The University of Tennessee Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Levi Dunn and Dominick Pelaia set out to find a mentor for their high school research project at L&N STEM Academy. Gerd Duscher, a professor in UT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was impressed by their research. Gerd then hired them as interns in his lab.

Their project explores integrating a large language model (LLM) into a scanning transmission electron microscope’s automation loop so users can guide complex, atomic-level experiments with natural-language instructions. Their work also earned recognition at major student research events, including Regeneron ISEF. Full story below!

Student Research Project Helps UT Integrate AI with Atomic-Scale Microscopy - Materials Science and Engineering An award-winning research project landed two local high school students internships with UT MSE professors integrating AI with atomic-scale microscopy.

The Materials Research Society (MRS) at MSE UT recently hosted the 2026 edition of “Science as Art,” featuring 21 artistic presentations of science submitted by UT STEM undergraduate and graduate students. 🎨

Full Story 🖼️ https://bit.ly/430u5p7

After more than 20 years with MSE at UTK, Dr. Claudia Rawn has announced her retirement. This is another bittersweet celebration within our MSE family, as Rawn's impact on research, academics, and students has been invaluable to our department. 🧡

Rawn's journey at MSE began in 2002 as a joint faculty member with ORNL. In 2014, she transitioned to full-time at MSE. For over a decade, Rawn led the Center of Materials Processing before serving as the deputy director and director of education, community, outreach, and recruitment of the Materials Research Science Engineering Center (MRSEC). Throughout her career, she has authored more than 100 journal articles and received more than 23 grants and contracts, and her positive impact has been felt by her peers and the students she’s worked with along the way.

MSe wishes Dr. Claudia Rawn a wonderful and happy retirement and all the best in her next chapter!

Congratulations to our MSE seniors graduating today! 🎓 Swipe to see where a few of them are headed next. 🧡

We are proud to share that MSE of the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee has climbed into the top 50 globally (14 nationally) in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS).

GRAS evaluates institutions on various academic subjects and is based on nine objective indicators grouped into five categories: World-Class Faculty, World-Class Research Output, High-Quality Research, Research Impact, and International Collaboration.

Full Rankings ➡️

ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects

Following the Senior Design Showcase last Friday, MSE senior recently presented their year-long research projects to faculty and students in the department. Topics included:

🔸 Compositionally Complex Ceramics
🔸 Compositionally Complex Alloys
🔸 Cast in Steel: Horseman's Axe

This marks the final step of their undergraduate careers, and we can't wait to see what they accomplish next. Next stop - commencement! 🎓

We're buzzing 🐝 with excitement over this interdisciplinary research project!

MSE Associate Professor Dustin Gilbert and his wife, Anne Murray, a Research Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UT, have both been involved with a project that has measured magnetism in more than 120 different species of bees, finding that nearly 90 percent are magnetic. Their research was published this month in Science Advances.

Full Story 🧲 https://bit.ly/4cQxmgx

Congratulations to Jade Holliman for receiving 3rd place in the Electronics Division student oral presentation competition at the ACerS 2026 Spring Meeting! 👏

Holliman's presentation, "Linking Structure and Property in Compositionally Complex Rare Earth Zirconates via Multimodal Probes," was one of 61 student presentations evaluated. Jade was one of a handful of team members from the UT Center for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing (CAMM) who gave talks at the meeting.

As the semester draws to a close, MSE is pleased to recognize our students who have received awards for their incredible work this school year! Well deserved, ! For more information, head to the link below.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4mRXI58

MSE was well represented at the EUReCA awards yesterday!

🔸 MSE senior design team, composed of Jacob Phillips, Jon McColl, Megan Gillespie, and Marlena Alexander, received a Silver Award for Distinguished Poster Presentation for their poster, 'Effects of Site Substitution and Size Disorder on La-Containing Pyrochlores'
🔸 Jocelyn Hess '26 received a Bronze Award for Excellent Poster Presentation for her poster, 'Viability and Impacts of Additives in Automotive Pulp Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Composites'
🔸 Ronan Tollefsen '27 received Honorable Mention for his poster, 'Introduction of Additives into Lignin-based Electrospun Fabrics'
🔸 Brennan Cawley, '29, received Honorable Mention for his poster, 'Investigating Scintillation Properties of Doped and Undoped Polycrystalline Wide Band Gap Semiconductor Materials'

Congratulations to all who participated in the showcase this year!

🔗 https://bit.ly/4vWu96n