News

As we completed a very challenging term, we have many accomplishments to celebrate.
First, congratulations to our graduates Lavina and Cory, with PhDs in MSE and Nathaniel with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Best wishes to all as they move on to the next phase of their careers.
Congratulations to our award winners: Lavina Backman co-recipient of the Doris Kuhlman-Wilsdorf Outstanding Graduate Student Award and Marcus Dozier winner of the Chip Blankenship undergraduate award for research.

The good thing about group meeting with Zoom is that we can all see each other in times of COVID-19. The better thing is our pets can attend too!

Mackenzie, Eric, and Dom were all awarded 2020-2021 Virginia Space Grant Consortium Fellowship Awards to support their research. Congrats!

Congratulations to Dr. Lavina Backman on the successful defense of her PhD dissertation entitled "The Design of High Entropy Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics for Oxidation Resistance." All the best wishes as you transition to post-doctoral life!

Check out Rob Golden's new publication "Thermochemical Stability of Y2Si2O7 in High-Temperature Water Vapor" here: https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.17114 This research is based on his 2017 PhD dissertation.

Cory successfully presented his PhD Dissertation Proposal today. We look forward to more exciting results on the "Effect of the Air Plasma Spray Process on Rare Earth Silicate Coating Life." Read more about Cory's research here.

Rachel Guarriello and Rachel McNamara have been awarded a 2020 Double Hoo Research Grant entitled "Machine Learning Image Analysis for Advanced High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composite Characterization." This award, pairing a grad student and an undergrad student, encourages collaborative research interaction, provides for an advanced research experience for the undergraduate and valuable mentoring experience for the graduate student. Congratulations Rachels!

Congratulations to Bekah on her new publication! This paper describes the thermochemical and thermomechanical characterization of "Eyja" volcanic ash. Check it out here: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/10/2/100

Check out , “Stability of the Y2O3-SiO2 System in High-Temperature, High-Velocity Water Vapor,” by Parker and Opila, published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society! https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.16915

Welcome to Rachel McNamara, who is joining the group as an undergrad research assistant. We look forward to working with you.