Materials science

Thermoelectric PowerCard from Alphabet Energy

Why not convert waste heat into power?

08/26/15 NPR — What if there were a way to take the waste heat that spews from car tailpipes or power plant chimneys and turn it into electricity? Matt Scullin (M.S.'07, Ph.D.'09 MSE) thinks there is, and he founded Alphabet Energy to turn that idea into a reality.

The skinny on skin

05/04/15 Inside Science — A study co-authored by materials science and engineering professor Robert Ritchie has shown, for the first time, that collagen explains the great durability of skin. The finding could help scientists develop better synthetic skin and improve the strength of man-made materials.

The graphene switch

05/01/15 — New research holds promise for controlling graphene's properties, potentially opening new applications for its use.

Synthetic coatings: Super surfaces

03/26/15 Nature — Characteristics adapted from lizards, ivy and other natural materials could help to engineer everyday objects with remarkable properties. Professor Phillip Messersmith, a Berkeley materials scientist and bioengineer, is studying mussel adhesive, which is ideal for securing objects underwater.

Paul Alivisatos to step down as lab director

03/24/15 Berkeley Lab — Berkeley Lab Director Paul Alivisatos, who is also a professor of materials science and engineering and chemistry, on Tuesday announced his intention to leave his position once a successor can be recruited to lead the lab.

Stress defects in titanium cross-section

Study reveals how oxygen is like kryptonite to titanium

02/05/15 — Materials scientists at Berkeley Engineering have discovered how titanium, prized for its strength and corrosion resistance, becomes brittle with just a few extra atoms of oxygen. The discovery could open the door to expanded use of the lightweight metal.

Stripes showing differences in electron density in graphene

Graphene advances as viable silicon substitute

01/27/15 — A new study demonstrating a way to control the movement and placement of electrons in graphene moves the wonder material a major step closer to knocking silicon off as the dominant workhorse of the electronics industry. Among the study's lead authors is Berkeley Engineering's Lane Martin, associate professor of materials science and engineering.

Retirement of Professor Ronald Gronsky

12/11/14 — Professor Ronald Gronsky will be stepping down from his position as Director of the Global Engagement Office (GEO) at the end of December.

Engineering’s Fiona Doyle named new dean of the Graduate Division

11/21/14 — Fiona Doyle, Berkeley Engineering's executive associate dean, has been named dean of the Graduate Division for UC Berkeley, a position she will take over Jan. 1. Doyle, the Donald H. McLaughlin Professor of Mineral Engineering, has been at Berkeley since 1983, serving in many leadership capacities.

Body mechanics

11/01/14 — Berkeley engineers are building better bodies, one part at a time.

Where vision meets know-how

11/01/14 — Take a look into mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang's XLab, where Zhang and his more than 30 postdocs, Ph.D. students and visiting scientists investigate the emerging field of metamaterials.

Growing ferroelectric materials in a herringbone pattern

Researchers find faster path for ferroelectrics

10/26/14 — Ferroelectric materials – commonly used in transit cards, gas grill igniters, video game memory and more – could become strong candidates for use in next-generation computers, thanks to new research led by Berkeley Engineering scientists and their colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania.

Schematic of an electrochemical cell, with a gold electrode and water electrolyte

Study reveals molecular structure of water at gold electrodes

10/24/14 Berkeley Lab — In a research first, a team led by Miquel Salmeron, Berkeley Lab senior scientist and MSE professor, has observed the molecular structure of liquid water at a gold surface under different charging conditions.

Ramesh named associate director at Berkeley lab

08/29/14 Berkeley Lab — Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Purnendu Chatterjee Endowed Chair in Energy Technologies and professor of materials science and engineering and physics, has been named to the new position of associate laboratory director for energy technologies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Bottling up sound waves

08/07/14 Berkeley Lab — Berkeley Lab researchers, led by Berkeley Engineering materials science professor Xiang Zhang, have developed a technique for generating self-bending acoustic bottle beams that hold promise for ultrasonic imaging and therapy, and for acoustic cloaking, levitation and particle manipulation.

About a bone

05/01/14 — Researchers led by Robert Ritchie, professor of materials science and engineering, have learned that the natural bone aging process can be hastened by a deficiency in vitamin D.

Winners of DOE energy efficiency innovation award

Students’ energy-efficiency proposal wins ‘Most Innovative’ in DOE competition

03/26/14 Daily Californian — A team of four Berkeley Engineering undergraduates won “Most Innovative” in one of six categories at the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Case Competition for its proposal to improve energy efficiency at universities. Members of the Golden EnergTech team were Nanavati Low (IEOR '16), Daniel Tjandra (ChemE '14), Michael Chang (CEE '15) and Grace Vasiknanonte (MSE '16).

In Memoriam: Electron microscopist Gareth Thomas

02/19/14 Berkeley Lab — Gareth Thomas, founder of Berkeley Lab's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM), a professor emeritus of materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley, and one of the world's foremost experts on electron microscopy, passed away on February 7. He was 81.

Tesla Team at the New York City finish line

Electric cars go cross-country

02/10/14 Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative — Santiago Miret, a Ph.D. student in materials science and engineering, writes about range anxiety by electric vehicle owners, and how it has prompted a pair of recent coast-to-coast road trips by drivers of the Tesla Model S.

What if robots had whiskers?

01/21/14 Berkeley Lab — Researchers with Berkeley Lab and Berkeley Engineering have created e-whiskers – highly sensitive tactile sensors made from carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles that should have a wide range of applications including advanced robotics, human-machine interfaces, and biological and environmental sensors.