Jump to navigation

The University of Arizona Wordmark Line Logo White
College of Engineering
Home
  • Home
  • Give Today
  • Contact Us

Search form

  • About
    • Welcome
    • Contact Us
  • Undergrad Programs
    • Admissions
    • Degrees
    • Courses
    • Advising
    • Scholarships & Financial Aid
    • Research & Internships
    • Student Clubs & Organizations
    • ABET Accreditation
  • Grad Programs
    • Admissions
    • Degrees
    • Courses
    • Advising
    • Research Focus Areas
    • Funding
  • Research
    • Focus Areas
    • Facilities
  • Faculty & Staff
    • Faculty Directory
    • Staff Directory
    • Employee Resources
    • Open Positions
  • Alumni
    • Give Today
  • News & Events
    • MSE News Archive
    • Events
Home / Research

Research

Meeting the Challenge

MSE Researchers Are Shaping What Nature Cannot Provide

University of Arizona MSE researchers have achieved international recognition for their advancements in optical materials, biomaterials, tissue engineering, nanotechnology and computational modeling of materials.

They are employing sound waves for quantum computing, experimenting with organic polymers to improve bioelectronics, and developing high-temperature ceramics for aerospace vehicles.

UA MSE products are moving out of the lab and into the world. MSE-produced materials and findings are used at the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands to preserve cultural artifacts and on the International Space Station to protect equipment from its extreme environment. Further, researchers are commercializing inventions such asa concrete substitute made from mine tailings and a non-absorbent sunscreen.

Focus Areas

MSE faculty conduct research in the following primary areas:

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Heritage conservation
  • Integrated computational science and engineering
  • Materials for energy conversion and heat control
  • Materials synthesis, processing and fabrication
  • Optical materials

Project Highlights

Using Phonons for Quantum Computing

Professor Pierre Deymier is building a quantum computer that uses sound instead of quantum particles, potentially paving the way for more powerful computers and advances in artificial intelligence and cryptography.

Phonon-based computing has the power to change the world as we know it.

Delivering Novel Sunscreen to the World

Professor Douglas Loy and graduate student Stephanie Tolbert formulated an inexpensive sunscreen containing solid, microscopic particles of ultraviolet-absorbing plastics. With the help of Tech Launch Arizona, the product has been licensed to the world’s leading aloe vera supplier.

In addition to being nonhazardous, we made the sunscreens last longer so they wouldn’t have to be reapplied as frequently.

Employing Sound Waves to Destroy Toxic Chemicals

Using sound waves to break down toxic materials to carbon dioxide and water, associate research professor Manish Keswani and his team are helping the U.S. Air Force dispose of stockpiles of dangerous firefighting chemicals.

Sonolysis relies on the process of cavitation for its success.

Making Shotcrete from Mine Tailings

Associate professor Krishna Muralidharan worked with mining engineering researchers to create a form of shotcrete from mine tailings for insulating underground metal mines and for possible use in buildings above ground.

This is basic science, with potentially widespread practical applications.

Research Centers and Facilities

MSE has a broad reach on campus, in the community and throughout the world. Faculty and students collaborate in UA labs and research centers, including the following:

  • Arizona Materials Lab
  • Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy
  • BIO5 Institute
  • Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility

Center and lab capabilities are extensive:

  • Carbon nanoscience
  • Composites processing and characterization
  • Computational modeling and simulation
  • Glass processing characterization
  • High-temperature ceramic processing
  • Mechanical testing
  • Microfabrication and nanofabrication
  • Optical and spectroscopic analysis
  • Polymer synthesis and processing
  • Surface chemistry and electrochemistry
  • Thermal imaging 

See UA College of Engineering-affiliated Research Centers and Institutes.

Featured Videos

UA Goes Quantum – Qubit by Qubit

Zheshen Zhang and Bane Vasić

Speeding Toward Hypersonic Flight

Erica Corral and Jesse Little

Additive Manufacturing on Earth and Beyond

Andrew Wessman and Krishna Muralidharan

Fast Facts
$ 2.9 million
annual research expenditures (2022)
15 +
modern facilities and labs
12
core faculty
Contact Us
Contact Us
Loading...
  • Employee Resources
The University of Arizona
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
1235 E. James E. Rogers Way 
P.O. Box 210012
Tucson, AZ 85721-0012
520.621.6070

Facebook 

 


University Privacy Statement

© 2023 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona.