MSE News and Events
A team of materials scientists and engineers, led by Jian Shi, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, used a strain gradient to break inversion symmetry, creating a novel optoelectronic phenomenon in the promising material molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which was published in Nature Nanotechnology.
Prof. Daniel Gall receives the Bill Sproul Award and Honorary ICMCTF lectureship from the Advanced Surface Engineering Division of the Americal Vacuum Society for outstanding scientific and/or technological contributions in the fields of surface engineering, thin films, and related topics.
With the support of a four-year $1.2 million grant from The Department of Veterans Affairs, an interdisciplinary team of engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute aims to create a polymer coating that could potentially be capable of reducing the body’s inflammatory response following the implantation of electrodes.
Edwin Fohtung and coworkers demonstrate an X-ray Bragg coherent diffractive imaging technique to spatially resolve the evolution of nanoscopic ferroelastic needle-like domains in individual BaTiO3 nanocrystals under external pressure, published in the May 2020 issue of Advanced Electronic Materials and selected for the back cover.
With input from our students, we have adjusted the curriculum for the ARCH Summer 2020 semester to focus on skill sets that can be developed remotely including data dexterity, modeling, simulations and engineering math techniques. Laboratory-intensive courses previously scheduled for the summer will now be offered in the Spring and Fall 2021 semesters.
Institute News
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has announced the appointment of Zheyu Zhang, Ph.D., as the inaugural Richard P. Felak ’66 ’67G and Joan C. Felak Endowed Faculty Fellow in Electric Power Engineering.
The Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, in partnership with the School of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), is proud to announce Mattheos Koffas, Ph.D., as the recipient of the inaugural Feltham ReEqu
RPI School of Engineering has named R. Helen Zha, Ph.D., as a Dean’s Faculty Fellow, recognizing her exceptional accomplishments in research, education, and service.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) announced the appointment of Professor Jennifer Pazour, Ph.D., from the School of Engineering and Professor M. Hakan Hekimoglu, Ph.D., from the Lally School of Management as James M. Tien ’66 Dean’s Faculty Fellows in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems (DSES).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has announced the appointment of Zheyu Zhang, Ph.D., as the inaugural Richard P. Felak ’66 ’67G and Joan C. Felak Endowed Faculty Fellow in Electric Power Engineering.

Zheyu Zhang Appointed Richard P. Felak ’66 ’67G and Joan C. Felak Endowed Faculty Fellow in Electric Power Engineering at RPI
Mattheos Koffas Receives Inaugural Feltham ReEquip Award to Advance Genome Editing Research
R. Helen Zha Named Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute