UA Tuscaloosa Campus

Materials Science PhD Program


Welcome to the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Materials Science PhD program.  This program is affiliated with similar programs at the other two UA campuses (University of Alabama in Huntsville, UAH, and the University of Alabama in Birmingham, UAB) through the Tri-Campus Materials Science PhD Program.  Students who successfully complete the program receive a PhD degree in Materials Science from the University of Alabama System.

Advantages to the student of being in a multi-campus program include the opportunity to take some of the courses offered on the other campuses, over an internet video connection.  Each student's dissertation committee contains at least one member from one of the other two campuses.
Pieter B. Visscher
UA Campus Coordinator, Tri-Campus Materials Science Program

 Faculty

(Click on the department for more information about the Faculty from each department)

Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
Mark Barkey- Associate Professor; Structural Durability and Fatigue Performance
Stanley E. Jones- James R. Cudworth Professor; Plasticity Analysis, Nonlinear Mechanics, and Applied Mathematics
Chemical & Biological Engineering
Peter Clark- Associate Professor; Fluid Rheology, Flow of Fluid Complex Mixtures-Slurries, Emulsions, and gels
Arunava Gupta- (Joint Appointments as Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical Engineering) Magnetic Random Access Memory Devices; Tunneling Magnetoresistance; Pulsed Laser Deposition; Oxides for Spintronics Applications; and Biological Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles.
Tonya M. Klein- Associate Professor; fundamental understanding of atomic scale processes occurring during the synthesis of electronic materials
Chemistry
Martin Bakker- Associate Professor; Physical Chemistry, Nano- and microporous materials, Templated synthesis of nanomaterials by self-assembly of surfactants and block copolymers.
Arunava Gupta- (Joint Appointments as Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical Engineering) Magnetic Random Access Memory Devices; Tunneling Magnetoresistance; Pulsed Laser Deposition; Oxides for Spintronics Applications; and Biological Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles.
Lowell Kispert- Research Professor; Structure of Free Radicals in Single Crystals; Magnetic Resonance Methods; Conducting Polymers; Solid-State Photochemistry
Robert Metzger- Professor; Solid-State Chemistry, Organic Conductors, X-Ray Crystallography, Solid-State Theory
David Nikles- Professor; Application of Materials for Optics and Information Technology, Optical Data Storage; Flexible Magnetic Media
Shane Street- Assistant Professor; Analytical Chemistry, Ultrathin Oxide Films; Tribology
Electrical Engineering
Bruce Kim- Associate Professor; micro and nanosystems for RF and biological applications; analog, mixed-signal, and RF IC design; package signal integrity; VLSI design, testing, and verification; and VLSI algorithms and CAD
Sushma Kotru- Associate Professor; Electronic Materials and Devices - thin film and ceramics preparation, Pulsed Laser Deposition, Chemical Solution Deposition, Oxides for device applications including Ferroelectric Random Access Memory, IR detectors, Sensors, actuators and MEMS.
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
Viola Acoff- Professor; Physical Metallurgy, High Temperature Materials, Electron Microscopy, Welding
Richard C. Bradt- Alton N. Scott Professor; Ceramic Materials
Subhadra Gupta- Associate Professor;Thin Films, PVD Process Development
Nagy H. El-Kaddah- Professor; Materials Process Modeling
Ramana Reddy- ACIPCO Professor; High Temperature Materials Processing, Thermodynamics
Greg Thompson- Assistant Professor;  TEM techniques and atom probe tomography to characterize the phase stability and phase transformations in nanostructured materials
Srinath Viswanathan- Associate Professor; Processing of alloys, intermetallics,and composites, modeling of solidification processes
Garry Warren-  Professor; UA Campus Coordinator, Materials Science Program ;corrosion and electrochemistry, aqueous corrosion, electrochemical impedance, NdFeB permanent magnets, polymers and polymer coatings for corrosion protection.
Mark Weaver- Professor; Tricampus Director , Materials Science Program ; microstructural characterization, texture, mechanical properties, and tribology of bulk and thin film materials
Physics
Chet Alexander- Professor Emeritus; high-frequency properties of soft magnetic materials
William Butler- Professor, Director of the MINT Center; Director of the NSF-sponsored Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
J. W. Harrell- Professor; characterization of magnetic recording materials, with a special interest in measuring and modeling thermal effects and magnetic interactions
Patrick LeClair- Assistant Professor; Electrical, Magnetic, and Optical Characterization of Novel Materials and Devices Down to Ultra-low Temperatures (<400mK) and High Magnetic Fields (>7T)
Gary Mankey- Associate Professor; Nanostructure Ferromagnets
Tim Mewes- Assistant Professor; Dynamic Properties of Magnetic Materials
Sanjoy Sarker- Associate Professor; Statistical Mechanics and High-Field Effects in Semiconductors
Pieter Visscher, - Professor; Magnetism, Multiscale Modeling

 

Facilities

The Materials Science PhD Program is housed in the Center for Materials for Information Technology.  All critical equipment required for the Center is housed in the Bevill Research Building. The laboratory space totals almost 17,000 square feet, including 1,000 square feet for a Class 100 and a Class 1000 Clean Room.  The laboratories are extremely well equipped to allow the study of a broad range of magnetic, chemical, and structural materials problems.  For an in-depth description of the facilities and equipment available, visit the Materials for Information Technology Center website.

Directions to the Bevill Research Building

 


Links:

Graduate Admissions

Tri-Campus Materials Science PhD Program (Information about procedures common to all three campuses)

University of Alabama