Welcome Back to Campus: A Letter from Department Chair Shu Yang

Dear Friends,

After a long year and a half of virtual meetings and classes, we are finally meeting in person. We are very pleased to welcome 13 PhD students, 34 Masters students and 15 freshmen!

There have been many other changes taking place in the department. First, I would like to thank Professor Karen Winey for her service and leadership as department chair. In the last five years, our faculty have won a new NSF Science and Technology Center (STC), Center for Engineering Mechanobiology (CEMB), a Sloan Fellowship, 2 NSF Career awards, 2 NSF Future Manufacturing grants, 2 MRS fellows, 2 MURI projects and 4 new scholarly chairs, and have played leadership roles in the LRSM. Professor Winey has also championed critical investments in x-ray diffraction facilities and new electron microscopes.

I would also like to thank Professor David Pope for his long-lasting services in the Department and the Engineering School as the Undergraduate Chair in MSE and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Chair of MSE and MEAM. July 1 marked his transition to being an emeritus faculty member. We are most grateful he continues to teach and interact with our students.

We are delighted to welcome a new faculty member, Christopher Madl, as an Assistant Professor in the area of precision engineering of biomaterials for health, starting in Fall 2022. Chris is currently an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence awardee at Stanford University.

Penn has recently launched $750M investment in science, engineering and medicine. Penn Engineering establishes a new Center for Precision Engineering for Health with $100 Million Commitment to recruit both senior and junior faculty. The MSE community will continue to thrive with research and curriculum innovations in the areas of precision healthcare, quantum information, energy and sustainability.

We are also investing time and effort in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion such as department-wide climate and curriculum surveys and town hall meetings, school-wide climate statement and policy changes, and cross-school initiatives led by our faculty.

Finally, congratulations to MSE faculty, students and alumni who have been recognized with high quality publications, citations, funding, and awards. I wish you a great Fall 2021.

Shu Yang
Department Chair of Materials Science and Engineering
Joseph Bordogna Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering