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Core Faculty

TMI's core faculty lead cutting-edge research by running their grants through the institute, fostering collaboration and resource sharing.

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Graduate Program

Our Materials Science and Engineering program is one of the best in the nation, and our graduates go on to be leaders in their fields.

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Research

TMI supports interdisciplinary research at UT Austin, with over 100 faculty focusing on clean energy, nanotechnology, and advanced materials using our state-of-the-art facilities.

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Hysitron TI-950 Triboindenter

Instrument Capabilities

The Hysitron TI 950 TriboIndenter is an automated nanomechanical test instrument used to quantitatively measure mechanical properties of materials such as hardness and elastic modulus. The system is equipped with a Berkovich tip.

Key features:

  • Normal Displacement:
    • Vertical travel 50 mm
    • Indentation depth > 5 µm
    • Thermal drift 0.05 nm/s
  • Normal Load:
    • Maximum load 12.373 mN
  • High Load Transducer:
    • Maximum lateral force 5 N
    • Maximum scratch length 25 mm
    • Maximum normal force 2.8 N
    • Maximum normal displacement 80 µm
  • Optical Microscope:
    • Optical objective 20X + digital zoom
    • Maximum field of view 772 x 588 µm
  • X,Y,Z translation stage:
    • XY x Z travel 250 mm x 50 mm
  • Commonly Used Advanced Modes
    • Nanoindentation: Quantitative material properties including hardness and modulus
    • Nanoscratch: Ramping/reciprocating force scratch for quantification of film delamination and friction
    • Scanning Wear: Quantifying wear resistance and wear volume

Fees and Policies

  • UT Users: $15/hour
  • Higher Education/State Agencies: $42/hour
  • Corporate/External Users: $42/hour

Traning

Please contact Dr. Raluca Gearba to schedule a training session.

Texas Materials Seminar Series

The Texas Materials Seminar Series features MSE 397 Seminars, TMI Distinguished Lectureships, and TMI Special Seminars, where leading faculty and professionals from around the world share cutting-edge innovations and advancements in materials engineering with our students.

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$12M+

In Grant Funding

20+

Research Patents

10K+

Sq. Ft. of Research Labs

News

Zhantao Chen Publishes New Article on AI-assisted Tool

Zhantao Chen, an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and a TMI-affiliate, has published an article on an AI tool in Nature Machine Intelligence. The article used AI to help researchers in ways that would assist in experimental tasks that are often labor-intensive and tiresome.

Read more …

Terry Zheng & Yu Group Publish New Work on Water-Based Electrolytes

Materials Science and Engineering graduate student Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, under the supervision of Dr. Guihua Yu has published research in Advanced Materials introducing a biphasic electrolyte architecture that combines the strengths of water-based (aqueous) and organic-based electrolytes for long-duration, high-rate zinc metal batteries.

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Get Better Sleep With Ultrasound Patch That Boosts REM Rest

A wearable bioelectronic device increased REM sleep in real-world trials, without invasive surgery or medication.

Published by UT News.

Yuebing Zheng Awarded 'New Directions' Seed Funding from UT OVPR

Yuebing Zheng was awarded seed funding through the University's Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors. The 'New Directions in Research' grants are one time payments that give faculty an opportunity to obtain proof-of-concept or pilot data for future, larger grants.

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Terry Zheng Awarded UT Chevron Energy Graduate Fellowship

Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, a Materials Science & Engineering graduate student working with Dr. Guihua Yu, is a recipient of the 2026-2027 UT Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows Award from UT's Energy Institute.

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