University of Utah · Department of Materials Science & EngineeringSalt Lake City, Utah

Research

We study how structure, interfaces, defects, and dynamics determine the function of advanced materials—and translate that understanding into devices and intelligent systems.

Computing

Physical reservoir computing

Mesoscopic interference, transient dynamics, nonlinear response, temporal memory, and ridge-regression readouts for neuromorphic information processing.

AI & autonomy

AI-guided materials discovery

Machine learning, experimental design, and process optimization for complex deposition and synthesis landscapes.

Electronics

Oxide and transparent semiconductors

ZnO, SnO, BaSnO₃, β-Ga₂O₃, transparent conductors, thin-film transistors, photodetectors, and power-device concepts.

Quantum transport

Disorder, interfaces, and dimensionality

Quantum-to-classical transport crossovers, mesoscopic conduction, electron–phonon interactions, and engineered interfaces.

Energy

Thermoelectrics and energy materials

Materials and interfaces for energy conversion, solid-state transport, and harsh-environment operation.

Sustainability

Autonomous materials processing

Multi-modal sensing, machine vision, sorting, and intelligent process control for value-preserving resource recovery.

A shared scientific question

How can materials be deliberately engineered to control coupled transport?

Across our projects, we investigate how interfaces, defects, dimensionality, phase stability, and nonequilibrium dynamics can decouple or coordinate electronic, ionic, thermal, optical, and magnetic behavior.

Low-temperature characterization facility