Materials Science & Engineering at Illinois Grainger Engineering

05/29/2026

Ivan Racheff Professor Rosa M. Espinosa-Marzal, working with students Ming Jun Lee (PhD candidate) and Isha Bordawekar (2026 B.S. graduate), published research in Materials Horizons explaining how charged hydrogels can achieve ultra-low friction even against oppositely charged surfaces — a key step toward better cartilage replacement materials and a surprising challenge to assumptions underlying hydrogel adhesive design.

Rosa Espinosa Marzal and her team discovered that positively charged hydrogels can achieve dramatically low friction against oppositely charged surfaces under hydrated conditions — the opposite of what basic electrostatics would predict — because tightly bound water layers at the material's su...

05/27/2026

Associate Professor Qing Cao and team achieved a critical advancement toward realizing the potential of three-dimensional chips through the sequential stacking of high-performance silicon circuits. The breakthrough was published Wednesday in Nature.

Researchers led by Qing Cao have demonstrated a scalable way to directly and sequentially stack high-performance silicon circuits. This advance marks a critical step toward realizing the full potential of three-dimensional chips that could carry computing beyond the limits of traditional scaling.

05/19/2026

Most interesting materials live in the messy space between perfect crystals and random disorder. Now there's a mathematical framework to engineer them.

Professor Qian Chen and graduate student Puquan Pan (Materials Science & Engineering), along with additional researchers involved in COMPASS, published research in Science Magazine introducing a graph theory approach that quantifies nanoparticle assembly structure in real time. The research has direct implications for biosensors, electronics and drug delivery.

EXPLORE THE RESEARCH: https://bit.ly/4ujy2B7

05/18/2026

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Chris Anderson, winner of the James P. Gordon Memorial Speakership from the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (Optica)! This honor provides funding for an invited talk on quantum information and quantum optics, to be held at CLEO.

LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/4tItrY8

05/14/2026

From connectivity and reconfigurable systems to nanophotonic materials and optical sensors, new faculty Wenjie Zhou and Yuanwei Li are making waves as their first semester on campus comes to an end.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering welcomed Assistant Professors Wenjie Zhou and Yuanwei Li to the faculty in spring 2026. Zhou's Intelligent Matter Lab investigates how the topology and connectivity of materials, rather than chemistry alone, can be engineered to create adaptive, re...

05/12/2026

A DARPA-sponsored project aimed to show additive manufacturing is possible in space is headed toward critical next steps, with a demonstration planned to launch to the International Space Station in late June 2026. If successful, it will be the first true in-space composite manufacturing effort.

Department Head Nancy Sottos leverages her expertise as part of this project team.

Grainger Engineering is leading a DARPA-sponsored initiative to demonstrate the first true in-space composite materials manufacturing system. If successful, it will open the door to rapid, efficient expansion of space technologies. In addition, the Grainger Engineering SpaceMaRS Center is coordinati...

05/06/2026

Assistant Professor Yuanwei Li continues to make an impression as a new materials faculty member, earning the 2026 Victor K. LaMer Award from the American Chemical Society's Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry.

This award follows Li's research designing nanoparticle superlattices aiming to advance biosensing, integrated photonic devices, light-based computing and more.

Li's unanimous selection for the 2026 Victor K. LaMer Award from the American Chemical Society recognizes her work engineering nanoparticles that self-organize into precise three-dimensional arrangements, called superlattices, which can be designed to interact with light in controllable ways — wit...

05/05/2026

Allison Lau is representing the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in this year's round of Knights of St. Patrick honorees from The Grainger College of Engineering.

Lau has demonstrated high-level leadership, having served as director of the ESTAR (Engineering Student Admissions Representative) program. She also serves as a leader in the Society of Women Engineers on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.

Allison Lau is the sole representative of the Illinois materials department among the 2026 Knights of St. Patrick honorees in The Grainger College of Engineering. Lau displays the exceptional leadership and character this award embodies, having served as a director of the ESTAR program at the Unive...

05/04/2026

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Chris Anderson, whose research is featured on the cover of Materials Research Society Bulletin's latest issue.

Anderson's work charts a path for a better quantum computing and quantum internet future by focusing on optically active spin qubits.

MORE: https://bit.ly/4teKJMi

04/30/2026

The spring awards banquet, held April 16 at the Illini Union Ballroom, was a special night for all involved in materials science and engineering advancements at The Grainger College of Engineering.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering honored undergraduate and graduate students, along with three distinguished alumnae, for their dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all!

MORE: https://bit.ly/3QFLj8o