The 16th Annual Materials and Optics Poster Competition was hosted by graduate student chapters of the Materials Research Society (MRS) and Optica on March 16, 2023 at the state-of-the-art Watt Family Innovation Center housed on Clemson University’s main campus. This competition serves as the primary showcase of materials and optics research being performed at Clemson University and surrounding universities. This year, 40 poster presenters from Clemson University and Georgia State University presented their materials- and optics-based research. Dr. Yaroslava Yingling from the NC State University provided the keynote talk on soft materials simulations and informatics to kick-off the competition.
The competition was supported by Clemson University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), Clemson University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), Tetramer Technologies, KYOCERA-AVX, ThorLabs, Poly-Med, KEMET, ASM International’s Old South Chapter, and Clemson University’s Graduate Student Government (GSG). The graduate student 1st,2nd, and 3rd place winners of the competition were Samuel Bingham (CU ECE), Thomasina Zaengle (CU MSE), and Adam Puchalski (CU MSE), respectively. The undergraduate student 1st and 2nd place winners were Arabella Hunter (CU MSE) and Sarah Paguaga and Sarah Hunt (CU Mechanical Engineering (ME)), respectively.
In addition to an excellent opportunity to present research, the night also functioned as a prime networking opportunity for students as over 15 members of industry were present at the competition in addition to 20 academic faculty members from Clemson University and surrounding universities.
