Search

The University of Chicago MRSEC has established a highly successful, multidisciplinary approach to issues of technological importance at the forefront of materials research. The overarching goal, common to all of our Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs), is to produce the design principles for the next generation of materials. Each of the four IRGs addresses a fundamental issue applicable to a broad class of materials. Our programs attack some of the deepest challenges of materials research. Common themes include investigating materials formed far from equilibrium, exploring new paradigms for materials fabrication and response especially at the micro- and nano- scale, and exploiting feedback between structure and dynamics. These themes, reappearing in each IRG, deal with important basic problems exploring design principles that are far from conventional and whose prospects are far from certain.

The Brandeis Bioinspired Soft Materials Center seeks to create new materials that are constructed from only a few simplified components, yet capture the remarkable functionalities found in living organisms. In addition to opening new directions in materials  science  research,  these  efforts  will elucidate the minimal requirements for the emergence of biological function. This challenging endeavor draws upon our expertise in diverse and complementary experimental and theoretical techniques that span the physical and life sciences. Brandeis offers an ideal environment for such an interdisciplinary undertaking. Its small size engenders a highly collaborative environment. Its innovative graduate program trains students who work and thrive at the interface of physical and life sciences. Its life science faculty have pioneered biochemical studies of molecular motors and cytoskeletal machinery, its chemists have synthesized biocompatible self-assembling filaments, and its physicists have made important contributions toward understanding soft materials such as liquid  crystals,  gels  and  colloids. Researchers in the BioInspired Soft Materials Center combine elemental building blocks, such as motor proteins, DNA origami and filamentous virus, to understand the emergence of biomimetic functionalities that are highly sought-after in materials science and to synergistically engineer life-like materials.

The goal of IRG1 (Membrane based Materials) is to uncover the  design principles that cells  use  to  shape and reconfigure membranes,  and  to apply  these principles in order to engineer heterogeneous and reconfigurable membrane materials. To accomplish this we will exploit the analogy  between  nanometer-sized  lipid  bilayers  and micron-sized  colloidal monolayers assembled from filamentous viruses or DNA origami rods.

The goal of IRG2 (Biological Active Materials) is to create active analogs of quintessential soft matter systems including gels, liquids crystals, emulsions and vesicles using elemental force generators, such as motor proteins and monomer treadmilling. We will experimentally and theoretically characterize the emergent properties of such materials, including their ability to convert chemical energy into mechanical work, perform locomotion, and undergo dynamical reconfiguration.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports research on the study of crystalline interfaces at a mesoscopic scale. The effort concentrates on grain and subgrain boundaries in two-component polycrystals and is complimentary to investigations at the atomic and continuum scales. The seminal concept of the project is that a bridge can be constructed between the character of grain boundaries and certain of their intrinsic properties. This bridge will encompass the very large space of all physically distinctive grain boundaries, known as fundamental zone. The mission is to construct mappings using automated microscopy which link the intrinsic materials properties of individual grain boundaries to their character and chemistry over the entire fundamental zone. The mesoscale of interest lies approximately between 100 microns and 100 nanometer. The anticipated progress is likely to accelerate the world-wide effort towards a unified structure-properties theory, linking structure-properties relations from the atomic scale upwards to the continuum scale. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It fosters research participation by undergraduates and pre-college students, and is developing strong industrial relationships. The Center currently supports 8 senior investigators, 3 postdoctoral research associates, 8 graduate students, and 4 undergraduates. The MRSEC is directed by Professor Brent L. Adams. %%% The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports research on the study of crystalline interfaces at a microscopic scale, also known as mesoscale. The seminal concept of the project is that a bridge can be constructed between the character of grain boundaries and certain of their intrinsic properties. The anticipated progress is likely to accelerate the world-wide effort towards a unified structure-properties theory, linking structure-properties relations from the atomic scale upwards to the continuum scale. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It fosters research participation by undergraduates and pre-college students, and is developing strong industrial relationships.

The Maryland MRSEC carries out nationally recognized fundamental research on surfaces and interfaces of materials with potential impact on the next generation of opto- and nano-electronic devices, and on complex oxides with potential applications in memory, switches, and sensors.

IRG-1 establishes new synthesis-structure-property relationships for materials development based on non-covalent assembly. By utilizing both covalent and directed non-covalent interactions we aim to create new, extraordinarily responsive materials that will lie at the interface of biomaterials and synthetic macromolecules. These multi-functional systems show great promise in areas as diverse as novel catalysts and materials for tissue engineering.

The Colorado Center advances basic liquid crystal and soft materials science and seeks enhanced capabilities for electro-optic, nonlinear optic, chemical and other applications of liquid crystals.  Industrial interaction focuses on fostering of and collaboration with U.S. display and telecom industries.   The Center operates a vigorous education outreach program featuring science shows for the K-12 audience, and "Materials Science from CU", a program of traveling physical science enrichment classes reaching about 8,000 Colorado K-12 students/year.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports an interdisciplinary research program on grain boundary networks in polycrystals, called The Mesoscale Interface Mapping Project. The group research seeks to advance the understanding of grain boundary systems by developing and applying experimental and analytical techniques, including automated orientation imaging microscopy, to determine the structure, evolution and properties of grain boundaries in metals and ceramics. The Center also provides seed support for emerging research opportunities.

The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities that provide specialized instrumentation for the preparation and characterization of bulk materials and surfaces. Education and human resources development efforts include curriculum development collaborations with Pittsburgh area high schools, and a Collaborative to Integrate Research and Education with Florida A&M University that includes undergraduate curriculum development and joint research projects. The Center also has extensive research collaborations with industrial and government laboratories, and with other universities in the U.S. and abroad.

Participants in the Center currently include 10 senior investigators, 1 postdoctoral associates, 10 graduate students, 5 undergraduates and 2 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Gregory Rohrer directs the MRSEC.

This multifaceted NSF MRSEC enables important areas of future technology, ranging from biomedicine, separations, and plastic electronics to security, renewable energy, and information technology. The UMN MRSEC manages an extensive program in education and career development. Center research activities are integrated with educational programs, providing interdisciplinary training of students and postdocs. The MRSEC is bolstered by a broad complement of over 35 companies that contribute directly to IRG research through intellectual, technological, and financial support. International research collaborations and student exchanges are pursued with leading research labs in Asia and Europe. The UMN MRSEC benefits from an extensive suite of materials synthesis, characterization and computational facilities.

 

This IRG seeks to elucidate the critical issues of control and coherence in both individual and in collective-mode quantum systems, with the goal of manipulating and exploiting quantum coerence in materials over a large range of length scales, from individual quantum centers to macroscopically entangled materials.  The proposed research directly advance applications in quantum sensing, fabricate materials for quantum information as well as create the next generation of characterization tools for traditional materials.

 

IRG-2 builds and studies elastic quantum matter — materials with quantum properties that are ultra-sensitive to elastic strain , offering opportunities from all-mechanical control of magnetization and superconductivity to creation of phonon-magnon circuitry, dynamical Josephson junction arrays, and dynamically controlled catalysts.