TMI-Affiliated Faculty Member Dr. Xiuling Li Receives IEEE Photonics Society Engineering Achievement Award

We are proud to share that Dr. Xiuling Li, Temple Foundation Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, has been selected as the recipient of the IEEE Photonics Society Engineering Achievement Award.

This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Li “for contributions to advanced semiconductor growth and processing technologies for photonic nanodevices.” Dr. Li is a globally recognized leader in semiconductor materials and device research. She currently serves as Director of the Microelectronics Research Center at UT Austin. Her groundbreaking work includes innovations in Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching (MacEtch), MOCVD-grown nanowire transistors, and self-rolled-up membrane (S-RuM) technology.

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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.

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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 23^rd to 27^th 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.