Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The NC State Belltower at night with red lights streaking toward it.

Sep 4, 2024

Catalyzing creative concepts to solve commercial challenges

NC State University research helps turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s solutions. That’s core to our land-grant mission. The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF), a competitive internal seed fund, has proven to be a powerful way we support that mission. Chancellor Randy Woodson established the CIF in 2010 to help more NC State research bridge the gap between public and private…

Aug 19, 2024

Generous contribution by Jake and Jennifer Hooks boosts MSE

Raleigh, NC – The North Carolina State University Department of Materials Science and Engineering extends heartfelt thanks to Jake and Jennifer Hooks for their outstanding…

Two lab technicians dressed in head-to-toe white protective suits work in a nanofabrication facility.

Jul 26, 2024

Pack power

New semiconductor center builds on more than 30 years of NC State research.

Spring blooms around the Memorial Belltower on an April afternoon. Photo by Becky Kirkland.

Jul 26, 2024

Faculty highlights

The latest awards and honors earned by faculty of the College of Engineering at NC State University.

Jul 26, 2024

Research in silicon carbide at NC State goes back decades

When the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the 1980s wanted to upgrade its radar and communications systems, it considered the possibility of new devices using silicon carbide, a wide bandgap semiconductor (WBG) that can operate at higher voltages and temperatures than silicon.

image on left is labeled 'expanded' and shows 3D grid of pink polymer; image on left is labeled 'contracted' and shows a much smaller grid of the pink polymer, with much smaller gaps between the polymer strands

Jul 24, 2024

3D printing of light-activated hydrogel actuators

3D-printed hydrogels create structures that contract when exposed to light and expand when the light is removed, meaning they can serve as remotely controlled actuators.

Jacob Jones, left, of the Material Science and Engineering Department and Blake Kennedy of the Clay Studio.

Jul 18, 2024

Sculpting and scanning

A collaboration between Blake Kennedy of the Clay Studio and Jacob Jones of the Material Science and Engineering Department for an Envisioning Research contest is a further example of the connections between STEM and the arts at NC State.

Several layers of scrap metal with ragged edges laid over top of each other. Oxidation has occurred on them producing varying red, green and brown colors on the surfaces.

Jul 1, 2024

Complex alloys reacting with oxygen paves way for better alloys

Complex alloys incorporate multiple metals or other principal elements, giving them desirable properties for a range of modern applications in aerospace and beyond– but their complex nature does not necessarily mean they do not rust or fail over time. A new study provides a deeper understanding of how oxidation occurs in these complex alloys.

diagram shows infrared light passing through an oxide membrane

Jun 13, 2024

Researchers demonstrate new way to ‘squeeze’ infrared light

The thin-film membranes confine infrared light far better than bulk crystals, which are the established technology for infrared light confinement.