Our whole group attended the ICSMA 18 at the Ohio State University on July 15~19, 2018.

We gave five oral presentations and one poster presentation.

• John Sypek (Oral): “A New Type of Superelastic and Shape Memory Materials: ThCr₂Si₂-Structured Intermetallic Compound at Small Length Scales”
• Keith Dusoe (Oral): “Developing High-Strength, Compliant Polymer Nanocomposites by Infiltration of Inorganic Reinforcing Nanoclusters”
• Gyuho Song (Oral): “Superelastic Superconductor, CaKFe₄As₄“
• Tyler Flanagan (Oral): “Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior in Gas Atomized Al 6061 Powders and Splats“
• Jessica Maita(Oral): “Uni-Axial Compression Tests of Amorphous Boron at the Micrometer Scale”
• John Sypek (Poster): “Cryogenic Temperature Effects on Superelasticity of the Novel Intermetallic Compound CaFe₂As₂ At Small Length Scales” – Best Poster Awarded!!!

 

Seok-Woo attended the ACMME 2018 at South Korea, and gave a presentation entitled “A new type of superelastic and shape memory materials – ThCr2Si2-structured intermetallic compounds”.

Seok-Woo (PI) receives the funding from the Department of Energy – Basic Energy Science (DOE-BES)!

$367,566, 08/01/2018~07/31/2019

The title of project is “Mechanical properties of metal at the micrometer scale in different environment.” This project will focus on the ductile-to-brittle transition of body-centered-cubic materials at the micrometer scale. We believe that the size effect strongly influences the ductile-to-brittle transition. We will use in-situ cryogenic micromechanical testing, advanced transmission electron microscopy, and dislocation dynamics simulation to elucidate the fundamental dislocation processes at low temperatures (30~300K). The research outcome will be useful to develop a mechanically reliable structure at small length scales, which operates in cryogenic environments such as the deep space.

 

Seok-Woo (PI) receives the UConn Research Excellence Award ($50,000, 05/01/2018~04/30/2019) with his collaborator, Prof. Ying Li (co-PI) of UConn Mechanical Engineering. The title of research is “Metal-like strong, but foam-like compliant nanocomposites.” Seok-Woo’ group is primarily working on the composite synthesis and nanomechanics characterization. Prof. Li’s group will work on molecular dynamics simulation to understand the deformation mechanisms.

Keara’s paper entitled “A nanoindentation study of the plastic deformation and fracture mechanisms in single-crystalline CaFe2As2” is selected as a journal cover of July 2018 JOM (Journal of Materials). Congratulations!

*Keara Frawley was an undergraduate researcher in 2017 summer.

The paper link is here.

The cover page link is here.

 

 

Jessica is selected as a John Lof Leadership Fellow. Congratulations!

The following is the description of John Lof Leadership Academy.

“The UConn School of Engineering is proud to announce the establishment of the John Lof Leadership Academy for Graduate Engineering Students. Backed by the generous endowment from John Lof, a former UConn Electrical and Computer Science professor of 35 years, this exclusive Academy will aim to continue the legacy of Dr. Lof, who wished to reward and cultivate a select group of future leaders and engineering trailblazers.  The proceeds of the endowment will be used toward the direct support of the student members (in the form of grants and fellowships) as well as the corresponding Academy programs.”

The detailed information is available at this link.

Keara’s paper entitled “A nanoindentation study of the plastic deformation and fracture mechanisms in single-crystalline CaFe2As2” is now published at JOM (Journal of Materials).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-018-2851-y

Many Congratulations!

This is the first paper with an undergraduate student as the FIRST author from my laboratory.

Keara is going to attend the graduate school at Georgia Tech in Fall this year. Good luck for her new journey in academia!

Seok-Woo’s Capstone Design Team, (Carl and Carissa) won the 3rd place in 2018 MSE Senior Design Project Final Presentation! Many Congratulations!

This news is available at our MSE website [link].

Jessica gave a poster presentation at UConn for her NSF LASMP-BD program. Her poster title was “Microstructural and Mechanical Characterization of Amorphous Boron.” She discussed the local clustering in atomic arrangement and its superior yield strength that was measured by in-situ nanomechanical test.

John received the MSE Graduate Student Speaking Contest Award!

 

Each year, the MSE Graduate Program Committee selects several near-graduating Ph.D. students to deliver research presentations at one of the MSE Graduate Seminars in Materials Science and Engineering. The 2018 Speaking Contest Award recipient, as decided by audience voting, is John Sypek for his talk on “Superelasticity and Cryogenic Linear Shape Memory Effects of CaFe₂As₂”.