Graduate Student Seminar
November 07, 2025
12:45 p.m. ET
7500 Wean Hall
Adventures in additive manufacturing for space exploration
Additive manufacturing processes have evoked great interest for aerospace applications as they attain highly complex parts at low production volumes and have demonstrated reduction in component lead times. Over the past 30 years we have seen significant growth, evolution, and implementation of these processes from the laboratory to the factory floor. With the formation of geometrically complex features via additive manufacturing entering a stage deep understanding, recent research has evolved to explore the fabrication of spatially-tailored materials. This talk will discuss past and ongoing projects at the Materials and Manufacturing for Aerospace and Extremes Laboratory (MMAX Lab) related to the use of additive manufacturing for responsive manufacturing and tailored functionality. I will highlight projects related to the use of geometric tailoring for planetary excavation tools, a novel atomization method for small-batch powder synthesis, a technique for parameter-induced porosity in powder bed fusion, and control of microstructure and deformation of ceramics via reactive binder jet additive manufacturing. This presentation aims to provide a perspective on the possibilities for spatial tailoring of materials and emerging processing science for compositional control.
Daniel Oropeza
Assistant Professor, Materials Department at University of California Santa Barbara
Oropeza received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2012, completing research on materials characterization for electromagnetic railguns. He earned his M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in 2014, conducting research on structural health monitoring of laminate composites. Daniel spent two years at Lockheed Martin, where he assisted the Chief Scientist’s Office with multi-national research projects in thermal management, propulsion, and energy generation for hypersonic platforms. Daniel completed his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering in 2021. His doctoral research explored the fundamentals of binder jet additive manufacturing for ceramic materials, with published work on custom testbed fabrication, powder spreading and ceramic additive manufacturing (AM). He was a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Materials and Manufacturing Technology Group, implementing AM processes to control the interfacial microstructure and thermomechanical properties of metallic materials.
At UCSB, Daniel’s group couples the study of material synthesis and characterization, machine and equipment design, and manufacturing process fundamentals, to develop next-generation alloys and ceramic materials. Group expertise includes testbed fabrication, powder rheology and characterization, melt-based metals processing, and sinter-based ceramics processing. Additionally, Daniel is leading an effort to develop a regional California consortium in the area of materials and manufacturing, the University Consortium for Materials and Manufacturing for Aerospace, Defense, and Energy (UC M2ADE).
Upcoming Events
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February 13 2026
10:00 AM ET
Materials Science and Engineering
Interfacial Fracture in Soft Polymer Networks: Revisiting Gent's Picture, presented by Gabriel Sanoja Lopez, University of Texas, Austin
CUC McConomy Auditorium
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February 20 2026
10:00 AM ET
Materials Science and Engineering
High-Fidelity Atomistic Simulations of Chemistry-Microstructure Interactions in Metals, presented by Rodrigo Freitas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CUC McConomy Auditorium
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February 20 2026
5:30 PM - 9:30 PM ET
Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics (100 Tech St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213)
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February 25 2026
2:00 PM ET
Faculty Insights with Mario Berges
Please join us for CMU Engineering's virtual program, “Faculty Insights: A 20 Minute Briefing.” In this series, faculty will share insights into their research, its impact, and provide perspective for the future of the field.
Virtual, link provided to registrants
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February 27 2026
10:00 AM ET
Materials Science and Engineering
presented by Tim Weihs, Johns Hopkins university
CUC McConomy Auditorium
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March 13 2026
10:00 AM ET
Materials Science and Engineering
presented by Rachel Goldman, University of Michigan
CUC McConomy Auditorium