2025

July


Rohrer awarded for outstanding teaching and mentoring
The American Ceramics Society

MSE’s Greg Rohrer was this year’s recipient of the American Ceramics Society’s Outstanding Educator Award, which is given in recognition of “truly outstanding work and creativity in teaching and mentoring, in directing student research, or in the general educational process (lectures, publications on education, workshops, textbooks, short courses, videos, interest lectures, etc.) among ceramic/glass educators.”


Webler represented iron- and steel-making research at energy summit
Carnegie Mellon University

MSE’s Bryan Webler attended the AI and Energy Summit, hosted by CMU, and spoke about his research in the iron- and steel-making industry. His research in advanced manufacturing will be important in shaping the future of the technologies discussed by the event. “There's been really big investment into the Pittsburgh ecosystem,” Webler said. “Not just from the federal government, but the state government, and even different foundations that have been really committed to bringing Pittsburgh into the advanced manufacturing era.”


Kitchin discusses Carnegie Mellon joining MDS-Rely
TechVibe Pittsburgh

As a guest on the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s TechVibe Pittsburgh podcast, ChemE/MSE’s John Kitchin shared his thoughts on Carnegie Mellon joining the Center for Materials Data Science for Reliability and Degradation (MDS-Rely) research cooperative. It is the third university to join the National Science Foundation-funded initiative promoting collaboration between universities, industry, and government organizations. “Carnegie Mellon has quite a historical role in the development of AI and machine learning, going back to the fifties. The University of Pittsburgh and Case Western Reserve University bring to our collaboration equal depth in the materials and applications. And the two of them can’t work without each other; they go hand in hand,” says Kitchin.


May


Dickey speaks on inducing ferroelectricity by stacking materials
MRS Bulletin

As a guest on the MRS Bulletin Materials News Podcast, MSE Head Elizabeth Dickey spoke about her research on how ferroelectric properties can be induced in materials with a particular crystal structure called wurtzites by surrounding them by other ferroelectric materials. The finding could contribute to the design of a more efficient computer architecture. “Although there are many devices that could be enabled through this type of material, one of the key ones is having an in-compute memory, where you bring memory and computation together into a single device,” says Dickey.


March


De Graef recognized as distinguished scientist

MSE’s Marc De Graef was selected by the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) as the 2025 recipient of the Society’s Distinguished Scientist Award in the physical sciences. “MSA is an organization that is integral to advancing innovation in microscopy,” said De Graef. “I am grateful to receive this honor and to join a group of esteemed colleagues who have previously been conferred with this award.”


February


CMU faculty to present at SXSW

MechE’s Jon Cagan and Chris McComb, BME’s Keith Cook and Rosalyn Abbott, and BME/MSE’s Adam Feinberg are leading sessions at SXSW 2025. Cagan and McComb’s sessopm, called “Empowering learners to collaborate with AI,” will prepare students to use forthcoming AI technology in the classroom. Cook, Abbott, and Feinberg’s session, called “Bioengineering Approaches to Solve the US Organ Shortage,” will highlight an ongoing partnership between CMU and Mayo Clinic that researches ways to repair dysfunctional organs or create new ones from scratch. The offerings are on March 6th and 7th.


January


Rollett quoted on 3D printing for heat exchangers
Additive Manufacturing Media

MSE’s Tony Rollett was featured on Additive Manufacturing Media, where he explained how 3D printing is being used to produce heat exchangers for solar energy. “The lifetimes expected of these kinds of units is at least 10,000 hours, preferably even longer than that if you can do it,” said Rollet. “For these conditions of service, there’s no other way to do it. As far as I know, 3D printing is the only way to make these kinds of heat exchangers that will function for long times.”


Whitacre quoted on Cybertruck explosion
Newsweek

MSE’s Jay Whitacre spoke to Newsweek about the mechanics of the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas. He noted, “My understanding of ‘containing the explosion’ is that the sides of the truck did not blow out, and so all the explosive force went vertically as opposed to in all directions, thus partially containing the blast.”


2024


December


Marom uses machine learning for semiconductor research
Mellon College of Science

MSE’s Noa Marom used machine learning to identify potential crystallizable organic semiconductor materials. Using machine learning allowed her to narrow the pool of candidates from several hundred thousand to 44.


October


Bockstaller quoted on flame retardants
Live Science

MSE’s Michael Bockstaller spoke with Live Science regarding a recent study that detected high levels of flame retardants in some toys, kitchen utensils, and other household items made from recycled black plastic. Bockstaller noted, “The impact of these materials depends on the type of chemical, concentration, type of exposure, and individual circumstance.”


Krause awarded Robert L. Coble Award
American Ceramics Society

MSE’s Amanda Krause was awarded the Robert L. Coble Award for Young Scholars by the American Ceramics Society. The award recognizes an outstanding scientist who is conducting research in academia, in industry or at a government-funded laboratory.


September


Congratulations to our Andy Award Nominees
Carnegie Mellon University

Congratulations to the following College of Engineering Andy Award Nominees. Cheer them on at the event on Tuesday, October 15 in McConomy Auditorium.

Commitment to Excellence: Rookie

  • Amber Dworek (INI)
  • Eric Mrock (MechE)
  • Patricia Musiime (CMU-Africa)
  • Geena Provenzano (CEE)
  • Lauren Smith (College Offices)

Commitment to Excellent: Veteran

  • Melissa Brown (MechE)
  • Andrea Cohen (College Offices)
  • Allison McLachlan (CEE)
  • Kristyn Williams (MechE)
  • Emma Zink (III)

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

  • Jessica Tomko (ECE)

Commitment to Students

  • Jeannette Daly (ECE)
  • Mika Inamahoro (CMU-Africa)
  • Jennifer Spirer (College Offices)
  • Ed Wojciechowski (MechE)

Innovative and Creative Contributions

  • Brian Belowich (CEE)
  • Monica Submit (CMU-Africa)
  • Anthony Talotta (MSE)

Spirit

  • Abraham Darriel (CMU-Africa)
  • Christa Jones (INI)
  • Melissa Ritchie (CEE)

Teamwork and Collaboration (Standing Teams)

  • CMU-Africa Student Induction Program: Jacqueline Bangirana, Nancy Biwott, Gikundiro Buki, Nick Carney, Abraham Darriel, Reginald Donkor, Gisele Gihozo, Mika Inamahoro, Rosine Kamahoro, Lucy-Anna Kelly, Sandra Malaika, Ines Manzi, Mugire Flavia Mugwaneza, Irene Munene, Johnson Nziza, Marie-Ange Rukundo, and Monica Sumbi.
  • Chemical Engineering Academic Team: Maria Barnes, Heather Costello, Chelsea Lee, Nora Sieworiek

July


Faculty award winners announced

Congratulations to the 2024 faculty award winners who represent six departments across the College of Engineering. The recipients were recognized for their achievements as researchers and educators. The winners include: Benjamin Richard Teare Teaching Award: Jon Peha (EPP); David P. Casasent Outstanding Research Award: Gregory Lowry (CEE); Distinguished Professor of Engineering: Lorenz Biegler (ChemE); George Tallman Ladd Research Award: Amanda Krause (MSE) and Akshitha Sriraman (ECE); Outstanding Mentoring Award: Alan McGaughey (MechE); Outstanding Service Award: Jonathan Malen (MechE); and Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research: Carl Laird (ChemE).


Seven Engineering faculty awarded grants from Scott Institute
Carnegie Mellon University

Seven faculty from the College of Engineering received funding from this year’s Scott Institute Seed Grants to pursue projects advancing dacarbonization research and energy equity. This year’s winners include: CEE’s Gerald Wang, researching plastics decarbonization; MSE’s Paul Salvador and Mohammad Islam, researching carbon dioxide air capture with aerogels; EPP’s Ramteen Sioshansi and Granger Morgan, researching mitigating electric supply disruptions; ChemE/EPP’s Neil Donahue, upgrading an equipment’s ability to detect particles at low temperatures; and MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi, repairing an induction furnace melter to study the effects of hydrogen on metal alloys.


Taheri-Mousavi receives Scott Institute Seed Grant
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

MSE’s Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi was featured by the Scott Institute for research that was awarded one of this year’s Scott Institute Seed Grants. She will study the interactions between hydrogen atoms with high-strength metallic alloys; these interactions are called hydrogen embrittlement and they reduce the service life of the alloys. “This research is important because the production of metals contributes a significant portion of CO₂ emissions, e.g., about 28% of industrial emissions just come from steels and aluminum productions,” said Taheri-Mousavi. “Even if we optimized everything in the production process, we still wouldn’t be able to hit the 2050 CO₂ goal. The only way to achieve this goal is by reducing metal production, and H embrittlement is a hurdle as it is the most critical life limiting factor of high-strength metals.”