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The MSE 182  lunch event brought the Materials Science and Engineering Class of 2030 together to enjoy some pizza and meet department faculty. Several freshman students shared what excites them most about starting their journey at Illinois.

Nancy Sottos and Jeff Moore are senior investigators in the U.S. National Science Foundation Center for the Chemistry of Molecularly Optimized Networks (NSF MONET), a program dedicated to making advancements in the understanding of polymer network properties, which historically are challenging to predict. The center just received an infusion of $19.8 million over five years from NSF to continue this critical research.

Nearly a century after Tryambak "T.W." Talwalkar earned his B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Illinois in 1926,  his great-grandson Nikhil Talwalkar followed in his footsteps, graduating from Illinois Grainger Engineering with a B.S. in Computer Engineering. The family only discovered the remarkable coincidence after Nikhil's acceptance, transforming his Illinois journey into a full-circle tribute to his great-grandfather's pioneering legacy in materials science.

Senior Lecturer Matthew Goodman, leader of the senior design capstone program in Illinois materials science and engineering, shared his expertise about the implementation of human-centered engineering in the classroom during a September roundtable hosted by The Grainger College of Engineering. 

Graduate students seeking the chance to explore emerging questions in research should consider taking part in the Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC) graduate fellowship position. Submissions are due by Sept. 15, 2026. 

After more than six years of service as head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor Nancy Sottos sat down to talk about her accomplishments and the challenges ahead for her successor, Paul Braun.