27 were invited to submit full proposals — to have received a prestigious 2024 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) from the U.S. Department of Defense. The awards, up to $3 million each, allow recipients to “explore the frontiers of knowledge... read more »
  • Aug 12
    2024
    UC Santa Barbara materials assistant professor Daniel Oropeza has received the Global Young Investigator Award from the American Ceramic Society’s Engineering Ceramics Division. The annual accolade recognizes outstanding young ceramic engineers and scientists for their significant achievements to the field. “I am honored to be selected for this award and recognized as an... read more »
  • Jul 16
    2024
    Professor Shuji Nakamura has been selected to join the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame (ESHF). The professor of electrical and computer engineering and of materials was elected “for pioneering invention and development of the blue light emitting diode (LED), a major breakthrough in lighting technology which made possible the white light energy-efficient LED lighting... read more »
  • May 27
    2024
    The 2024 STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition took place in Minneapolis, MN, in May, showcasing advancements in tribology and lubrication engineering. Professor Angela Pitenis was recognized with the Early Career Award – Academic Professional Level for her exceptional contributions to the field. This prestigious award, presented annually to one assistant professor, aims... read more »
  • Apr 30
    2024
    Prof. Raphaële Clément has been selected as a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar for 2024. Those selected are within the first five years of their academic careers, have each created an outstanding independent body of scholarship, and are deeply committed to education. Each Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar receives an unrestricted research grant of $100,000. Prof. Clément's ... read more »
  • Mar 7
    2024
    UC Santa Barbara materials professor Tresa Pollock has been honored by her peers with the 2024 William D. Nix Award from The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), a testament to her impact on materials, on graduate students as an advisor, and on junior professionals in the field as a mentor. The prestigious annual award recognizes an individual whose work has... read more »
  • Feb 6
    2024
    Materials faculty members Raphaële Clemént, Tresa Pollock, Angela Pitenis, Ananya Renuka Balakrishna, and Sriram Krishnamoorthy have received major instrumentation awards from the NSF, to continue maintaining and improving our world-class facilities. See the full story here. 
  • Feb 6
    2024
    Congratulations Professor Irene Beyerlein, Mehrabian Interdisciplinary Professor in the College of Engineering, for election to the National Academy of Engineering 2024 Class.  Here is the citation:   Beyerlein, Irene J., Mehrabian Interdisciplinary Professor, College of Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara. For methodologies predicting the mechanics of... read more »
  • Dec 14
    2023
    Professor Shuji Nakamura has received the 2023 LpS Digital Achievement Award from the LED professional Symposium, a large industrial consortium that supports LED research and applications. Prof. Nakamura was specifically recognized for "His impactful contributions to the energy and lighting sectors, his dedication to global sustainability, and his support for ongoing... read more »
  • Nov 28
    2023
    UCSB Materials Professor Chris Van de Walle has been awarded the 2023 Materials Theory Award from the Materials Research Society (MRS). The MRS is the leading professional society dedicated to advancing materials science. The society gives a single Theory Award each year, in recognition of “exceptional advances made by materials theory to the fundamental understanding of... read more »
  • Jun 30
    2023
    UCSB Materials Professor Raphaële Clément has been awarded the 2023 Materials Today Rising Star Award and the ISE Prize for Electrochemical Materials Science. The MT energy Rising Star Award is awarded in recognition of the contributions of an early career scientist in energy materials. Professor Clément's contributions to the materials community by way of research and... read more »
  • Jun 30
    2023
    UC Santa Barbara’s Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) has received its seventh consecutive major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund six years of operation as an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). Widely regarded as one of the top five materials research facilities in the world, the MRL, which obtained its first MRSEC... read more »
  • Jun 12
    2023
    Robert McMeeking is a world-leading Scientist in the field of the Mechanics of Materials. He has made seminal contributions ranging from finite strain plasticity theory and its computational implementation within finite element codes to the coupling of solid mechanics and other physics in order to address a wide range of problems in engineering science. His work bridges... read more »
  • May 9
    2023
    Tresa Pollock, interim dean of UC Santa Barbara’s College of Engineering, has been recognized by her peers with the 2023 Acta Materialia Gold Medal, a top honor bestowed in recognition of the significant and lasting impact of her materials research and leadership in the field. Pollock, the Alcoa Distinguished Professor of Materials, is the first woman in the 50-year... read more »
  • May 2
    2023
    After decades nurturing future leaders in science and engineering, in 2010, Fiona Goodchild founded the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP) at UC Santa Barbara. The center in 2022 announced a new mentor leadership program and now, its first graduate fellow, Allison Chau, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Materials Department.   “A mentor opens... read more »
  • Feb 1
    2023
    Congratulations to Professor Chris Palmstrøm on his election to the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the pinnacles of the profession. His indispensable expertise in using molecular beam epitaxy to control the growth and the interface structure and chemistry of dissimilar materials has led to the creation of many novel materials... read more »
  • Dec 12
    2022
      UCSB College of Engineering professor Steven DenBaars is among the 109 members from 24 countries who have been elected to the 2023 Fellow Class of Optica, the Society Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, formerly known as the Optical Society (OSA). Fellows are selected based on several factors, including outstanding contributions to business, education, research,... read more »
  • Nov 1
    2022
    Two materials PhD students, Saurav Roy and Kira Wyckoff, have received Excellence in Research Graduate Fellowships from UC Santa Barbara’s Institute for Energy Efficiency (IEE), the College of Engineering’s interdisciplinary research center dedicated to cutting-edge science and technologies that support a more efficient and sustainable future. The award provides $22,500... read more »
  • Jul 20
    2022
    Chris Van de Walle, a distinguished professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Materials Department, has received a 2022 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF) from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), one of only nine such fellowships awarded this year. The five-year fellowship, considered the DoD’s most prestigious single-investigator award, is aimed at advancing transformative... read more »
  • Jun 22
    2022
    Rachel Segalman, professor and chair of UC Santa Barbara’s Chemical Engineering Department, recently received a memorable phone call. The caller identification on her cellular phone read “DOE,” standing for the Department of Energy, which piqued the interest and nerves of the Edward Noble Kramer Professor. “I answered the call with trepidation, because I had a DOE... read more »
  • May 3
    2022
    National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 30 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,512 and the total number of... read more »