The
Materials
Research
Science
and
Engineering
Center
(MRSEC)
is
an
interdisciplinary
research
and
educational
enterprise
within
Carnegie
Mellon
University
dedicated
the
understanding,
control
and
optimization
of
grain
boundary
dominated
materials
properties.
The
collaboration
of
researchers
with
complementary
backgrounds,
skills,
and
knowledge
is
critical
to
meeting
the
Center's
technical
objectives.
The
Center
is
funded
by
industrial
sponsors
and
government
agencies.
The
National
Science
Foundation
(NSF)
established
the
Center
in
1996
and
remains
its
primary
sponsor.
Research
focus
Most
metallic
and
ceramic
materials
used
in
aircraft,
automobiles,
and
devices
such
as
computers
are
polycrystalline.
In
other
words,
they
are
made
up
of
many
microscopic
crystals
held
together
by
grain
boundaries.
It
is
widely
recognized
that
the
types
of
grain
boundaries
in
a material
and
the
manner
in
which
they
are
connected
affect
a wide
range
of
properties
and,
ultimately,
a material's
performance
and
lifetime.
In
most
cases,
however,
our
ability
to
predict
and
control
the
materials
properties
that
are
governed
by
the
grain
boundaries
is
severely
limited
by
our
incomplete
knowledge
of
the
network
structure
and
the
behavior
of
individual
interfaces.
The
CMU
MRSEC's
goals
are
to
understand
the
origins
of
the
quantifiable
characteristics
of
polycrystals
that
arise
during
processing,
to
develop
strategies
for
influencing
these
characteristics
in
predictable
ways,
and
to
define
microstructural
metrics
that
can
be
directly
related
to
macroscopic
properties
and
performance.
The
Center's
tools
and
findings
will
have
applications
in
a range
of
practical
materials
processing
applications
and,
to
insure
rapid
implementation,
we
work
collaboratively
with
government,
industry,
and
international
laboratories.
Faculty
and
Students
The
Center
is
interdisciplinary,
with
students
and
faculty
participating
from
the
departments
of
Materials
Science
and
Engineering,
Civil
and
Environmental
Engineering,
Mechanical
Engineering,
Mathematics,
and
Physics.
At
any
time,
10
to
12
faculty
and
about
15
graduates
students
participate.
Education
The
Center's
major
educational
goals
are
to
increase
the
participation
of
underrepresented
minorities
in
materials
research,
raise
awareness
of
materials
science
and
engineering
among
high
school
students
through
the
curricula
used
in
chemistry,
physics,
and
earth
science
classes,
provide
meaningful
research
experiences
for
undergraduates,
and
support
interdisciplinary
graduate
education.
Students
supported
by
the
Center
have
taken
positions
in
academia,
industry,
and
government.
Outreach
The
Center
conducts
cooperative
research
with
Government
(LANL,
APS/ANL),
Industry
(Alcoa,
Kennametal),
and
International
(RWTH
Aachen,
Univ.
of
Wales
Swansea)
laboratories. |
