Four Faculty Join MSE for 2023 Academic Year

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is gaining four new members this academic year. These hires come amid 18 other hires in the College of Engineering, a record high. 

Oana Cazacu

Cazacu joins the UA as a professor, coming from the University of Florida, where she was the Charles E. Taylor Professor of Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Her research focuses on using theoretical and computational mechanics to find new applications for existing materials and design new materials and microstructures. She received her Ph.D. and habilitation degrees from the University of Lille.

“What brought me to UA is the vision for the college and a unique environment in the MSE department, which fosters innovation and promotes integration between mechanics and materials,” she said.

Brian Kim

Kim currently works as an associate research scientist at Columbia University and will join the UA as an assistant professor in January 2024. His research focuses on building next-generation devices out of quantum materials, including atomically thin 2D materials and oxides. His central research goal is to better understand, manipulate and design unique quantum properties for new electronic, photonic and quantum technologies.

“It goes without saying that the UA is a top-notch research university,” Kim said. “There are so many excellent researchers, staff, students and resource, making it a great place to carry out research and collaborate. Moreover, Arizona is emerging as the epicenter of semiconductor industries, making the UA an even more exciting place with bright future prospects and vision.”

Benoit Revil-Baudard 

Revil-Baudard joins the university as an assistant professor in MSE, after serving as a research scientist at the University of Florida Research and Engineering Education Facilities. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Paris School of Mines, and his research interests include numerical modeling of materials and forming processes, computational plasticity of metallic materials, and modeling and simulation of molecular crystals.

Xiaodong Yan

Yan is joining the university from Northwestern University, where he worked as a postdoc in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on exploring and studying nanomaterials and physics, nano-devices and mechanisms, and new circuits and architectures for next-generation computing.

“It is an exhilarating experience to be a member of MSE at the UA, an institution that boasts a longstanding legacy of academic and educational excellence,” he said.