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ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Symposium
The 2026 ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Symposium will be held on Friday, May 8th from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm in the Talon Room on the 4th floor of Osprey Commons (Building 16) on the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ campus. It will feature invited talks, a catered lunch, and a student poster session. The event is free and open to everyone interested in materials science and engineering. The registration deadline was April 20th, but anyone who would still like to register as an attendee should email daniel.santavicca@unf.edu.
| 9:30-9:35 | Welcome and Opening Remarks | |
| 9:35-10:35 | Materials Research Across ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ: Part I | |
| 9:35-9:55 | “Antiperovskites as Functional Materials” Eirin Sullivan, Associate Professor of Chemistry, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 9:55-10:15 | “End-of-Life Materials Management: Implications for Human Health and the Environment” Florentino De la Cruz, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 10:15-10:35 | “Design and Processing-Structure-Properties Interrelationship in Advanced Alloys” Nelson Delfino de Campos Neto, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 10:35-10:45 | Coffee Break | |
| 10:45-11:45 | Industry Focus Session | |
| 10:45-11:00 | “Scrap to Strength: How CMC Advances Sustainable Steelmaking” Justin Gibson, Reliability Engineer, CMC Steel |
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| 11:00-11:15 | “From ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ to Space: Entrepreneurship and Space Technology” Andrew Rush, President & CEO, Star Catcher |
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| 11:15-11:30 | “Selective Laser Sintering Material Considerations – A Pragmatic Approach” Peyton Hopson, Fellow, 3D Printing Polymer and Pharmaceutical Lead, Johnson & Johnson |
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| 11:30-11:45 | “Redwire Defend Above” Paul Sheldon, Director of Operations, Redwire Space Missions |
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| 11:45-12:45 | Symposium Lunch | |
| 12:45-1:30 | Keynote Talk | “The Florida Semiconductor Institute: From Vision to Velocity” David Arnold, Director of the Florida Semiconductor Institute and George Kirkland Engineering Leadership Professor, University of Florida |
| 1:30-2:10 | Materials Research Across ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ: Part II | |
| 1:30-1:50 | “Magnetic Interactions in Quantum Clusters and their Effect on Quantum Decoherence” Jason Haraldsen, Professor of Physics, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 1:50-2:10 | “The Tale that Fish Can Tell: Advancing Interdisciplinary Research Through Morphological Analysis” M. Laura Habegger, Assistant Professor of Biology, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 2:10-2:20 | Coffee Break | |
| 2:20-3:20 | Graduate Student Research Talks | |
| 2:20-2:35 | “Systemic Delivery of Nanoparticles to Osteoarthritic Joints” Molly Dobrow, Doctoral Student in Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida |
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| 2:35-2:50 | “Growth Optimization of YBa2Cu3O7-x Thin Films Using MBE Flux Gradients and Closed-Loop Electronic Transport” Daniela Amalfi Ojeda, Master's Student in Materials Science & Engineering, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 2:50-3:05 | “Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions” Emily Frederick, Doctoral Student in Physics, University of Central Florida |
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| 3:05-3:20 | “Mechanical Properties and Hydrophobic Tendencies of Additively Manufactured Ultem 9085 for Maritime Environment Applications” Zach Williams, Master's Student in Materials Science & Engineering, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ |
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| 3:20-4:20 | Poster Session | |
| "Exploring Structural and Electronic Properties of Epitaxial Sr1-xMgxTiO3 Thin Films," Richard Badu, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering | ||
| "Synthesis and Characterization of Epitaxial Vanadate Thin Films," Aurora Biggy & Daniela Zavala, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Investigating Failure in Rigid-Compliant Polymer Interfaces in MJAM Parts," Carleigh Eagle, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering | ||
| "New Instrumentation to Probe Magnetic Field Dependent Electronic Phenomena," Hailey Evans, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Niobium Titanium Nitride Thin Film Deposition, Optimization, and Characterization, Hudson Horne, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science and Engineering | ||
| "Electronic Properties via Substitution of 3+ Ions in Manganite Films," Tyler Allen Hughes, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Electronic and Magnetic Effects of Transition Metals on TiSe2," Olivia Lane, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Investigating Plasmonic Properties of LIPSS in Bismuth Films," Amanda Mast, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Implementing In Situ Gold Evaporation for Device Samples Grown by MBE," Luis Olmedo, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering | ||
| "Tracking Dark Matter in Minerals using Electron Diffraction," Rabeya Rabu & Andre Peterson, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering and Physics | ||
| "Electronic and Magnetic Effects of Transition-Metal Adatoms on TiS2," Cole Ratkus, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Physics | ||
| "Design and Development of a Novel Biomedical Alloy," Lara Lima Salgado, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering | ||
| "Modifying Self-Assembly Parameters to Control Nanoparticle-Metal-Organic Framework Composite Catalyst Formation," Noah Smith, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Materials Science & Engineering | ||
| "Electronic and Optical Properties of Tellurium Hyperdoped-Silicon," Jamie Timmons, UCF Physics | ||
| 4:20-4:30 | Concluding Remarks | |
This event is made possible through support from the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ College of Arts and Sciences and the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ College of Computing, Engineering, and Construction.