University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: 2017 – 2023 Posts

Large Dataset on the Relationship Between Structure and Stability in Glass Wins Open Science Award for Yu

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The generation and sharing of a large dataset created as part of his study has won Zheng Yu the 2021 Wisconsin MRSEC Excellence in Open Science Prize. A graduate student in Dr. Bu Wang’s lab at the Grainger Institute for Engineering, Yu generated the data as part of his work investigating the relationship between structure and stability in specialized glasses using computer simulations and machine learning.

Winners of the MRSEC Educational Video Competition Announced

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The winners of the Wisconsin MRSEC Educational Video Competition have been announced. There were two videos awarded in this competition. The winner of the Most Engaging Video is "Thin Film Fun" by the Ediger Group. The winner for Most Informative Video is “Determining Distances with Diffraction” by Tesia Janicki.

News Segment Features MRSEC Efforts to Provide the Value of Field Trips Virtually

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WMTV in Green County, an NBC affiliate, featured some of MRSEC's work on its recent news segment, "Schools taking more virtual field trips during COVID-19 pandemic."

Communicating PhD Research to the Public Wins MRSEC Graduate Student WISL Award

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Recent Materials Science and Engineering doctoral graduate, Sachin Muley, was awarded the Wisconsin Initiative for Science Literacy (WISL) Award for Communicating PhD Research to the Public. His thesis chapter, “Structure-property correlations in metallic glass and amorphous carbon films,” focuses on one of three themes of his PhD thesis, metallic glasses. Metallic glasses have many important uses today and in the near future as strong smart phone bodies, and as tough, slick coatings.

(2020) Energy Transfer Inside of a Topological Photonic Materials

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The Wisconsin MRSEC has shown that molecules inside in a type of topological photonic material called a Weyl crystal can exchange energy over much larger distances. The intricate twisting structure of the material uses light to connect one molecule to others much farther away. Developing photonic Weyl crystals may contribute to more efficient LEDs and solar cells and improve molecular sensors.

(2020) Sparking Student Interest: Renewable Energy Devices in the Classroom

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The Wisconsin MRSEC has developed a simple, inexpensive way for K-12 students to build a sustainable energy device using familiar, everyday materials including aluminum foil, a plastic egg, clear tape, and a bouncy ball. The device, called a triboelectric nanogenerator, converts the often-wasted energy of motion into useful electrical energy.

(2020) Solid-Phase Crystallization Produces Oxide Buffer Layers Lattice-Matched to Semiconductors

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Engineers currently lack good substrate materials on which to grow thin films of materials like GaN with few defects. These layers are needed in applications like high-power transistors and solid-state lighting. Available bulk crystals have the wrong crystal structure or the wrong distance between the atoms. The Wisconsin MRSEC has developed a buffer layer material and related synthesis method that promises to alleviate the substrate problem.

2020 BREW Focuses on Data and Generating Ideas for Science-at-Home Videos

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The 2020 Breakthrough Research and Education Workshop (BREW) was held on Thursday, October 1st. 74 faculty, graduate students, postdocs, guest presenters, and staff attended. One of the themes of this year’s BREW was the use of data and machine learning in materials science. The second half of the event was the education workshop.

(2020) Research Endeavors, Cross-Cultural Experiences, and Educational Activities

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The Wisconsin MRSEC Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program is a cross-cultural collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM). The RET program provides science teachers from Wisconsin and Puerto Rico an authentic research and cultural literacy professional development experience. The program culminates with an in-person capstone week where the RETs from both sites share the research-inspired classroom activities they have developed and learn from one another about teaching in a different cultural and geographic environment. The teachers learn about the area and culture that is unique to the site hosting the capstone.

(2020) Solid-phase Epitaxy Produces Magnetic Oxides with Novel Magnetic Properties

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The Wisconsin MRSEC has created thin films of a fascinating magnetic material, Pr2Ir2O7, in which the magnetic moments are frustrated: No matter how they are arranged, some of the moments are always fighting to change their direction, like two bar magnets with their north poles shoved together. Frustration creates a rich landscape for discovery and manipulation of new magnetic effects and of electronic phenomena linked to magnetism.