Dr. Sid Pathak and project partners selected for ARPA-E CHADWICK program

November, 2024

Congratulations!

Dr. Sid Pathak, is the university lead in a project selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to develop next-generation materials critical to commercializing fusion power.

The goal of these projects, managed through the Creating Hardened and Durable fusion first Wall Incorporating Centralized Knowledge (CHADWICK) program, is to discover or develop a class of first wall materials that will maintain design performance over the lifetime of a fusion power plant.

In their CHADWICK program titled ‘Ferritic and Vanadium Alloys with Nanoparticle Strengthening for Fusion (FAVA-NSF)’, Dr. Pathak and his project partners plan to develop new alloys with pure powders dispersed with nanoparticles shown to increase alloy strength and irradiation resistance. Read more

Olajesu Olanrewaju receives the 2024 ASME Travel Grant award

October, 2024

Congratulations!

Olajesu Olanrewaju has received the 2024 ASME travel grant award to attend the 2024 ASME IMECE NSF Student Poster Competition which will be held in Portland, Oregon from November 17 to November 21.

He will receive funds upto $1000 to cover the expenses of his travel to the competition.

We were recently awarded the NASA EPSCoR Rapid Response Research (R3) grant for 2024!

September, 2024

Congratulations!

Our project, “Advancing In-Space Construction through Cold Welding” aims to investigate cold-welding as a principal method for joining materials in space. This research will focus on optimizing parameters for bonding similar and dissimilar cold-welded metal joints and their characterization under extreme cryogenic and elevated temperature conditions experienced during long-duration deep space missions. This research will help advance technologies for in-space manufacturing and construction, contributing to the future of space exploration. Read more here.

It’s a Three-peat! 2023-2024 Excellence Award goes to ISU Material Advantage Chapter

August, 2024

Congratulations!

This is the 3^rd year in a row that the ISU-MA chapter has won this award! The award will be presented at the 2024 annual Materials Science and Technology Conference held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It comes with a $450 cash prize and a commemorative plaque.

The Material Advantage student program at ISU is housed in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and is the premier membership option for students who want to make the most of their Materials Engineering experience. You can read more about the award here.

Chapter’s Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sid Pathak

Linkedin Post

Olajesu Olanrewaju receives the 2023-2024 WAAIME Scholarship

August 2024,

Congratulations!

Olajesu is a recipient of the 2023-2024 WAIMEE Scholarship. Every year, the WAAIME Scholarship fund continues to provide financial scholarships to students pursuing earth science degrees including mining, geological sciences, metallurgy, petroleum, mineral sciences, materials science, mineral economics, chemical engineering and other related studies.

Olajesu will receive a $1000 fund as part of this scholarship. He will be presented with the award at the WAAIME Student & Alumni Reception during the 2025 SME Annual Conference & Expo in Denver, CO

Olajesu Olanrewaju receives the 2023-2024 Wayne G. Basler scholarship

August, 2024

Congratulations!

Olajesu has been selected as the 2023-2024 recipient of the Wayne G. Basler Graduate Scholarship. This award acknowledges his exceptionally high level of dedication to education, demonstrating the desire and work ethic it takes to be the best.

As a part of this award, Olajesu will receive an amount of $5,000. He will receive the award at the MSE Graduate Student Welcome Reception, scheduled for August 22nd at 4 PM in 1213 Hoover Hall.

Manish Kumar receives the 2024-2025 Catron Center for Solar Energy Research graduate fellowship

August, 2024

Congratulations!

Graduate research assistant Manish Kumar was recently awarded the 2024-2025 Catron Center for Solar Energy Research graduate fellowship to explore the Fabrication of MAX Ti_n+1AlC_n/Al Nanolaminate Coatings with Interleaved Al₂O₃ Layers as Robust Concentrated Solar Power Reflectors. The Catron Center for Solar Energy Research Graduate Fellowship aims to support science-based new blue-sky projects with the potential to lead to breakthrough technologies or scientific advances. The project is looking to investigate the mechanical properties of multilayered Ti_n+1AlC_n MAX phase and metal Al nanolaminates with thin Al₂O₃ layers and evaluate its potential to be used for concentrated solar power reflectors.

Olajesu Olanrewaju wins second place in the TMS Best Paper Contest

July, 2024

Congratulations!

Olajesu Olanrewaju wins second place in the TMS Best Paper Contest – Graduate – 2nd Place for his paper, “Studying the Local Deformation Behavior of Tantalum using High throughput Spherical Nanoindentation.” This will be awarded at the TMS 2025 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. The actual presentation will take place during the TMS-AIME Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 26.

With this award, Olajesu will receive a complimentary student registration to attend the TMS 2025 Annual Meeting, a complimentary ticket to attend the TMS-AIME Awards Reception, and up to $250 for travel to attend the meeting.

First US Installation of Integrated ALD+PVD platform SC-1 at Iowa State University

July, 2024

We recently completed the installation of our newly acquired integrated atomic layer and physical vapor deposition (ALD+PVD) platform – SC-1 from Swiss Cluster.

Swiss Cluster’s CEO, Dr. Carlos Guerra was on-site for the installation and training, and to discuss ongoing collaborations.

Funding acknowledgement: The instrument is available to the PI through the FY22-22 Presidential Cost-Sharing Program for Research Tools (CoSPRT) program at Iowa State University, along with additional internal funding from the College of Engineering and the PI’s department.

While separate ALD and PVD facilities are generally available to researchers, each is typically a distinct deposition system usually located separately in different buildings and/or rooms. The lack of a combined platform is one primary reason that the researchers in this nation only fabricate materials by either PVD or ALD. Only a handful of users (primarily industrial users) in the United States can simultaneously utilize the strengths of both ALD (for depositing uniform ultrathin films with a sub-nm control of thickness) and PVD (faster deposition of layer thicknesses in the range of 2 nm to tens of µm, and unparalleled flexibility due to the individual control of the elemental fluxes), because a transition of the sample between the two chambers will break the vacuum. The newly acquired SC-1 from Swiss Cluster is an exciting transformative solution which integrates ALD and PVD into one compact, modular, and fully automated platform. It is the only system of its kind in the U.S. capable of combining these two deposition methods without the need of ever breaking vacuum or moving substrates during deposition. This feature will facilitate researchers to design strong, tough, and high-rate deformation-resistant materials by allowing them to architect the material microstructures from the atomistic up to the µm level.

The SC-1 instrument is specifically designed to leverage the strengths of atomic layer deposition and physical vapor deposition, which allows us to deposit nanometer-thick films in between the micrometer-thick layers. It is a unique system (and different from other manufacturers) in that the ALD and PVD are arranged in compact vacuum chambers divided vertically by a gate valve, which will be closed when performing ALD and then open when running PVD without breaking the vacuum. If needed, the ALD chamber can also be used as a load‑lock, enabling fast substrate exchange and maintaining a base vacuum. The SC-1 is capable to fabricate multi-nanolayered coatings/films combining the extensive range of materials that can be deposited by ALD/CVD and PVD of ceramics and metals to create unique material architectures with controlled interfaces for many different applications.

Ph.D. Graduation!

July, 2024

Congratulations, Dr. Skye Supakul!
Skye Supakul is the third student from our group to graduate with a Ph.D. Skye’s research focused on Metal/MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates for Tunable Strength and Toughness: Synthesis, Microstructure, and Mechanical Properties. Skye is currently working at the Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory.

Amruta Vaghela receives Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research

June, 2024

Congratulations!

Sigma Xi’s Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research has approved Amruta’s research grant proposal titled” Investigating the Molecular Fingerprint of Crenulated Wavy Enamel (CWE) in Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs,” submitted for the March 15, 2024 application cycle. Among the 58 recipients of the Sigma Xi award this year, only two were granted in the field of Engineering, and Amruta is one of those two recipients. You can read the press release about the recipients here.

Dr Soumya Varma marks her commencement walk!

May, 2024

Congratulations!

The Pathak group is thrilled to celebrate a significant milestone for one of our members, Dr Soumya Varma, who officially participated in her commencement ceremony on 9^th May. The group is proud of her achievements and excited to see the new heights she will reach in her career.

Ethan Shimak wins second place in the student project presentation competition at the AIST conference.

May, 2024

Congratulations!

Ethan Shimak, an undergraduate research assistant mentored by Niraj Atale, achieved second place in the student project presentation competition at the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) conference. This event took place in Columbus, Ohio, from May 6^th to 9^th. His presentation, titled “Strain Rate and Orientation Dependent Nanomechanical Response of RHA Steel,” showcased his significant findings.

Pathak Group view the total solar eclipse at Indiana University Bloomington

April, 2024

Pathak research group had the chance of viewing the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The group attended an event held by the Indiana University Bloomington where the students had a chance to enhance their knowledge regarding the solar eclipse and deepen their understanding of astronomical phenomena.

Soren Hellyer is awarded the TMS Acta Materialia Scholarship

March, 2024

Congratulations!

Soren Hellyer attended the 2024 TMS Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida where he was awarded the Acta Materialia scholarship. Soren also presented his poster titled-‘Studying the Effects of Aging on the Structure and Properties of Off-Eutectic Pb-Sn Solder Joints for In-Space Applications’

Sid Pathak receives NSF CAREER award for studying pseudomorphic phases in multilayered nano-laminates

March, 2024

Dr. Sid Pathak has been selected for a 2024 National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for his project, “Towards a Fundamental Understanding of Interface Strain-Driven Pseudomorphic Phase Transformations in Multilayered Nanocomposites.”

CAREER awards are the NSF’s most prestigious awards given to early-career faculty. The support aims to build a firm foundation for leadership in integrating research and education. Dr. Pathak will receive $600,000 to develop and execute his project over the next five years. Read more

NSF Career award abstract

Pathak Group at the TMS 2024 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.

March, 2024

Dr.Pathak and his research group attended the TMS Annual meeting and exhibition which was held in Orlando, Florida. Members from our research group had the opportunity to network and present on different topics.

The following members presented talks on their research topics:

Dr. Kevin Jacob: ‘Understanding the Pseudomorphic HCP to BCC Phase Transformation in Nanolaminate Mg’
Skye Supakul: ‘Mechanistic-design of Advanced Hierarchical Ti-Ti₂AlC Metal-MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates’
Manish Kumar: ‘Structure and Properties of the Terrestrial vs. Microgravity solders under extreme conditions of Elevated and Cryo Temperatures’
Olajesu Olanrewaju: ‘Studying Grain Boundary Regions in Polycrystalline Tantalum using Spherical Nano-indentation’

Manish Kumar is awarded the Brown Graduate Fellowship

February, 2024

Congratulations!

Manish Kumar, a distinguished Ph.D. candidate from Dr. Pathak’s research team, has been honored with the prestigious Brown Graduate Fellowship Award for the academic year 2024-2025. Recognized for his exceptional achievements, Kumar is among the elite group of seven students university-wide to be granted this award.

Dr. Napolitano (DOGE, Materials Science and Engineering) expressed his admiration for Kumar’s accomplishment, stating, “This is a tremendous honor and achievement. We are all very proud of you and look forward to seeing you continue to make significant contributions to the field of Materials Science and Engineering in the future.”

Manish Kumar Receives TMS Student Travel Grant

January, 2024

Congratulations!

Manish Kumar, a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Pathak’s research group, has been selected by the TMS Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division’s Nominations & Awards Committee to receive a TMS Student Travel Grant to attend the TMS 2024 Annual Meeting and Exhibition.

Manish is one of only five exceptional students nationwide to receive this grant. He will be attending the TMS 2024 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, scheduled to take place from March 3rd to 7th in Orlando, Florida. During the conference, Mr. Manish will showcase his Ph.D. research titled “Structure and Properties of Microgravity and Terrestrial Solders under Extremes of Elevated and Cryogenic Temperatures.”

Olajesu Olanrewaju receives Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research

January, 2024

Congratulations!

Sigma Xi’s Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research has approved Olajesu’s research grant proposal titled” Investigating Non-Schmid Behavior in Tantalum at the Extremes for Aerospace Application,” submitted for the October 15, 2023 application cycle. Among the 51 recipients of the Sigma Xi award this year, only two were granted in the field of Engineering, and Olajesu is one of those two recipients. You can read the press release about the recipients here.

Manish Kumar attends the Annual ASGSR Meeting held in Washington, DC.

November, 2023

Manish Kumar attended the Annual ASGSR Meeting held in Washington, DC from November 14-18, 2023 where he made an oral presentation on the topic ‘ Structure and Properties of the Terrestrial vs. Microgravity solders under extreme conditions of Elevated and Cryo Temperatures.

Additionally, Undergraduate students Caleb Ogden and Soren Hellyer presented a poster on the topic ‘Studying the Effects of Aging on the Structure and Properties of Off-Eutectic Pb-Sn Solder Joints for In-Space Applications’

Manish Kumar receives the ASGSR Travel Grant

November, 2023

Congratulations!

Manish Kumar has received a $500 Travel award which will help cover his travel costs to attend the 2023 ASGSR Committee meeting which be held in Washington, DC from 14^th Nov to 18^th Nov.

Skye Supakul is now a PhD Candidate!

October, 2023

Congratulations!

Skye successfully completed his preliminary examination on the 31^st of October. He has been working on “Metal /MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates for Tunable Strength, Microstructure, and Mechanical Properties.” Great work Skye!

Artwork submitted by Amruta Vaghela was included in the 2023 Basic Research Art of Science Showcase

October, 2023

Congratulations!

Artwork titled ‘The Remarkable Damage Tolerance of Wavy Tooth-Enamel in Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs’ was included in the 2023 AFRL Basic Research Art of Science Showcase. The artwork showcases an optical profilometric image of undulating wavy enamel in the grinding dentition of hadrosaurid dinosaurs. Read more about the artwork here.

Olajesu Olanrewaju attends the 2023 ASME-IMECE Conference in New Orleans, Lousiana.

October, 2023

Olajesu presented a poster on “Studying Grain Boundary Regions in Polycrystalline Tantalum Using Spherical Nanoindentation” at the 2023 ASME IMECE conference held from Oct 29^th to Nov 2^nd. The conference is a place where R&D executives from academia, government, and industry establish connections, make relationships, and share knowledge that promotes innovation in various engineering specialties. Olajesu had the chance to interact with Prof. Siddiq M. Qidwai, the program director of the Mechanics of Materials and Structures Program (MoMS) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He also met with Prof. Surya Kalidindi, the Frank H. Neely Chair Professor in Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia and Prof. Curt A. Bronkhorst, IMECE Track 4 Co-Chair and collaborator on the NSF-DMREF project.

Olajesu was also awarded a $1000 travel grant to account for his travel costs.

2022-2023 Excellence Award goes to ISU Material Advantage Chapter

October, 2023

Congratulations!

Following last year’s footsteps, The Iowa State University Material Advantage (MA) Chapter won a Chapter of Excellence Award from the international student program at the 2023 annual Materials Science and Technology Conference held in Columbus, Ohio. The Chapters of Excellence award comes with a $450 cash prize and a commemorative plaque.

Chapter’s Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sid Pathak

Uddeshya Shukla receives the HPCAT Workshop Student Travel Award

October, 2023

Congratulations!

Uddeshya Shukla has received a travel funding amount of $1250 to present his poster at the Opportunities for Advancement for Studies of Matter at Extreme Condition with APS/HPCAT-Upgrade which will be held at the APS Conference Center, from November 7 to 9.

Pathak Group at the Materials Science and Technology (MS&T) 2023 Technical Meeting and Exhibition in Columbus, Ohio.

October, 2023

Dr.Pathak and his research group attended the MS&T Technical meeting and exhibition which was held in Columbus, Ohio. Members from our research group had the opportunity to network and present on different topics.

The following members presented talks on their research topics:

Dr. Kevin Jacob: ‘Understanding the Pseudomorphic HCP to BCC Phase Transformation in Nanolaminate Mg’
Skye Supakul: ‘Mechanistic-design of Advanced Hierarchical Ti-Ti₂AlC Metal-MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates’

Soren Hellyer receives the 2024 TMS Acta Materialia Scholarship

September, 2023

Congratulations!

Undergraduate research assistant Soren Hellyer has been awarded the TMS Acta Materialia scholarship for the 2024 calendar year. He will be awarded the scholarship amount of $5000 at the TMS 2024 Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Orlando, FL. Soren will also receive a $500 travel stipend as a part of the award.

The Pathak Group welcomes new students

August, 2023

With the fall 2023 semester starting, the Pathak group has welcomed new students!

(Top row from left to right): Dr. Kevin Jacob, Uddeshya Shukla, Niraj Atale, Olajesu Olanrewaju (Middle row from left to right): Dr. Sid Pathak, Skye Supakul, Soren Hellyer, Eli Henrichs, Joshua Kamp. (Bottom row from left to right): Amruta Vaghela, Manish Kumar, Ethan Shimak, Noah Madison, Caleb Ogden.

Manish Kumar receives the Wayne G. Basler Scholarship for 2023

August, 2023

Congratulations!

Graduate research assistant Manish Kumar was recently awarded the Wayne G. Basler Scholarship for 2023 in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University. This honor is awarded annually to an MSE graduate student who exemplifies an exceptionally high level of dedication to education, demonstrating “the desire and work ethic it takes to be the best they can be.”

Olajesu wins the 2023 Ames National Lab Poetry in Science Challenge

August, 2023

Congratulations!

Olajesu’s Tantalum Reborn poem won the 2023 Ames National Lab Poetry in Science Challenge. This poem was featured in Ames National Lab’s EHS newsletter. Read the poem here.

Skye Supakul receives 2023-2024 Catron Center for Solar Energy Research graduate fellowship

August, 2023

Congratulations!

Graduate research assistant Skye Supakul was recently awarded the 2023-2024 Catron Center for Solar Energy Research graduate fellowship to explore the Fabrication of MAX Ti_n+1AlC_n/Al Nanolaminate Coatings with Interleaved Al₂O₃ Layers as Robust Concentrated Solar Power Reflectors. The Catron Center for Solar Energy Research Graduate Fellowship aims to support science-based new blue-sky projects with the potential to lead to breakthrough technologies or scientific advances. The project is looking to investigate the mechanical properties of multilayered Ti_n+1AlC_n MAX phase and metal Al nanolaminates with thin Al₂O₃ layers and evaluate its potential to be used for concentrated solar power reflectors. Congratulations to Skye Supakul!

Dr. Kevin Jacob attends International Conference on Fracture

June, 2023

Postdoctoral researcher from Pathak group, Dr. Kevin Jacob attended International Conference on Fracture (ICF 15) at Atlanta, Georgia. The International Congress on Fracture (ICF) is one of the premier international bodies promoting worldwide cooperation among scientists and engineers dealing with mechanics and mechanisms of fracture and strength of solids. He received best postdoctoral researcher poster presentation award for ” Fracture Behavior of HPT Processed Maranging Steels”.

Manish Kumar receives Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research

June, 2023

Congratulations!

Sigma Xi’s Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research has approved Manish Kumar’s research grant proposal submitted for the March 15, 2023 application cycle.

Manish Kumar is now a Ph.D. candidate !

Congratulations!

June 09, 2023

Manish Kumar of Pathak Group has been working on the “Structure and Properties of Microgravity vs Terrestrial Solders and Void Mitigation Strategies”. He has successfully completed his preliminary exam on 9th June. It is a joyous moment for Pathak group.

Upcoming! Manish Kumar’s Ph.D. Preliminary Exam on 9th June 2023

Manish Kumar of Pathak Group has been working on “Structure and Properties of Microgravity vs Terrestrial Solders and Void Mitigation Strategies”. He will be presenting his talk on the topic as part of his preliminary exam on 9th June.

Don’t miss it. Know more about the effects of lack of gravity on the solidification of Pb-Sn solder onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Date: June 09, 2023

Time: 8:00 AM

Location: 1312 Hoover Hall, 528 Bissell Rd, Ames, IA 50012

Pathak Group takes up the 2024 Gladiator Assault Challenge

May 2023,

Gladiator Assault Challenge is the Midwest’s premier test of endurance, speed, agility, strength, and mental stamina. Gladiator Assault Challenge obstacle courses are a series of physically challenging obstacles (some natural and some man-made) that individuals or teams must navigate. These courses will challenge participants with running, climbing, jumping, crawling, balancing, and MUD with the aim of testing overall endurance.

Swiss Cluster LinkedIn feature Skye Supakul

May 2023,

Skye Supakul of Dr. Pathak’s group has been working on multilayered nanolaminates and has successfully fabricated Ti/Ti2AlC Metal/MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates interlayered with Al2O3 using SC-1 system made by Swiss Cluster. The post on Swiss Cluster highlights the work of Skye Supakul and his presentation on the fabrication of these nanolaminates.

Pathak Group at 49th International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films

May 2023,

Dr. Pathak and his group members attended the IMCMCTF. The International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films (ICMCTF) is the premier international conference in the field of thin film deposition, characterization, and advanced surface engineering.

The following talks were presented by the group members:

“Understanding the Interface Strain Induced hcp-to-bcc Phase Transformation in Nanolaminate Mg”
“Engineering Metal-MAX Phase Multilayered Nanolaminates for Tunable Strength and Toughness”

Olajesu from the Pathak group won the International Student Scholarship Award

May 2023

Congratulations!

Olajesu Olanrewaju has won a $ 1500 scholarship award from the International Students Council of Iowa State University for Spring 2023.

More details.

Noah Madison is awarded with the Outstanding FHMP Scholar Award

April 2023,

Congratulations!

The University Honors Grant Committee has voted to award your mentee Noah Madison with the Outstanding FHMP Scholar Award. $1000 will be awarded to Noah to continue research involvement during Fall 2023 semester under supervision of Dr. Sid Pathak. First-year Honors students are offered an opportunity to experience the world of research firsthand by working under the guidance of an Iowa State faculty and the mentorship of a graduate student.

Noah is working on “Understanding the Local Structure-Property Relationships of Pb-Sn Solders in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments” under the mentorship of graduate student, Manish Kumar.

Undergraduate students form the group present at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research 2023

April 2023,

Soren Hellyer and Caleb Ogden presented their research “Studying the Effects of Aging on the Structure and Properties of 50wt%Pb-50wt%Sn Off-Eutectic Solder Joints for In-Space Application” at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2023). The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students. The conference offers a unique environment for the celebration and promotion of undergraduate student achievement; provides models of exemplary research, scholarship, and creative activity; and offers student career readiness development.

Our group attended KLA nanoindentation workshop at University of Texas, Austin

April 2023,

Group members of Pathak group attended nanoindentation workshop hosted by KLA instruments at the University of Texas at Austin. Previous member of group Dr. Soumya Varma (currently at KLA instruments) hosted a virtual demonstration session on iNano indenter. It was a wonderful experience to discuss nanoindentation ideas with researchers from different backgrounds.

Pathak group at the Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys (CANFSA) at Colorado School of Mines

March 2023,

Dr. Pathak and his group members attended the CANFSA. The CANFSA is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) at the Colorado School of Mines and Iowa State University. It is the premier industry-university research center for non-ferrous physical metallurgy, with an emphasis on the needs of the industries that develop, manufacture, and use non-ferrous alloys.

The following posters were presented at the CANFSA:

“Structure and Properties of Pb-Sn Solders Produced in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments”.
“Grain Interface Functional Design to Create Damage-Resistant Polycrystalline Metallic Materials”
“Combinatorial ALD/PVD Synthesis and Nano-/Micro-Mechanics Under Extreme Conditions”
“Mechanistic Design of Metal/MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates for Tunable Strength and Toughness”

Our Research Group at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society(TMS) 2023, San Diego

March 2023,

Dr. Pathak and his research group attended the TMS conference in 2023. The students participated in various networking events and presented research talks.

Current and past members presented talks on their research topics:

Soumya Varma: “Micromechanical Investigations of the Remarkable Damage Tolerance in Tooth-Enamel of Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs”
Manish Jain: “Stress-strain responses from spherical nanoindentation and micro-pillar compression experiments in Fe-3% Si: A comparative study”
Manish Kumar: “Structure and Properties of Solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial and Microgravity Environment”
Skye Supakul presented a poster on ” Mechanistic Design of Advanced Hierarchical Ti/Ti2AlC Metal-MAX Multilayered Nanolaminates”

Dr. Pathak receives the Army Research Office research grant for CEESEM Project

March 2023,

Dr. Pathak has been awarded the Army Research Office research grant for the Center for Extreme Events in Structurally Evolving Materials (CEESEM) Project. This award is in collaboration with Dr. Curt Bronkhorst, Dr. Dan Thoma, Dr. Ramathasan Thevamran, Dr. Wenxiao Pan, Dr. Nan Chen (University of Wisconsin), Dr. John Borg (Marquette University), Dr. Amit Acharya (Carnegie Mellon University), Dr. Marko Knezevic (University of New Hampshire).

This is a very humbling achievement to receive this grant. This project intends to understand the mechanistic processes involved in extreme loading conditions which then motivates the mathematical framework to model structural evolution in materials in these conditions.

ISU daily news features interview of Manish Kumar

March 2023,

Manish Kumar of Dr. Pathak’s group participated in the Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS) program. This program aims to adapt and improve one’s project management skills from industry to academia. The program bridges the gap between graduation and entering academic or industrial careers.

Manish Kumar was recommended by Dr. Pathak to join the program. Check out what Manish has to say here.

Three undergraduate students awarded First-Year Honors Mentor Program Grant

March 01, 2023

Congratulations!

Undergraduate students Joshua Kamp, Noah Madison, and Joshua DeJohn, working with Dr. Pathak, have been awarded First-Year Honors Mentor Program Grant. As part of this program, first-year Honors students are offered an opportunity to experience the world of research firsthand by working under the guidance of an Iowa State faculty and the mentorship of a graduate student.

Project 1: Understanding the Local Structure-Property Relationships of Pb-Sn Solders in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments

First-year honors students: Joshua Kamp and Noah Madison

Graduate Mentor: Manish Kumar

Project 2: Engineering Multilayered Metal-MAX phase Nanolaminate materials for tunable strength and toughness

First-year honors students: Joshua DeJohn

Graduate Mentor: Skye Supakul

ISU College of Engineering launches biomedical engineering degree

February 22, 2023

Iowa State University’s College of Engineering is introducing a bachelor of science degree program in biomedical engineering.

The biomedical engineering program will be a hands-on educational experience in understanding, designing and manufacturing innovations to improve health. Majoring in biomedical engineering can also prepare students for medical school or other advanced studies. Read more.

Dr. Pathak is one of the faculty members from the MSE department who will also be a part of the BME faculty group.

Non-Destructive 3-D Microstructure Evaluation at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Lab

February 2023

Manish Kumar, Skye Supakul and Niraj Atale from our research group visited the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Lab to perform the high-resolution and high speed x-ray tomography experiments on the terrestrial solder samples. Experimental results from these experiments will increase our understanding of 3-D microstructure and porosity development in the solder materials without destructive evaluation.

Results from these terrestrial soldering experiments will also allow us to determine the correct soldering parameters, such as heating and cooling rate, hold time at the maximum temperature, and sample dimensions in order to design the experimental setup for our upcoming flight to the International Space Station.

Dr. Pathak awarded Partnership Development Travel Grant (PDTG)

February, 2023

Congratulations!

Dr. Pathak has been awarded with Partnership Development Travel Grant (PDTG) for “Studying the effect of Microgravity on Structure and Properties of Weld Joints for In Space Applications” under Iowa NASA EPSCoR. The grant aims to (i) understand the effect of gravity on the weld joint microstructure and properties under terrestrial conditions and (ii) designthe welding parameters for future microgravity experiments using the MaRVIn system at TMI.

Team working on the project:

Graduate students: Manish Kumar

Excellence Award goes to ISU Material Advantage Chapter

January 26, 2023

Congratulations!

The Iowa State University Material Advantage (MA) Chapter won a Chapter of Excellence Award from the international student program at the 2022 annual Materials Science and Technology Conference held in Pittsburgh last October. The Chapters of Excellence award comes with a $450 cash prize and a commemorative plaque.

Chapter’s Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sid Pathak


	Our group’s work was featured in the MSE department update January 2023 The MSE department update features our group’s work on the performance of different solder joints for use in future space missions, titled “Structure, Properties and Performance of Solder Joints in Terrestrial vs. Reduced-Gravity Environments”. Our group has been working with NASA, and this is the third research award from NASA. Further details of the news update can be found here
	Technical presentation at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) conference 2022 November 2022 Congratulations Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group gave a poster presentation on “Structure and Properties of Pb-Sn solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Conditions” at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) conference 2022. The ASGSR-2022 conference was held Wednesday, Nov. 9th – Saturday, Nov 11th, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the ASGS-2022 conference was to bring together a diverse group of scientists and engineers to encourage an exchange of ideas bridging basic and applied biological and physical sciences research and technology in space and on the ground.
	Two undergraduate students awarded NASA – Iowa Space Grant Consortium Award November 2022 Congratulations! Undergraduate students Soren Hellyer and Caleb M Ogden, working with Dr. Pathak, have been awarded funding from NASA – Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) to provide experiences to undergraduates that promote skills for STEM careers through hands-on activities. This funding is granted to proposals that align with the research priorities of the NASA Mission Directorates. The proposed work aims to study the effects of aging on the structure and properties of off-eutectic Pb-Sn solder joints produced in terrestrial environments project. This study’s understanding will directly relate to the current project funded by the NASA ISS Flight opportunity grant, where we have an upcoming flight scheduled (in summer/Fall 2023) to the ISS to conduct additional soldering experiments under microgravity conditions. Team: Undergraduate students: Soren Hellyer and Caleb M Ogden Graduate Mentor: Manish Kumar Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sid Pathak
	Poster presentation at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE-2022) October 2022 Congratulations Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group gave a poster presentation on “Grain Interface Functional Design to Create Damage Resistance in Polycrystalline Metallic Materials” in NSF student poster competition at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) 2022, organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The ASME IMECE 2022 Conference was held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. ASME’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) is the event where R&D leaders from industry, government, and academia converge to make connections and share insights for innovation across engineering disciplines.

	NASA selects Dr. Pathak to test materials for future missions September 13, 2022 Congratulations! The Issue released by the Office of the Vice President for Iowa State University recognizes the grant won by Prof. Sid Pathak. Sid’s proposal was among the five selected proposals in the investigation of materials for future missions. The proposal titled “Structure, Properties, and Performance of Solder Joints in Terrestrial vs. Reduced-Gravity Environments” has been stated to find applicability in In-space Soldering Investigation experiments to assist NASA to obtain a robust grasp of the development of porosity in solder joints under different harsh geographic conditions. He has a track record of excellence as he has already received a total of eight grants, three of which were from NASA while others came from sources such as DOE, NSF, and ARO since joining Iowa State University as a faculty member three years ago. Further details of the news can be obtained here: https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2022/09/13/nasa-selects-mse-professor-to-test-materials-for-future-missions/

	ASME IMECE 2022 Travel Grant September 2022 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group, has been awarded the ASME IMECE 2022 Travel Grant Award to help defray the costs of his attendance at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) 2022, organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The ASME IMECE 2022 Conference is to be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. ASME’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE) is the event where R&D leaders from industry, government, and academia converge to make connections and share insights for innovation across engineering disciplines.
	ASGSR Student Travel Award August 2022 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group, has been awarded the ASGSR Student Travel Award-2022 to help defray the costs of his attendance at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) conference 2022. The ASGSR-2022 conference will be held Wednesday, Nov. 9th – Saturday, Nov 11th, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the ASGSR conference is to bring together a diverse group of scientists and engineers to encourage an exchange of ideas bridging basic and applied biological and physical sciences research and technology in space and on the ground.
	Ph.D. Graduation! July 2022 Congratulations, Soumya Varma!! Soumya Varma is the second student from our group who graduated with a Ph.D. Soumya’s interest of study was on Micromechanical Investigations of the Remarkable Damage Tolerance in Tooth-Enamel of Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs. She is currently working in KLA as a senior application Scientist.
	Prof Pathak receives NASA’s Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) Grant June 30 Congratulations! Prof Pathak has received NASA’s Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) Grant, which is part of Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences – 2021 (ROSES-2021) solicitation. . The proposed work will use In-Space Soldering Investigation (ISSI) experiment to investigate and improve our understanding of how porosity develops in the solder joints, how it is influenced by gravity, and how solder joints properties and functions are affected. The proposed work would apply advanced 3D materials characterization to solder samples from ISSI and non-ISSI compositions. The additional characterization may feedback into the design of the next generation of on-orbit experiments for soldering, essential for future long-duration human exploration missions. The full text of the announcement can be found here: https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/biological-physical/nasa-selects-5-proposals-to-provide-new-insights-from-openly-available-data-in-the-physical-sciences-informatics-system
	Enamel 10 New Investigator Award March 2022 Congratulations! Soumya Varma, a graduate student from our group, has been awarded an *Enamel 10 New Investigator Award* to help defray the costs of her attendance at the 10th International Symposium on Dental Enamel. The symposium is to be held Sunday, May 8th – Thursday, May 12th, at the University Club on campus at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The purpose of the symposium is to promote open discussion and exchange of ideas amongst an international group of scientists from across the career spectrum working in the field of dental enamel research and in related fields.
	Our Research Group at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society(TMS) 2022, Anaheim. February 2022 Our research group attended the TMS conference in 2022. The students participated in various networking events and presented research talks. The following students presented talks on their research topics: Cayla Harvey: “Microstructural Characterization and Micro-Mechanical Properties of 14YWT Tubing after Proton Irradiation” Soumya Varma: “Micromechanical and Microstructural Studies of Wavy Enamel in the Grinding Dentition of Hadrosauid Dinosaurs: Understanding its Remarkable Damage Tolerance and Fracture Resistance” Skye Supakul: “Mechanistic-design of Multilayered Nanocomposites: Hierarchical Metal-MAX Materials for Tunable Strength and Toughness” Manish Kumar: “Structure and Properties of the Solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial and Microgravity Environments”
	ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2022 February 2022 Congratulations! Skye Supakul has been awarded a prestigious ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2022 for his stay in Switzerland. He will be doing his research work at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) in Switzerland. ThinkSwiss is an official scholarship program managed by the Office of Science, Technology, and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C.
	2022 GSR Journal Cover Award November 2021 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group won the 2021 ASGSR art in journal category. His work “Structure, Properties, and Performance of Solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial & Microgravity Conditions” will feature as the cover of the ASGSR’s Open-Access journal Gravitational and Space Research for 2022.
	Poster presentation at American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Conference (ASGSR-2021) November 2021 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group gave a poster presentation on “Structure, Properties, and Performance of Solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial & Microgravity Conditions” at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Conference (ASGSR-2021). The meeting was hosted by ASGSR (Nov 3rd to Nov 6th) in Baltimore, Maryland.
	Poster presentation at Von Braun Memorial Symposium (VBS-2021) October 2021 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group gave a poster presentation on “Understanding the Local Structure-Properties relationships of Pb-Sn Solders Produced in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Conditions” at the Von Braun Memorial Symposium (VBS – 2021). The event was organized by the American Astronautical Society (AAS) in collaboration with University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. This year’s theme was – *United: A Foundation Delivered, The Future Enabled* – focused on the progress made to date and the plans and goals for future space science and exploration.
	Prof Pathak receives NEET-1 grant from DOE’s FY2021 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research program September 2021 Congratulations! Prof Pathak is leading a university, National Laboratory and industry collaborative team on a US Department of Energy (DOE) funded Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET-1) project in ‘Advanced Methods for Manufacturing’ titled “Direct Production of ODS Ferritic Alloys for Long-life Reactor Fuel Bundles: Sheet Material for Ducts and Tubing Pre-forms for Cladding”. This three year $1-Million project is a collaboration between Iowa State University, and three US national laboratories (Ames Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory along with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and an industry partner (Westinghouse Electric Co). More information can be found here: https://neup.inl.gov/SitePages/FY21_NEET_Awards.aspx
	Technical presentation at International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC – 2021) August 2021 Congratulations! Manish Kumar, a graduate student from our group gave a technical presentation on “Structure and Properties of Solder Joints Produced in Terrestrial & Microgravity Conditions” at the International Space Station Research and Development conference (ISSRDC – 2021). The event was hosted virtually by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), manager of the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society.
	Prof Pathak receives the highly competitive NSF Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) grant August 2021 Congratulations! Prof Pathak is part of a multi-university team who have been awarded the 2021 NSF DMREF grant for “Grain Interface Functional Design to Create Damage Resistance in Polycrystalline Metallic Materials”. This award is in collaboration with University of Wisconsin, Madison (Prof. Curt Bronkhorst and Prof. Nan Chen) and University of New Hampshire (Prof. Marko Knezevic). This is very exciting, as well as a humbling achievement (the NSF program manager had mentioned that the 2021 DMREF competition was “the most competitive to date”.) More information can be found here: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2118673&HistoricalAwards=false
	Prof Pathak receives NASA International Space Station Flight Opportunity grant August 2021 Congratulations! Prof Pathak has received the 2021 NASA EPSCoR International Space Station (ISS) Award. The proposed work builds on a current NASA Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) grant for studying solders in terrestrial vs. microgravity environments, and will utilize the MaRVIn test platform to conduct controlled soldering experiments on ground vs. onboard the ISS. The understanding gained from this work will allow us to develop electronics repair capabilities essential for future long-duration human exploration missions in (and beyond) low Earth orbit (ex: Moon, Mars)
	Prof Pathak receives NSF-MRI Grant August 2021 Congratulations! Prof Pathak is part of an ISU team that has been awarded 2021 NSF-MRI grant for Acquisition of an Advanced Multi-Functional Wide-Wavelength-Range Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer for Multi-Materials Characterization. More information can be found here: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2117445&HistoricalAwards=false
	Sezer Picak has joined as a Postdoctoral Scholar in Dr. Pathak’s Research Group August 2021 Congratulations! Sezer Picak has joined Dr. Pathak’s research group as a postdoctoral scholar. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. His postdoctoral research focuses on investigating the mechanical properties of a deposited metal-MAX nanocomposite and/or MAX phase thin film relative to the specific deposition or relative to reference material systems.
	Soumya Varma has successfully completed her preliminary proposal defense August 2021 Congratulations! Soumya Varma successfully defended her preliminary oral exam towards the partial fulfilment of her PhD. degree on August, 10th 2021, on the thesis titled, “Micromechanical and Microstructural studies of the wavy enamel of duck-billed dinosaurs: Understanding its enhanced strength and damage tolerance properties.”
	ISU Presidential Award CoSPRT to partially fund Alemnis system March 2021 Congratulations! Our group has received Presidential Cost Sharing Program for Research Tools (CoSPRT) funds that will partially fund the Alemnis in-situ micro-mechanical system. CoSPRT is building Iowa State’s research infrastructure by offering support for new research instruments, expanding the capabilities of existing equipment, developing new instrumentation, and investing in research aids and enhancers such as data sets, archives and software.
	ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2021 February 2021 Congratulations! Soumya Varma has been awarded a prestigious ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2021 for her stay in Switzerland. She will be doing her research work at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) in Switzerland. ThinkSwiss is an official scholarship program managed by the Office of Science, Technology, and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C.
	Internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory Cayla Harvey is currently conducting her thesis work at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) through her Integrated University (IUP) program by the Department of Energy (DOE) funded 3 year fellowship. She is working with the Materials Science and Technology division to investigate oxide dispersion strengthened steels for application as fuel cladding in future generation nuclear reactors.
	Presentation at Ames Lab Scientific Seminar Series February 2021 Dr Sid Pathak delivered a presentation titled “Probing Nanoscale Damage Gradients in Irradiated Metals using Nano-mechanical Test Techniques” on February 1 2021.
	Soumya Varma receives Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research January 2021 Congratulations! Sigma Xi’s Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research has approved Soumya Varma’s research grant proposal submitted for the October 1, 2020 application cycle.
	ISU news release about the FY21 DURIP award The news article on the FY21 DURIP Program award for the proposal “In-Situ Micro-Mechanical System for Testing of Advanced Materials under Extreme Conditions of Temperature, Strain-Rate, and Applied Stress” has been published at the Iowa State University College of Engineering news. The news article can be found here: https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2020/12/16/new-dod-projects-support-new-instruments-with-eye-on-new-materials/
	Cayla Harvey has successfully completed her preliminary proposal defense December 2020 Congratulations! Cayla Harvey gave her preliminary proposal defense on the topic of Micro-mechanical investigations of irradiation tolerance in nanostructured ferritic alloys processed into thin-walled tubing. This is in defense of her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering under Dr. Sid Pathak. Her committee consists of advisors from Iowa State University, University of Nevada, Reno, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
	Prof. Pathak receives FY21 DURIP Program award December 2020 Congratulations! Our lab has been awarded the FY21 DURIP Program award for the proposal ” In-Situ Micro-Mechanical System for Testing of Advanced Materials under Extreme Conditions of Temperature, Strain-Rate, and Applied Stress.” In the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) program, the Department of Defense (DoD) seeks specific proposals from university investigators conducting foundational science and engineering research relevant to national defense. The annual DURIP award process is highly competitive. For the FY 2021 competition, 742 proposals requesting $297 million in total funding were received, out of which DoD funded 150 university researchers totaling $50 million. News released from the United States DOD can be seen here: https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2430566/dod-awards-50-million-in-university-research-equipment-awards/
	New publication Check out our new article published in Materials Science and Engineering (A) titled High Temperature Nanoindentation of Cu-TiN Nanolaminates. Group members Cayla Harvey and Dr. Sid Pathak were involved in this work. The link to the article is https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2020.140522.
	New publication Check out our new article published in Communications Materials 1 titled Extreme shear-deformation-induced modification of defect structures and hierarchical microstructure in an Al–Si alloy. Group members Soumya Varma and Dr. Sid Pathak were involved in this work. The link to the article is https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-020-00087-x.
	New publication Check out our new article published in Materials Characterization titled Microstructural and micro-mechanical analysis of 14YWT nanostructured Ferritic alloy after varying thermo-mechanical processing paths into tubing. Group members Cayla Harvey and Dr. Sid Pathak were involved in this work. The link to the article is https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2020.110744.
	Internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory Cayla Harvey is currently conducting her thesis work at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) through her Integrated University (IUP) program by the Department of Energy (DOE) funded 3 year fellowship. She is working with the Materials Science and Technology division to investigate oxide dispersion strengthened steels for application as fuel cladding in future generation nuclear reactors.

	Welcome to Ames, Iowa August 2020, Dr. Pathak along with his group joined Iowa State University starting Fall 2020. Dr. Pathak joined as an Assistant Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University.
	Our Research Group at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society(TMS) 2020, San Diego. February 2020, Dr. Pathak and his research group attended the TMS conference in 2020. The students participated in various networking events and presented posters and research talks. The following students presented talks on their research topics: •Soumya Varma: “The Unique Microstructure and fracture properties of enamel in Hydrosaurid Dinosaur” •Cayla Harvey: Nanostructured Ferritic Alloy (NFA) 14YWT: Effect of Processing Paths for Thin-Walled Tubing on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties. •Anugraha TK: “Studying the Anisotropic Deformation of Sapphire in Different Crystallographic Orientations using Nanoindentation and Micropillar Compression” •Skye Supukul presented a poster on ” Designing microscale response test to validate macroscale plastic response in Mg”
	2020 Material Advantage Congressional Visit Day (CVD) February 2020, Congratulations!! Donald Williams’s registration has been accepted for the 2020 Material Advantage CVD event in Washington, D.C. Donald Williams’s registration has been accepted for the 2020 Material Advantage CVD event. CVD gives US-based Material Advantage Student Members an exciting opportunity to visit with legislators and congressional staff from their own states. The goal of the event is to educate Congress about the importance of research in materials science, engineering, and manufacturing and the need to increase federal R&D funding. Donald Williams will be participating in this event to emphasize the long-term importance of science, engineering, and technology through meetings with congressional decision-makers.
	Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) Supplemental Funding Opportunity January 2020, As a part of NSF’s direct efforts to the hat directly advance the STEM workforce a supplemental funding opportunity was provided to support for non-academic research internship for graduate students to support career opportunities in any sector of the U.S. economy. This supplement funding was provided to Dr. Sid Pathak to send his students to Los Alamos national lab as a part of this effort starting January to August 2020. The following students will be going to Los Alamos: Soumya Varma, Cayla Harvey, Anugraha TK, Skye Supukul.
	High-Pressure CAT (HP-XSD) Workshop at Advanced Photon Source(APS) Argonne National Laboratory January 2020, Poster Presentation!! Anugraha and Skye Supukul from our lab group attended the HPCAT Workshop organized by HPCAT, APS. The students received hands-on training on various techniques used in loading the Diamond Anvil Cell and lectures and discussions on various high-pressure techniques available at HPCAT for their future work. The two students also presented posters during one of the workshop dinner sessions.
	NSF EPSCoR Research Fellowship February 2020, Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak receives 2020 NSF EPSCoR Research Fellowship. Prof. Pathak has been awarded the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 4: EPSCoR Research Fellows (RII Track-4) grant from the NSF Office of Integrative Activities. ($300,000 for 2 years). This is a research fellowship grant that ‘provides opportunities for non-tenured investigators to further develop their individual research potential through extended collaborative visits to the nation’s premier private, governmental, or academic research centers’. Dr. Pathak’s proposal provides funding for collaborations with the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology (CINT) at Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM.
	University of Nevada Reno: RESEARCHERS WHO GO WHERE KNOWLEDGE LEADS January 2020, Congratulations!! Our work was recently featured in the University of Nevada Reno ‘s main webpage, which can be viewed at https://www.unr.edu/ Earlier UNR took an initiative to recognize some of the top researchers of the university and created “Go Where Knowledge Leads” which can be viewed at www.unr.edu/go.
	Nevada Undergraduate Research Award (NURA) January 2020 Congratulations! Shane(left), Noah (right), Two undergraduate students from our group were selected for funding through the Nevada Undergraduate Research Award for Spring Semester 2020. The proposals funded were among 27 proposals out of 58 applied proposals.
	News release on Army Research Office (ARO): University of Nevada Reno December 2019, Congratulations Dr Pathak!! The news release on the ARO project can be found at Nevada Weekly https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2019/sid-pathak-research?utm_source=newsletter121919&utm_medium=email&utm_content=nano&utm_campaign=NevadaWeekly Dr. Sid Pathak, assistant professor of chemical and materials engineering, participated in collaborative research with the Colorado School of Mines.
	News release on Army Research Office (ARO) grant: Colorado School Of Mines November 2019 Congratulations on the ARO grant!! The news release on the ARO project can be found at https://www.minesnewsroom.com/news/designing-extra-tough-nanocomposite-materials-protective-coatings-armor Garrett Tucker, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is collaborating with Dr. Sid Pathak of the University of Nevada Reno on the project, Designing extra-tough nanocomposite materials for protective coatings funded by the U.S. Army Research Office.
	RESEARCHERS WHO GO WHERE KNOWLEDGE LEADS, University of Nevada Reno November 2019 Our work was recently featured in our university’s “Go Where Knowledge Leads” top researcher portraits on the website, which can be viewed at www.unr.edu/go. Dr. Pathak’s picture is the last one at the bottom. The background is the NASA International Space Station; we are currently working on a research project with the International Space Station. https://nasa.epscorspo.nevada.edu/-unr-awarded-nasa-funding//
	2019 TMS, Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) conference held at Washington DC November 2019 Dr. Pathak participated in the 2019 Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) conference held at Washington DC. Prof. Pathak was selected to represent TMS at the 2019 Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) Conference and be part of a cadre of over 60 leaders from a broad cross-section of the engineering community http://emergingleadersalliance.org/ https://www.tms.org/portal/P/
	Award for “Best Experimental Approach” at IMECE(International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition) 2019 November 2019 Congratulations Soumya and Shane!! Soumya Varma and Shane Johnson from our group have won the poster award for the best experimental approach category at IMECE 2019 conference hosted by ASME on the topic “The Unique Microstructure and fracture properties of enamel in Hydrousarid Dinosaur”.
	Technical presentation at International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition(IMECE 2019) November 2019 Soumya Varma and Anugraha, graduate students from our group gave a technical presentation at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition(IMECE) hosted by ASME(American Society of Mechanical Engineers). • Soumya Varma – Stress-Strain Response From Spherical Nanoindentation and Micro-compression Tests: A comparative study and • Anugraha TK – Understanding the structure and properties of Pseudomorphically transformed bcc Mg.
	Materials Advantage Club at MS&T 2019 October 2019 Materials Advantage Club UNR along with Prof.Pathak had actively participated and received various awards in MS&T 2019 conference. Skye Spukul (left) and other senior design members have got Second Place Award of the 2019 Undergraduate Design Competition organized by ASM Materials Education Foundation and the Design Competition Committee, As the Second Place winner, the team will receive $1,500 plus up to $500 travel assistance. Skye supukul has also got 3rd place in the undergraduate poster contest, on the topic of “Designing microscale response test to validate macroscale plastic response in Mg”. Shane Johnson (top right), one of the undergraduate students has got 3rd place in Undergraduate Speaking Contest on the topic of “Bio-inspired Routes to Damage Tolerant Materials: The Unique Microstructure of Enamel in the Grinding Dentition of a Hadrosaurid Dinosaur”.
	NSF BMMB (Biomechanics and Mechanobiology) Funding Aug 2019 Congratulations!! Dr.Pathak receives funding for the project “Understanding How Enamel Prism Lattices Promote a Remarkable Combination of Fracture and Wear Resistance in Grazing Mammal Dentitions” from NSF BMMB (Biomechanics and Mechanobiology). The work is in collaboration with Brandon A. Krick (Lehigh University), and Gregory M. Erickson (Florida State University).
	ASM Materials Education Foundation and the Design Competition Committee Award August 2019 Congratulations Senior Design team 2019! The senior design team has been selected to receive the Second Place Award of the 2019 Undergraduate Design Competition organized by ASM Materials Education Foundation and the Design Competition Committee, As the Second Place winner, the team will receive $1,500 plus up to $500 travel assistance to attend the MS&T ’19 in Portland, Oregon. Skye supukul from the team will be attending the MS&T’19’ conference
	Work on pseudomorphic bcc Mg chosen as an Editor’s Pick in Journal of Applied Physics August 2019, Congratulations Manish Jain! The manuscript, authored by Manish Jain, Nenad Velisavljevic, J. Kevin Baldwin,Marko Knezevic, Nathan A. Mara, Irene J. Beyerlein, and Siddhartha Pathak, titled ‘Structure and Properties of Pseudomorphically Transformed bcc Mg in Mg/Nb Multilayered Nanolaminates studied using Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction’ Journal of Applied Physics (DOI: 10.1063/1.5097249), was chosen and is being promoted as an Editor’s Pick by the journal editors.
	Material Advantage Chapter Aug 2019 Fun day at Copper Gardens!! Thanks to the Material advantage chapter UNR which organized a group trip to the Copper Gardens workshop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXX2OXGF7xw run by Mr.David Burns whose general area of interest and fabrication has been in outdoor items including gates, fountains, furniture, etc. We were trained on various tools that are used in making beautiful artifacts of copper followed by group dinner.
	Ph.D. Graduation! Aug 2019 Congratulations Manish Jain!! Manish Jain is the first student from our group who graduated with the PhD his interest of study was on understanding the structure and properties of pseudomorphic bcc Mg. He will be working as Post Doctoral Researcher at EMPA https://www.empa.ch/web/empa/nanostructured-materials/ starting October 2019
	NSF – Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) funding July 2019 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak receives NSF – Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) funding. The INTERN funding will be used to support graduate students for internships at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) jointly operated by Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories (LANL and SNL).
	TMS Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) Conference July 2019 Congratulations!! Prof.Pathak has been selected to represent TMS at the 2019 Emerging Leaders Alliance (ELA) Conference and be part of a cadre of over 60 leaders from a broad cross-section of the engineering community http://emergingleadersalliance.org/ https://www.tms.org/portal/P/
	Poster presentation at Gorden Research Seminar (GRS) and Gorden Research Conference (GRC) July 2019 Soumya Varma, Cayla Harvey, Anugraha(graduate students)and Prof.Pathak attended Gorden Research Seminar and Gorden Research Conference. The Graduate students presented a poster on the following topics. •Soumya Varma – Stress-Strain Response From Spherical Nanoindentation and Micro-compression Tests: A comparative study. • Cayla Harvey – Understanding the Omega Phase Mechanical Properties of Titanium and Zirconium Through Spherical Nanoindentation and EBSD • Anugraha -Structure and properties of pseudomorphic bcc Mg under extreme conditions.
	Nevada Space grant press release July 2019 Congratulations! Prof.Pathak’s NASA space grant has featured in Nevada space news release. https://nasa.epscorspo.nevada.edu/-unr-awarded-nasa-funding//
	Shane Johnson -MS&T Material Advantage Chapter Travel Grant July 2019 Congratulations Shane! UNR Materials advantage chapter,has been awarded MS&T Material Advantage Chapter Travel Grant. Shane Johnson will be attending the MS&T conference.
	Technical presentation at Society of Experimental Mechanics(SEM) June 2019 Soumya Varma and Skye supakul graduate students from our group gave a technical presentation at the Society of Experimental Mechanics (SEM) on • Soumya Varma – Stress-Strain Response From Spherical Nanoindentation and Micro-compression Tests: A comparative study and • Sky Supakul – Designing microscale response test to validate macroscale plastic response in Mg.
	NASA Selects Physical Sciences Proposals to Provide New Insights from Openly Available Data June 2019 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak has received funding from the https://psi.nasa.gov/ NASA’s Physical Sciences Research Program in response to the research announcement “Use of the NASA Physical Sciences Informatics System – Appendix E,” which solicited proposals from established researchers and graduate students. The work is on ‘Understanding the Local Structure-Property Relationships of Solders in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments”. Read the NASA press release https://nasa.epscorspo.nevada.edu/
	2019 DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) June 2019 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak is a co-recipient of the 2019 DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) in collaboration with Reginald Hamilton, associate professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University for research proposal titled “Additive Manufacturing of Functional Hierarchical Shape Memory Alloy Structures.”
	Faces of the Pack – Nevada Today May 2019 Congratulations Cayla Harvey! Cayla Harvey was featured in Nevada Today in “Faces of the Pack” for her prestigious fellowships and scholarships. Materials engineering and science program helps Cayla Harvey travel and conduct groundbreaking research https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2019/faces-of-the-pack-cayla-harvey
	Cayla Harvey – Journal of Materials May 2019 Congratulations Cayla Harvey! Cayla Harvey’s 2018 Structural Materials Division (SMD) Scholarship was mentioned in JOM- An official publication of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.
	Lab Group – Spring Celebration 2019 May 2019 Our group was heavily featured in the spring celebration held on 7th of May 2019 at the University of Nevada, Reno.
	Lab members who are featured for their outstanding performance.
	Tolin Skov-Black has been awarded 2019 spring senior scholar for his outstanding academic performance.
	Cayla Harvey – NSF GRFP honorary mention April 2019 Honorable Mention, The NSF accords Honorable Mention to meritorious applicants who do not receive Fellowship awards. This is considered a significant national academic achievement.
	Yi Teng Lee – Job update March 2019 Yi Teng Lee one of the undergraduate students in our lab has been offered a job at ExxonMobil as a chemical engineer.
	Yi Teng Lee – one of the semi-finalists in Madani-Gordaninejad Speech Competition March 2019 Yi Teng Lee one of the undergraduate students in our lab has been selected as one of the semi-finalists in Madani-Gordaninejad speech competition.
	Cayla Harvey-NEUP Scholarship March 2019 Cayla Harvey has been awarded a prestigious NEUP Research Scholarship 2019,she has been selected to receive a three-year, $155,000 fellowship to support her graduate studies and research.
	Cayla Harvey-ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship February 2019 Cayla Harvey has been awarded a prestigious ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2019 for her stay in Switzerland. She will be doing her research work at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) in Switzerland. ThinkSwiss is an official scholarship program managed by the Office of Science, Technology, and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. The Grant is for $4950.
	Manish Jain-Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research January 2019 Congratulations! Sigma Xi’s Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research has approved Manish Jain’s research grant proposal submitted for the October 1, 2018 application cycle.
	Soumya Varma-GSA Research Grant January 2019 Soumya Varma has been awarded $1250 in funding towards her proposed research on studying the nanomechanical properties of Hadrosaurid enamel by the Graduate Student Association at the University of Nevada Reno.
	Students’ Association for Alumni Relations (SAAR) – IIT-Patna, India held a webinar with Dr. Pathak Oct 2018 SAAR as a new approach for open discussions with important personalities from Academia and Industry decided to hold a session with Dr. Pathak, faculty of the University of Nevada on the theme of higher education status through live video interaction. The interaction enabled the aspirants to clear their doubts and queries regarding their academic direction. Dr. Pathak also extended a kind gesture towards the IIT Patna student fraternity as he offered to provide internships (the interested can mail him directly) where the expenses in the U.S. would be paid by him and the transportation fee would have to be paid by the intern himself/herself.
	Ready for experiments!! Bruker’s Hysitron PI-85 Picoindenter Oct 2018 Another much awaited instrument in the lab – Bruker’s Hysitron Picoindenter, a new in-situ depth sensing nanomechanical test system designed to work in conjunction with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is ready for experiments. The PI 88 mounts easily to various SEM stages without being a permanent fixture in the microscope. As such the PI 88 can be mounted to any of the two SEM systems available currently available at UNR (JSM-7100FT FESEM and Hitachi S4700 SEM).
	Nominated member for CINT August 2018 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak is nominated as a member, 2018 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) – Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). Users Executive Committee (UEC). (2018 – 2021).
	Ready for experiments!! Bruker’s Hysitron TI 900 Triboindenter August 2018 Another much awaited instrument in the lab – Bruker’s Hysitron Triboindenter, with dynamic testing as well as ultra-fast indentation mapping capabilities is now installed and ready for experiments. The Hysitron Triboindenter is an automated, high throughput instrument that supports numerous nanomechanical and nanotribological characterization techniques. It incorporates the powerful performech® II Advanced Control Module, which greatly improves the precision of feedback-controlled nanomechanical testing and offers unprecedented measurement sensitivity and noise floor performance.
	Prof. Pathak receives NSF funding Aug 2018 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak has received funding from NSF for Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research for his proposal titled “EAGER: Engineering Metal-MAX Multilayered Nanocomposites: Hierarchical Microstructures for Tunable Strength and Toughness”. PI team: S Pathak (University of Nevada, Reno), G Tucker (Colorado School of Mines).
	Nevada Space Grant-Graduate Research Felloship awarded to Ms. Cayla Harvey July 2018 Congratulations!! Ms. Cayla Harvey was awarded the Nevada Space Grant – Graduate Research Opportunity Fellowship for the project of Understanding the Local Structure-Property Relationships of Solders in Terrestrial vs. Microgravity Environments using Electron Microscopy and Nano-mechanical Testing. The nano-mechanical response of solders in terrestrial vs. microgravity environments will be determined using specialized nano-mechanical testing techniques, which include compression and tensile experiments that use focused ion beam (FIB)-fabricated micro-pillars. The fellowship provides $18,000 for the 2018-2019 academic year.
	Prof. Pathak receives FY18 NEUP infrastructure funding June 2018 Congratulations!! Prof. Pathak has received funding from the FY 2018 Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research for his proposal titled “Infrastructure Support for In-Situ High-Temperature Dynamic Nanomechanical Testing System for Mechanical Testing of Irradiated Structural Materials at University of Nevada, Reno”.
	Manish Jain and Prof Pathak publish an invited feature paper in Journal of Materials Research June 2018 M. Ardeljan, M. Knezevic, M. Jain, S. Pathak, A. Kumar, N. Li, N.A. Mara, J.K. Baldwin, I.J. Beyerlein,Room temperature deformation mechanisms of Mg/Nb nanolayered composites, Journal of Materials Research 33(10) (2018) 1311-1332.
	Prof Pathak receives Air Force funding-$805,000 June 2018 Title:Biomechanics of Hierarchically-Structured Enamel in Grinding Dentitions: An Evolutionary-Guided Route to Designing Damage Tolerant Materials PI team: S Pathak (University of Nevada, Reno), BA Krick (Lehigh University), GM Erickson (Florida State University) This proposal is built on a highly collaborative approach between the three universities – University of Nevada, Reno, Lehigh University and Florida State University – and it brings together a diverse team of senior and junior researchers including a materials scientist, a tribologist and a functional evolutionary biologist (with a background in engineering) whose unique collective expertise will allow the tackling of this transformative integrative research. We are looking for engineers and/or biology students to join this project. Contact us with your resumes!
	Melanie Michael-Nevada NASA Space Grant Consortium (NVSGC) Undergrduate Scholarship May 2018 The Nevada NASA Space Grant Consortium (NVSGC) has recently completed the review process for the Undergraduate Scholarship Program competition and has decided to give Ms. Melanie Michel the award. This was a merit based competition and she was selected due to her outstanding scholastic achievement, demonstrated interest in a career in science and/or aerospace and the quality of the proposed research project. The award provides a $4,000 scholarship to be awarded for the fall and spring 2018/2019 semesters.
	Ready for experiments!! FIB-SEM with EDS/EBSD detectors May 2018 The Focussed ion beam-scanning eletron microscope with the addition of new EDAX’s EDS and EBSD detetors is now fully equipped and ready to use for the experiments.
	Manish Jain-GSA Spring 2018 Research Grant Award April 2018 Manish Jain was one of the recepients of the GSA’s spring 2018 Research Grant Awards. He has been awarded $2000 to spend towards the research project during 2018-19 academic year.
	Manish Jain-International Activities Grant – 2018 Graduate Student Award April 2018 The International Activities Grant program committee of UNR has recommended that Manish’s project entitled “Understanding the Deformation Response of Mg/Nb Multilayered Nanocomposites—a Collaborative Enterprise between UNR and EMPA, Switzerland” be funded in the amount of $1000.
	Manish Jain-Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition 2018 March 2018 Manish Jain and his team Wave Motors reached the finals of Sontag competion. Manish’s Team was one of the five finalists out of 54 teams. They pitched their business idea in the finals on April 28, 2018 and were awarded 3rd place in Sontag Pitch award.
	Cayla Harvey TMS SMD Scholarship March 2018 Ms. Cayla Harvey was awarded The Metal, Minerals, and Materials Society (TMS) Structural Materials Division (SMD) Scholarship. As an award recipient, she received $2,500. This scholarship was awarded at the TMS 2018 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona.
	Soumya Varma- 3 Minute Thesis Competition March 2018 Ms.Soumya Varma had advanced to the final round of 3 Minute Thesis competition held at the University of Nevada Reno on March 26, 2018. As one of the finalists, she has received a sum of $300.
	Cayla Harvey- TU Dresden Research Internship March 2018 Ms. Cayla Harvey was awarded a summer research internship at the Technische Universität Dresden in Dresden, Germany. She will intern in the department for Materials Science and Nanotechnology this summer (June-August).
	Manish Jain-ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship February 2018 Manish Jain has been awarded a prestigious ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship 2018 for his stay in Switzerland for 3 months period. He will be doing his research work at EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) in Switzerland. ThinkSwiss is an official scholarship program managed by the Office of Science, Technology, and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. The Grant is for $4950.
	Cayla Harvey- Los Alamos National Laboratory January 2018 Ms. Cayla Harvey returned to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during her winter break to continue microstructural characterization and spherical nanoindentation experiments started in Summer 2017.
	Nanoindenter XP Added to Pathak’s Lab November, 2017 Prof. Pathak received NSF-CMMI (EAGER) Award #1541918 Equipment Supplement grant and Los Alamos National Laboratory Education Equipment Gift Program (LEEG) for a Keysight/Agilent Nanoindenter® XP (valued at ~$400k). This is an ex-situ (in air) mechanical properties microprobe that is designed to provide a fast and reliable way to acquire mechanical data on a submicron scale. See the facilities section for more information.
	TMS 2017 Student Travel Grant December, 2017 Manish Jain has received the TMS student travel grant to attend the TMS 2018 Annual Meeting and Exhibition. The grant is for $300. TMS will take place in Phoenix, Arizona March 11-15.
	Prof. Pathak Presentation at ICOTOM November 2017 Prof. Pathak presented Strong, Ductile, and Thermally Stable Mg-Nb Nanolaminates work at 18th International Conference on Textures of Materials (ICOTOM-18) in November 2017. Contributors from UNR include graduate student Mr. Manish Jain.
	Cayla Harvey- ASME IMECE NSF Poster Competition November 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey presented a poster in the NSF Poster Competion about her research on the viscoelasticity and high buckling stress of dense carbon nanotubes at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in November 2017.
	Poster Presentations at UNR Distinguished Lecture Series September 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey and Souyma Varma presented posters at the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Nevada, Reno.
	Prof. Pathak Presentation- 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems August 2017 Prof. Pathak gave an oral presentation titled “Probing nanoscale damage gradients in irradiated materials with spherical nanoindentation” at the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems – Water Reactors August 13–17, 2017 in Portland, Oregon.
	Cayla Harvey- Los Alamos National Laboratory Summer 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey presented a poster about her research on the viscoelasticity and high buckling stress of dense carbon nanotubes at the Los Alamos National Laboraroty Annual Student Symposium in August 2017.
	Soumya Varma- Los Alamos National Laboratory Summer 2017 This summer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Ms. Soumya Varma will be working with Dr Nathan Mara’s group on an approach to extract meaningful indentation stress-strain curves for irradiated materials. In the Centre for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), a nanoscience research facility of LANL, the research group will be conducting Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Back -Scattered Diffraction (EBSD) testing on the sample surface before and after irradiation. For nanoindentation, the group would like to extend their understanding of spherical nanoindentation to a hexagonal closed pack system, namely Zirconium in irradiated state.
	Manish Jain- Los Alamos National Laboratory Summer 2017 Mr. Jain will work at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnology (CINT) in Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during the 2017 summer (June-August). With Dr. Nathan Mara’s group, he will continue a project he started in summer 2016. Mr. Jain will be involved in physical vapor deposition (PVD) synthesis of the Mg/Nb multilayer nanocomposites and the fabrication of Mg/Nb multilayered micro-pillar samples using Focused Ion Beam (FIB). These micro-pillar samples will be tested using in-situ micro compression testing and nanoindentation. Micro-compression testing of each configuration will give detailed information about the deformation behavior, as well as the elastic and plastic anisotropy of the Mg structure.
	Cayla Harvey TMS SMD Scholarship June, 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey was awarded the The Metal, Minerals, and Materials Society (TMS) Structural Materials Division (SMD) Scholarship . As an award recipient, she receives $2,500. This scholarship will be awarded at the TMS 2018 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona.
	Cody Falconer Research Assistantship May, 2017 Mr. Cody Falconer has accepted a research assistantship offer from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Cody will conduct research on the corrosion and irradiation effects in nuclear materials as a graduate student in the Materials Science and Engineering program.
	Cody Falconer Outstanding Senior Award May, 2017 Congratulations to Mr. Cody Falconer for receiving the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department Outstanding Senior Award. This award is presented to the graduating senior with the highest overall GPA in the department.
	Cayla Harvey Nevada Undergraduate Research Award May, 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey was awarded the Nevada Undergraduate Research Award 2017. As an award recipient she receives $1,500 to support her research over the 2017-2018 academic year.
	Cayla Harvey Poster Presentation at the Nevada Undergraduate Research Symposium May, 2017 Ms. Cayla Harvey presented a poster about her research on the viscoelasticity and high buckling stress of dense carbon nanotubes at the Nevada Undergraduate Research Symposium in May 2017.
	Manish Jain Presentation at TMS 2017 March, 2017 Mr. Manish Jain gave a presentation on the topic of “micro-mechanical testing of Mg/Nb multilayer nanocomposites for ultra high strength and ductility” at the TMS conference 2017 in San Diego, California.
	Young Leaders Professional Development Award from TMS 2017 March, 2017 Professor Pathak receives the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) at the 2017 annual meeting in San Diego. The award aims to enhance the professional development of young members of the TMS by involving them in the long-term planning of the TMS.
	Group Trip to Sana Cruz Island March, 2017 Professor Pathak, Manish Jain, Soumya Varma, and Cayla Harvey visited Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California after attending TMS 2017 in San Diego.