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Materials Science and
Engineering
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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Home
Fire-Resistant Sodium Battery Balances Safety, Cost and Performance
A sodium battery developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin significantly reduces fire risks from the technology, while also relying on inexpensive, abundant materials to serve as its building blocks.
Advancing Thermal Protection Systems with the Koo Research Group
The Koo Research Group at UT Austin collaborated with KAI on Ablation Research for over 15 years. Recently, they developed unique capabilities to advance research and development in “Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) Materials.” The paper published in the SAMPE Journal, which introduces their methodology for solving this complex problem.
Chemistry Professor Receives Sloan Research Fellowship and Mark Young Scholar Award
A Sloan Research Fellowship, given by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is one of the most competitive and prestigious awards available to early-career scholars in fields ranging from computer science to physics, and Zachariah Page of the Department of Chemistry was announced as one of the newest fellows.
Subak Sensing: Silver Nanocluster Reporters Transform Genetic Testing
Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) reporters are often used in tests to show if specific genetic material is present. In these tests, certain enzymes called nucleases cut the FRET reporters, causing them to emit light. However, making these FRET reporters involves using a dye/quencher pair and purifying them, which makes the FRET reporters expensive.
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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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News
Smoothing Over Rough Edges in Batteries
Texas Engineers have discovered a new phenomenon in modern batteries, one that could be used to improve their life cycles.
Battery performance suffers over time, like when a phone needs to be charged more frequently after years of use. A thin film that forms on the metal anode when the battery is charging and discharging plays a part in that issue. This film has benefits, but its roughness gradually wears the battery down.
Hand-paintable electrodes to study the brain
Measuring brain waves could become easier with electrodes and wires that researchers can paint on the scalp through parted hair using a paintbrush. Made with a conductive polymer ink, the micrometer-thin painted films stick strongly to the skin for up to 3 days, and then peel off, leaving hair intact.
Jin Yang Wins NSF CAREER Award to Study Viscoelastic Materials
Jin Yang, an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, was selected to receive a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for 2025.
Dr. Jin Yang Receives NSF CAREER Award
Dr. Jin Yang, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and faculty member of the Texas Materials Institute (TMI), has been awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious honors for early-career faculty in science and engineering. This five-year award, totaling approximately $650,000, will support Dr. Yang’s research on the fracture and material failure behavior of soft viscoelastic materials such as polymers, hydrogels, and biological under different loading rates and temperatures.
Controlling Failure in Anode-Free Solid-State and Sodium Metal Batteries
A group of researchers, led by David Mitlin and Yixian Wang, have recently published impactful research in Advanced Materials and in Angewandte Chemie, both articles making the journals’ front cover.
$12M+
In Grant Funding
20+
Research Patents
10K+
