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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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Home
TMI Researchers Develop AI-Driven Platform to Design Advanced Thermal Materials
Researchers at the Texas Materials Institute, Dr. Yuebing Zheng and Dr. Kan Yao, along with other researchers from three additional universities, have developed a powerful new design platform that uses machine learning, computer simulations, and experimental testing to create next-generation thermal metamaterials. These materials are engineered to control how heat is emitted as light, with potential applications in energy efficiency, aerospace, and advanced electronics.
This new framework dramatically expands the possibilities for designing materials by exploring a much larger range of structures and material combinations than ever before. It enables precise control over how materials interact with light at the nanoscale, paving the way for scalable, real-world applications.
The Koo Research Group Presents at National Space and Missile Materials Symposium
The Koo Research Group recently went to the National Space and Missile Materials Symposium. The conference was held from June 23rd to 27th in Norfolk, VA. Attendees from the group included Professor Joseph H. Koo, lab manager Ben Rech, and graduate research assistants Samantha Bernstein, Steven Kim, and Akshar Mashruwala, and undergraduate research assistant Courtney Bui.
The group presented a total of six oral presentations and three posters on their research. Courtney Bui won second place in the Student Poster Award for her presentation on “Processing and Characterization of Rayon Carbon Fiber/Polysiloxane Composites for Aerospace Applications”. The conference was an excellent presentation and networking opportunity for the group, where discussions about thermal protection systems and ablative materials were myriad.
Guihua Yu Wins UAE’s Global Water Award
Texas Engineer Guihua Yu won the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award from the United Arab Emirates for his breakthrough work to provide clean, drinkable water using renewable solar energy.
Guihua Yu, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute and UT Energy Institute, was selected as the sole winner in the Distinguished Researcher Award category of this year’s awards from the UAE.
Dr. Huiliang Wang Publishes in Nature Communications
Dr. Wang’s research group has made a significant contribution to the field of wearable neurotechnology with the publication of a research article in Nature Communications, one of the top journals in the field.
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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
TMI Faculty Celebrated as Highly Cited Researchers in 2025
Seven faculty members who work with and in the Texas Materials Institute have been distinguished as Highly Cited Researchers for 2025 based on Clarivate's Web of Science Core Collection, a platform that provides reference and citation data from academic journals, conferences, and other documents across disciplines. Each Highly Cited Researcher has authored mulitple highly-cited papers and rank in the top 1% for their field and publication year.
Alexander Demkov elected as MRS Fellow
Dr. Alexander Demkov, a professor of Physics, an associate faculty member of the Oden Institute, and one of the Texas Materials Institute's Core Faculty, was elected as 1 of the 18 MRS Fellows for 2026.
MS&E Graduate Student Publishes on Connection Between Battery Use, Recharging, & Interface Flattening
Tushare Telmasre, a graduate student in the Materials Science & Engineering Program, has recently published an article in ECS Advances that explores the connection between battery usage, recharging, and the surface of the zinc anode. A student in Dr. Venkat Subramanian's lab, Telmasre, along with postdoctoral researcher Dr. Lubhani Mishra, and other UT researchers from the CMES Lab, the paper finds that how a battery is used and then recharged directly impacts the surface of the anode and dendrite growth.
AirGel Takes Top Prize and People’s Choice Award for Innovative Water-Harvesting Device
*Reposted from UT News*
Weixin Guan and Yaxuan Zhao, graduate researchers with the Texas Materials Institute and the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering, were recognized for their innovative and cost-effective device, AirGel, which extracts drinking water from humidity in the air. Their invention also won the competition’s People’s Choice Award and received a USPTO Patent Acceleration Certificate from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
$2.5 Million Grant Awarded to Deji Akinwande for Wearable Health Technology
Dr. Deji Akinwande, a professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering department and an affiliate of TMI, was awarded a contract of up to $2.5 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a governmental agency aimed at funding research that supports biomedical and health breakthroughs. This award will help advance Dr. Akinwande's development of a wearable blood pressure monitoring system, a key vital sign for assessing cardiovascular health.
$12M+
In Grant Funding
20+
Research Patents
10K+
