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Meeting Chairs

Message from the Chairs

The 2024 MRS Spring Meeting will be held at the Seattle Convention Center - Summit in Seattle, Washington from April 22–26, 2024 and virtually from May 7–9, 2024. There will be 61 symposia grouped into 11 topical clusters, as follows:

Broader Impact (BI)
The Broader Impact cluster features two symposia focusing on more inclusivity in materials research and broadening participation by underrepresented groups. The first will highlight research in materials by LGBTQIA+-identifying researchers and their experiences working in the field. The second symposium will cover promising practices within the materials research community to broaden participation.

Electronics, Optics and Photonics (EL)
This cluster focuses on various aspects of electronics, optics, and photonics, exploring cutting-edge research and advancements in the field. It encompasses a wide range of topics, including surface and interface studies, atomically precise colloidal materials, next-generation interconnects, wide and ultra-wide bandgap materials, two-dimensional (2D) materials and heterostructures, complex oxide epitaxial thin films, emerging ferroic materials, and plasmonics and metasurfaces. The cluster aims to promote sustainable microelectronics, foster the growth and integration of advanced materials, and advance device design and applications. This cluster has eight symposia.

Energy Storage (ES)
The six symposia in this cluster comprehensively and complementarily will cover recent advancements in energy storage, which is a critical component of the whole energy technology field. Topics include broad scope symposia with an emphasis on the industrially relevant technology aspects such as degradation mechanisms, reliability, scalability, manufacturing, recycling, sustainability, etc., and one devoted to the various operando characterization methods of electrochemical systems. While more targeted symposia will focus on the latest discovery and development progress in solid-state batteries, metal anodes, flow-based energy cells, and sulfur-based batteries.

Materials Theory, Computation and Data Science (MT)
There are three symposia in this cluster covering theory, computation and data science. One is a broad symposium that will highlight the integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence in simulations for modeling and designing materials. One is focused on data driven analysis, modeling and experiments for manufacturing batteries. The third symposium is devoted to sustainable electronics and using machine learning methods and data for their development and design.

Quantum Materials and Materials Physics (QT)
The cluster on quantum materials and materials physics consists of seven symposia highlighting developments in magnetic, superconductor, low-dimensional semiconductor, ferroic, correlated-electron, and topological materials. Topics include synthesis and growth, ultrafast light-material interactions, low-dimensional magnetism, the search for exotic electronic phases, manipulation of spin and polar order in oxides, and devices for quantum computing, optoelectronics, and energy harvesting.

Structural and Functional Materials (SF)
This cluster has three symposia featuring distinctive structural & functional materials and processes. Topics will encompass the synthesis, theoretical modelling, various physical properties & analysis, and applications of high entropy materials and actinides. Interdisciplinary participation is expected in the symposium dealing with all aspects of ion insertion processes in diverse materials and devices.

Characterization (CH)
This cluster features four symposia that will highlight developments in in situ and operando characterization of dynamic processes across essentially all classes of materials: colloids, polymers, nuclear materials, electrochemical systems, and quantum materials. Topics encompass advances in force microscopy, electron microscopy, x-ray and electron diffraction, and electron spectroscopy for the study of nucleation and growth, self-assembly, microstructural evolution, interfacial reactions, and the integration of machine learning to accelerate scientific discovery.

Energy Generation and Conversion (EN)
This cluster features eleven symposia which cover the wide spectrum of cutting-edge energy generation & conversion materials research and development, from fundamental aspects to applications and device technology. Materials design, computational approaches, machine learning, modeling, synthesis & processing, interfacial science, reactive processes, carrier transport, to practical issues such as sustainability, recycling, stability, testing protocols, device integration, device & system development, and applications, will be discussed for organic, inorganic and perovskite solar cells, solar fuels, thermoelectric, thermal management, dielectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, triboelectric, electrostatic, electrocatalyst technologies.

Manufacturing (MF)
The cluster on manufacturing features three symposia that target different aspects of materials manufacturing. Additive manufacturing and 3D printing of polymeric soft materials are the focus of one for new functionalities. Laser induced nanomaterials and nanostructures for creating unique properties and functions are covered in one symposium. Finally, advanced manufacturing of sustainable polymers is covered in the third—this is especially critical today to replace fossil-derived monomers and polymers.

Nanomaterials (NM)
This cluster is comprised of three symposia, the first two featuring comprehensive coverage on two hot nanomaterial systems, namely 2D MXenes and nanodiamonds, which have a wide variety of functionality in catalysis, energy harvesting and storage, electronics, sensors, biomedicine, etc. Recent advances in the synthesis, processing, chemistry and physics of these materials and industrial applications will respectively be covered. The third symposium focuses on nanoscale mass transport in 2D and 1D nanomaterials, and aspects of their scalable synthesis, controlled assembly and integration into functional devices for breakthroughs in gas separation, nanofiltration, desalination, ionic/molecular separation, to list just a few topics covered.

Soft Materials and Biomaterials (SB)
The eleven symposia under the soft materials and biomaterials cluster broadly cover organic, bio-inspired and bio-hybrid materials, bioelectronic materials, bio-derived polymeric materials, systems and materials for organ interfaces and for neuromorphic computing. Fundamental science and characterization methods as well as modeling approaches will be discussed towards applications that range from thin-film devices, bioelectronic interfaces, therapeutic and medical tools, sustainable materials and manufacturing to soft robotics.

Symposium X
The MRS-Kavli Foundation Frontiers of Materials Research symposium will feature presentations aimed at a broad audience and on topics at the forefront of research on materials science and engineering.

To complement the symposia, tutorials will provide detailed information on particularly exciting areas of research and the Exhibit will showcase products and services of interest to the scientific community.  The Meeting sessions, Exhibits and Poster sessions will be located at the Seattle Convention Center - Summit. 

Meeting attendees will find Seattle to be a very accessible and attractive host.  A wide array of restaurants, nightlife, cultural, and sporting events are just steps away from the new Seattle Convention Center - Summit and hotels. The region also offers an abundance of pre- and post-meeting touring options. It’s a perfect mix of interaction, insights, inspiration, and indulgence! 

We look forward to seeing you in Seattle!

Sincerely,

David Cahill, Mmantsae Diale, Kaining Ding, Martin Kaltenbrunner and Takao Mori
2024 MRS Spring Meeting Chairs

 

 

Meeting Chair Bios

David CahillDavid Cahill
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

David Cahill is the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and co-Director of the IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Illinois after earning his PhD degree in condensed matter physics from Cornell University. He also worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the IBM Watson Research Center, where he served as department head from 2010 to 2018. Cahill’s current research program focuses on developing a microscopic understanding of thermal transport at the nanoscale; extremes of low and high thermal conductivity in materials; the interactions between phonons, electrons, photons and spin; and the kinetics and thermodynamics of aqueous and electrochemical interfaces. Cahill received the 2018 MRS Innovation in Materials Characterization Award and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (AAA) 2015 Touloukian Award. Cahill is a fellow of the MRS, AAAS, and American Physical Society.

 

Mmantsae DialeMmantsae Diale
University of Pretoria

Mmantsae Diale is a professor of physics at the University of Pretoria, where she earned her PhD degree. She is the South African Research Chair in clean and green energy, with an interest in solar energy conversion with a desire to see a life off-grid with photovoltaics (PV) and green hydrogen. Her research in PV systems involves work on hybrid organic/inorganic materials for solar cell applications and Artificial Photosynthesis (AP) systems through natural energy conversions of plants and algae to produce green hydrogen through water splitting. Diale’s significant understanding of the physics and properties of materials gives insight into further developments and actualization of solar devices based on PV and AP. A combination of PV and AP using hybrid system has led to research in this area, resulting in low cost and high efficiency solar cells. Daile has over 150 publications, has given multiple special invitation lectures at physics and materials conferences, and was awarded a National Science and Technology Forum prize in 2018 for capacity building in STEM. Daile is an active MRS member, having served as a symposium organizer and on the Academic Affairs Committee, while working towards increasing support for early career researchers. She is an active member of SAIP, serving on the council from 2010-17, and is a founder of Women in Physics in South Africa. She has collaborated with researchers worldwide and works to develop research and researchers in Africa, using her laboratory space and resources to allow others to prosper. Daile has also been involved in business, serving as an adviser to Just Energy Transition, and is the developer and presenter of the Solar Energy Course for both business and engineering.

 

Kaining DingKaining Ding
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

Kaining Ding is the head of the Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells and Modules Department at Forschungszentrum Jülich. He has been on staff since 2010. Ding studied materials science at the RWTH-Aachen University and has research expertise in silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules, hot-wire chemical vapor deposition technique and integrated PV applications.

 

Martin KaltenbrunnerMartin Kaltenbrunner
Johannes Kepler Universität

Martin Kaltenbrunner is a full professor at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, heading the Soft Matter Physics Division and the LIT Soft Materials Lab. Kaltenbrunner received his master’s and PhD degrees in physics from the Johannes Kepler University in 2008 and 2012, respectively, working with Siegfried Bauer. He then joined the Someya-Sekitani Lab for Organic Electronics at the University of Tokyo as postdoctoral researcher, leading the “Imperceptible Electronics Team.” Returning to JKU in 2014 as an assistant professor, Kaltenbrunner obtained Habilitation (Venia Docendi) in Experimental Physics in “Soft Electronics” in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed full professor at the Johannes Kepler University. His research group specializes in soft electronics and soft transducers, in particular on sustainable and biodegradable elastic materials and processes for skin-inspired electronics and embodied robotics. They are pioneers in soft and stretchable batteries and solar cells as well as ultrathin and lightweight electronic foils. The group develops materials strategies, design rules and technologies including resilient yet degradable soft and elastic substrates, passive and active components and power sources that enable green wearable (bio)electronics and soft robots. Kaltenbrunner is on the editorial board of Advanced Materials and Advanced Intelligent Systems, recipient of a Starting Grant of the European Research Council, has published more than 66 papers and given over 70 invited, keynote or plenary lectures. He has been an active member of MRS since 2008.

 

Takao MoriTakao Mori
National Institute for Materials Science

Takao Mori is a deputy director, MANA principal investigator, and group leader at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan. He is also a professor of the University of Tsukuba and elected Board Member of the International Thermoelectric Society (ITS), slated to be President of ITS starting in 2023. Mori received his PhD degree in physics from the University of Tokyo in 1996. Mori’s broad research interests are to find ways to control structures and properties of inorganic materials. He is especially involved in development of thermoelectric materials and multidisciplinary enhancement principles, such as utilizing magnetism, in order to find new routes to achieve high control over band structures and electrical and thermal transport. Mori is a senior editor of Materials Today Physics and associate editor of Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, and an editorial board member of Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Advances in Applied Ceramics and Journal of Materiomics. He is a program manager of Japan Science and Technology Agency Mirai Large-scale Program and has published over 300 journal papers, 25 book chapters, and has 35 patents, included 25 awarded.

 

 

 

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