Institutes, Centers & Labs
Institutes
IREAP
Location: Energy Research Facility (Bldg 223)
The Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) is a a joint institute combining the A. James Clark School of Engineering and the College of Computer, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. The mission of IREAP is to advance modern science through research and educational programs that are interdisciplinary between physical sciences and engineering. MSE Professors Marina Leite, G. Oehrlein, Oded Rabin and Gary Rubloff hold joint appointments in IREAP.
ISR
The Institute for Systems Research (ISR) was established as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in 1985 at Maryland and Harvard, and it later received permanent Institute status from the State of Maryland. ISR develops, applies and teaches advanced methodologies of design and analysis to solve complex, hierarchical, heterogeneous and dynamic problems of engineering technology and systems for industry and government. MSE Professor Gary Rubloff holds a joint appointment in ISR and served formerly as Director.
MEI2
Location: Engineering Laboratory Building
The Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEI2) provides a platform to catalyze basic research and private investment into advanced and clean energy technology, while stimulating economic growth and improving millions of lives across the state of Maryland. The Institute brings together science, industry, government and economic leaders to develop new energy technology and facilitate commercialization. MSE Professor Eric Wachsman is the Founding Director.
Centers
Maryland NanoCenter
The Maryland NanoCenter promotes major nano research and education initiatives and supplies infrastructure to facilitate nano activities at Maryland through equipment, staff support, and informational and administrative functions. The NanoCenter provides shared user facilities such as the Kim Engineering Building class-1,000 cleanroom for nanofabrication (FabLAb) and state of the art microscopy lab (AIMLab), and a network of shared laboratories and scientific instruments throughout UMD. The majority of MSE Professors are affiliated with the NanoCenter, including former NanoCenter Director, Gary Rubloff.
QMC
Location: UMD Physics Dept
In 2019, CNAM was renamed the Maryland Quantum Materials Center (QMC) in order to both update and reinforce the position of the CMP effort at UMD and accelerate further toward top-tier status in the world. The QMC’s purpose remains focused on the fundamental exploration and development of advanced materials and devices using multi-disciplinary expertise drawn from physics, chemistry, engineering and materials science departments, placing strong emphasis on the pursuit of optimized and novel quantum phenomena with potential to nucleate future computing, information and energy technologies.
UMD Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC/NEES)
Principal Investigator: Gary Rubloff
Location: Kim Engineering Building
The Science of Precision Multifunctional Nanostructures for Electrical Energy Storage (NEES) is a multi-institutional research center focused on developing highly ordered nanostructures that offer a unique testbed for investigating the underpinnings of storing electrical energy.
Labs
ANS Lab
Principal Investigator: Gary Rubloff
Location: 0202 Energy Research Facility (Bldg 223)
The ALD Nanostructures Laboratory (ANSLab) is designed to integrate processes and characterization for synthesis of advanced nanostructures and mesoscale architectures formed from arrays of nanostructures.
Battery Prototyping Lab
Principal Investigator: Gibson Scisco
Location: Room 1140 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Battery Prototyping Lab introduces undergraduate and graduate students to Li-ion battery manufacturing through hands-on lab experiences. This facility is also an active research lab focused on processing-structure-performance metrics of Li-ion batteries.
Bing Research Group
Principal Investigator: Liangbing Hu
Location: 1208 Engineering Laboratory Building
The Bing Research Group focuses on the technologies and fundamental science of energy devices and flexible electronics based on nanomaterials.
Biophysical and Polymer Radiation Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Mohamad Al-Sheikhly
Location: Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Biophysical and Polymer Radiation Laboratory is utilized in conjunction with the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities. The laboratory has two distinct experimental facilities devoted to polymer modification research and radiation biophysics.
Combinatorial Synthesis and Rapid Characterization Center
Principal Investigator: Ichiro Takeuchi
Location: 1242 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building
A combinatorial approach to materials is an emerging paradigm of materials research methodology. In individual experiments, up to thousands of compositionally varying samples are simultaneously fabricated and screened for enhanced physical properties.
Functional Macromolecular Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Robert M. Briber, Peter Kofinas
Location: 1120 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building
The Functional Macromolecular Laboratory focuses on the synthesis, characterization and processing of novel polymer-based nanostructured systems used in a variety of technological fields, ranging from medicine and pharmaceuticals to energy storage and microelectronics. The lab features a comprehensive set of characterization equipment for polymer mechanical, thermal, dielectric, conductive properties.
George E. Dieter, Jr. Materials Instructional Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Robert Bonenberger
Location: Kim Engineering Building
GEDMIL is a facility for studying the mechanical, electrical, structural and optical properties of materials with an emphasis on the connection between nanoscale structure of materials and macroscopic properties. Electromagnetic-based experiments take place within a specially designed shielded area that eliminates electronic noise and stray fields.
Keck Laboratory for Combinatorial Nanosynthesis/Multiscale Characterization
Principal Investigator: Ichiro Takeuchi
Location: 1242 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building
The University of Maryland received a major award from the W. M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles to establish a new laboratory for combinatorial nanosynthesis and multi-scale characterization.
Koeth Research Group: Materials at the Extremes
Principal Investigator: Timothy W. Koeth
Location: 2303 Chem/Nuc Engineering Building
The Koeth Research Group combines materials and physical sciences under the theme 'materials at the extremes.' For example, researchers explore the integration of AI techniques with state of the art radiation detection systems and performing nuclear forensics analysis.
Laboratory for Plasma Processing of Materials
Principal Investigator: Gottlieb S. Oehrlein
Location: Energy Research Facility (IREAP, Bldg 223)
The Laboratory for Plasma Processing of Materials - part of the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) - produces nanostructures using plasma processing. The primary theme is the characterization and understanding of the processes at the plasma-material interface that controls the properties of the material or structure that is ultimately produced.
Laboratory for Radiation and Polymer Science
Principal Investigator: Mohamad Al-Sheikhly
Location: Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Laboratory for Radiation and Polymer Science supports companies and government laboratories with radiation-related research and consulting services in three areas: 1) Applied radiation and physics of polymers 2) Radiation sources technology and 3) Fundamental aspects of radiation bearing on applied problems.
Laboratory for Reliable Electronics
Principal Investigator: Aris Christou
Location: 2302 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Laboratory for Reliable (Nano) Electronics is an advanced facility for semiconductor device process development, test structure design for reliability and Reliability measurements at the University of Maryland. It includes a broad variety of advanced materials processes and supporting processes for fabricating of devices and reliability test structures.
Materials and Interface NanoTechnology Laboratory (MINT)
Principal Investigator: Oded Rabin
Location: 0145 Energy Research Facility (IREAP, Bldg 223)
MINT's mission is to understand and exploit interactions between inorganic nanoscale objects and their chemical and physical environment. The group conducts research in plasmonics, thermoelectrics, composites, imaging and sensing -- as topics related to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Materials Screening Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Ichiro Takeuchi
Location: 1123 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Materials Screening Laboratory is home to our Lakeshore 7400 Series Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), the most sensitive VSM available today, which can measure hysteresis M(H) loops and temperature dependent magnetic properties of all types of magnetic materials in bulk, powder, thin film, single crystal, and liquid form.
Microelectronics Devices Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Aris Christou
The Microelectronics Devices Laboratory specializes in failures analysis and related methodology for integrated circuits and packages. It has the capability to meet these challenges and successfully perform the failure analysis of the integrated circuit (IC) packages with the state-of-the-art analytical techniques.
Mo Materials Modeling
Principal Investigator: Yifei Mo
Location: 1137 Engineering Laboratory Building
The Mo Research Group aims to advance the understanding, design and discovery of engineering materials through cutting-edge computational techniques. Computational modeling provides enhanced fundamental scientific insights, and enables the rational design of new materials.
Photonic Materials & Devices Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Carlos A. Rios Ocampo
Location: 0132/0138 Energy Research Facility
The Photonic Materials & Devices group studies nanoscale light-matter interactions and applies nanomaterial properties in high-performance optoelectronic devices and systems. Current research interests are phase-change materials for photonics, photonic integrated circuits for (neuromorphic) computing and sensing, and low-energy reconfigurable photonics.
Principal Investigator: Carlos Rios Ocampo
Polymer Characterization Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Robert M. Briber
Location: Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
The Polymer Characterization Laboratory includes facilities for advanced characterization of polymers, including thermal analysis, microstructural characterization, mechanical properties and interfacial fracture mechanics, and synthesis of polymers and sample preparation.
Wachsman Research Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Eric Wachsman
Location: 1206A Engineering Lab Building
The Wachsman Research Lab is at the forefront of renewable energy research involving high temperature ceramics. Principal Investigator Eric Wachsman's advances in fundamental ionic transport and electrocatalysis have revolutionized solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC's), ion transport membranes, and solid state sensors.