Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future

The Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) is a multi-agency partnership that seeks to accelerate the progression of
materials research across the Materials Development Continuum for the benefit of society. By coupling a predictive
computationally led and data-driven approach with experimental synthesis and validation via an iterative feedback
loop, MGI promotes the rapid design, discovery, development, and deployment of advanced materials that will
ensure sustained American leadership in sectors including clean energy, national security, and human welfare. After
a decade of progress that has witnessed a paradigm shift in philosophy of materials research, the second MGI
Strategic Plan was released in 2021 defining three primary goals for the next five years: 1) Unifying the Materials
Innovation Infrastructure, 2) Harnessing the Power of Materials Data, and 3) Educating, Training, and Connecting
the Materials Research and Development Workforce. The Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our
Future (DMREF) program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) partners with other federal agencies to promote these objectives. DMREF includes participation from nine divisions in three directorates at the NSF to address fundamental materials discovery and development. Additional information about DMREF can be found at DMREF.org. This talk will provide an overview of the DMREF program and MGI-related research sponsored by NSF and provide information about the 2023 DMREF competition.

Presented by John Schleuter, NSF Program Director

Dr. John Schlueter joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) in December 2013 as a Program Director in the Division of Materials Research, Directorate of Mathematical & Physical Sciences, where he manages the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program. DMREF is the primary program by which the NSF participates in the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). He received his B.S. from Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, IN) in 1987 with majors in Chemistry and Physics and a minor in Mathematics.
He then earned his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) in 1992 under the direction of thesis advisor Prof. Tobin Marks. After spending three years as a Postdoctoral Chemist at Argonne National Laboratory with Dr. Jack Williams, he became an Assistant Chemist in the Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions in 1995 and was promoted to Chemist in 1999. Schlueter's experimental research includes the guided synthesis, crystallization, and characterization of molecule-based materials with emergent electronic and/or magnetic properties, including the development of multifunctional materials with applications in magnetism, superconductivity, spintronics, and multiferroics. Through the use of intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonds, he has discovered new classes of superconductors and investigated pressure-induced phase transitions in magnetic coordination polymers. Dr. Schlueter was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015 and received NSF's Meritorious Service Award in 2022. He has chaired and serves on the Advisory Boards for several international conferences. Schlueter has co-authored over 400 publications (H-index 49) and delivered in excess of 75 invited presentations and seminars at international conferences and institutions. He has mentored 6 postdoctoral scholars and over 75 undergraduate students.