TMI Newsletter | April 2024
Featured News
Renowned UT Austin Professor Vaibhav Bahadur merges energy, water, and environmental protection in groundbreaking research, proposing a method to use excess natural gas for green hydrogen production by treating oilfield-produced water, showcasing his commitment to sustainability and UT Austin's leadership in impactful research.
Dr. Guihua Yu, along with two other Texas Engineers, has been elected fellows of the AAAS, recognizing their significant contributions to science and engineering. They join over 53 colleagues at the University who have earned this lifetime distinction, and will be featured in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science this month, with an honor ceremony planned for September in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tanya Hutter and her team at UT Austin are developing a smart device to revolutionize respiratory health, while Professor David Cohen and his students are creating a video game prototype, "The Adventures of Ranger Raccoon," integrating breathing exercises for health benefits. This collaborative effort between engineering, arts, and medical fields was recently showcased at the Inside-Out event, highlighting innovative approaches to wellness through interactive technology.
Dr. Huiliang (Evan) Wang, of UT Austin's Biomedical Engineering department, has received the esteemed 2024 ASEE Gulf Southwest Outstanding Young Faculty Award, recognizing his exceptional teaching and research contributions. This accolade, presented during the ASEE Gulf Southwest Conference, emphasizes Dr. Wang's dedication to advancing engineering education and biomedical research.
Dr. Guihua Yu, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has developed a groundbreaking water filter to address pollution, earning recognition from People Magazine.
Inspired by natural collective behaviors seen in ecosystems like schools of fish and ant colonies, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have engineered "smart swarms" of microscopic robots. Their recent paper in Science Advances introduces a new trait called adaptive time delay, enhancing the swarm's responsiveness without sacrificing robustness.
Congratulations on passing your Preliminary Oral Exams in Spring 2024
Fall 2024 MSE 397 Seminar Series
MS&E Spring 2024 Graduates
Discover your TMI Faculty:
Q&A with Dr. Hang Ren
Dr. Hang Ren from the Department of Chemistry at UT Austin is one of our many faculty and GSC members here at Texas Materials Institute. He came to UT Austin in 2021 with an interest in nanoelectrochemistry and single-entity electrochemistry. His research uses scanning electrochemical probe microscopy to study fundamental electrocatalytic processes for energy storage and conversion at the nanoscale to reveal their heterogeneity and stochasticity.
What did you do before your current position?
I got my PhD in chemistry with Prof. Mark Meyerhoff from the University of Michigan in 2016. Then, I worked as a postdoc associate with Prof. Henry White at the University of Utah from 16-18. I was an assistant professor in chemistry at Miami University of Ohio from 18-21, then moved to my current position at UT in the summer of 2021.
What motivated you to become involved in Materials Science Engineering?
I am an electrochemist interested in understanding the chemistry and charge transfer at electrochemical interfaces, which is important knowledge in designing better electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, as well as in slowing down materials degradation as in corrosion. The property of the interface is largely dictated by the structure of the materials, and that's what got us involved in Materials Science Engineering.
Describe the most memorable event or experience you’ve encountered in your career?
When I found out that the work from my students and I was cited in the latest edition of the classical electrochemistry textbook: Electrochemical Methods, by Allen Bard, Larry Faulkner and Henry White. I was able to collect the autographs of all three authors when I met all the authors in Austin in 2022.
What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
Playing and traveling with my wife and my 5-year-old daughter!
Upcoming Events & Announcements
Summer 2024 Academic Dates
- Registration for new, continuing, and readmitted students: June 05, 2024
- First Class Day (Summer Session): June 06, 2024
- Last day to apply for a graduate degree: August 02, 2024
