Dear alumni and colleagues,
We head into summer on an incredibly high note with Advanced Materials Innovation Complex (AMIC) groundbreaking ceremony and start of construction for this important new facility for the department, university and the State of South Carolina. This facility represents a $130 Million investment in the future of advanced materials and will serve as the new “home” of the MSE department while concurrently serving as a “hub” for materials science across campus. Clemson MSE was ranked #51 in the country for graduate program and #32 among public universities (according to U.S. News and World Report) with significant accomplishments and achievements of our outstanding students and faculty highlighted below.
MSE graduate Arabella Hunter was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowship and plans to continue her studies at Clemson under Dr. Mefford in pursuit of a Ph.D. In April we celebrated our department awards with 13 students receiving recognition including two (Arabella Hunter and Leo Beck) who were recognized at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences award ceremony. The 16th Annual Materials and Optics Poster Competition was hosted by graduate student chapters of the Materials Research Society (MRS) and Optica in March and was a great event as always.
We were honored that a member of our External Advisory Board and alumnus of our ceramic engineering program, Jeff Schmersal was selected for Thomas Green Clemson Academy of Engineers and Scientists and recognized during a rooftop gala on May 4 at the Watt Family Innovation Center. Jeff serves as the President of Kyocera AVX Headquartered in Greenville.
MSE including lead organizer Dr. Kostya Kornev led a Workshop on advanced materials imaging and characterization” which took place in April at the Madren Center to chart the path forward for new facilities in the AMIC building. The workshop brought to campus the leading experts running similar facilities in Asia and US, the national materials community and leading companies producing the most advanced instrumentation needed in filling a critical gap in current X-ray imaging and atomic scale characterization of materials in the nation.
Thank you for your continued support and have a great summer. Please reach out when you plan a campus visit and look forward to reconnecting at alumni events during the Fall semester!
Kyle S Brinkman
Professor and Chair, MSE
