MS Program in Materials Science and Engineering

Message from the Program Coordinator

We are pleased to announce the new Master of Science degree program in Materials Science and Engineering.* In this two‐year program, each graduate student will conduct significant original research under the guidance of a faculty mentor, culminating in the completion and defense of a master’s thesis. It will also be possible to conduct research in collaboration with a local industry partner. The program will be open to students who have completed a bachelor’s degree in any area of the natural sciences or engineering. The first cohort of graduate students will be admitted for the Fall 2021 semester. More details on how to apply will be posted in the coming months; the application deadline for the first cohort will be in early 2021.

This new interdisciplinary graduate program brings together more than twenty UNF faculty from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. A list of the program faculty and their areas of research can be found below. The program will also leverage the electron microscopy and materials characterization facilities in the UNF Materials Science and Engineering Research Facility (MSERF).

More information on the program will be added to this site in the coming months. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Dr. Daniel Santavicca, MS MSE Program Coordinator

daniel.santavicca@unf.edu

*Pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Program Faculty

Name	Position & Department	Areas
Dr. Juan Aceros	Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering	Micro-electromechanical systems, assistive and adaptive technologies
Dr. Grant Bevill	Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering	Biomechanics
Dr. Stuart Chalk	Professor, Chemistry	Chemical informatics, materials informatics, and data science
Dr. Paul Eason	Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Director, MSERF & Associate Dean, CCEC	Metallurgy, electron microscopy
Dr. Lev Gasparov	Presidential Professor, Physics & Associate Dean, COAS	Optical properties of materials, Raman spectroscopy
Dr. Jason Haraldsen	Associate Professor, Physics	Theoretical /computational materials physics
Dr. M. Laura Habegger	Assistant Professor, Biology	Functional morphology, biomechanics
Dr. Osama Jadaan	Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Director, School of Engineering	Probabilistic design, ceramic engineering, fracture mechanics, and finite element analysis
Dr. Brynna Jones	Assistant Professor, Chemistry	Optical spectroscopy, interactions of microplastics with environmental systems
Dr. Bryan Knuckley	Associate Professor & Chair, Chemistry	Polymers and diagnostic sensors
Dr. Kenneth Laali	Presidential Professor, Chemistry	Organic, organometallic, medicinal, and materials chemistry
Dr. Amy Lane	Associate Professor, Chemistry	Natural products/secondary metabolites
Dr. Michael Lufaso	Associate Professor, Chemistry	Solid state synthesis, x-ray diffraction, and structure-property relationships
Dr. Joshua Melko	Assistant Professor, Chemistry	Characterizing energetics and reactivity of transition metal molecules
Dr. Thomas J. Mullen	Associate Professor, Chemistry	Molecular self- and directed-assembly on metal and semiconductor surfaces
Dr. Thomas Pekarek	Presidential Professor, Physics	Magnetically-doped semiconductors
Dr. Daniel Santavicca	Associate Professor, Physics & Coordinator, MS MSE Program	Nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics, superconducting devices
Dr. Alexandra Schonning	Professor, Mechanical Engineering	Finite element analysis, biomechanics, computer-aided engineering, diversity & inclusion
Dr. Jutima Simsiriwong	Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering	Fatigue and fracture analysis of additively-manufactured materials
Dr. Stephen Stagon	Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering	Surfaces, coatings, and interface engineering
Dr. Eirin Sullivan	Assistant Professor, Chemistry	Synthesis, structural and physical characterization of functional solid state materials via X-ray and neutron powder diffraction
Dr. Candice Tahimic	Assistant Professor, Biology	Microgravity and space radiation and their effects on organ systems; bioinformatics; microarchitectural analysis of calcified biomaterial
Dr. Maitri Warusawithana	Assistant Professor, Physics	Molecular beam epitaxy, complex oxides, quantum materials
Dr. Gregory Wurtz	Associate Professor & Chair, Physics	Nano-optics, nonlinear optics, ultrafast optics, and plasmonics