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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.

Get Excited About Materials Science (GEMS) Camp brought high school students to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the summer of 2026 to learn about materials science. They took part in lectures and exciting hands-on experiments at the brand new Eltoukhy Family Innovation Lab. 

The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology hosted the "Roadmap for In-Space Manufacturing of Resilient Structures" workshop, bringing together NASA, Air Force Research Laboratory, industry and academic leaders — including  Nancy Sottos — to chart research priorities for manufacturing, materials and infrastructure beyond Earth.