Welcome New Professors

Welcome New Professors

MSE would like to welcome several new faculty members.

New Professors 2005


Lia Stanciu joined the Materials Engineering Department at Purdue in Fall 2005. Lia comes from the National Center for Macromolecular Imaging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, where she was a Postdoctoral Associate doing research on cryo-electron microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction of biological molecules. Lia received a B.S. in Chemistry from University of Bucharest in 1995, followed by a M.S. in Chemistry in 1996 from the same University. She worked as a researcher in Materials Chemistry for four years before starting her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering at University of California at Davis in 1999. Her research topic was the electrical field effects on nanomaterials processing. Lia received her Ph.D. in Material Engineering in December 2003.

For more information on Professor Stanciu and her research, visit her website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Stanciu.wshtml.


Alejandro Strachan has joined the staff of Materials Engineering from from Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research revolves around developing methods to predict how materials behave using computer simulations and applying these methods to a wide range of materials. Alejandro focuses on atomistic and mesoscale modeling of condensed-phase chemistry, active materials and nanotechnology and mechanical properties of structural materials.

For more information on Professor Strachan and his research, visit his website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Strachan.wshtml.


Carol Handwerker has joined the staff of Materials Engineering from Carol Handwerker has joined the staff of Materials Engineering from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she served as Chief of the Metallurgy Division. She received her S.B. in materials science and engineering (1978) from MIT, followed by an S.M. (1978) and an Sc.D. (1983) in ceramic science, also from MIT.

For more information on Professor Handwerker and her research, visit her website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Handwerker.wshtml.


Edwin Garcia has joined the faculty of Materials Engineering from the Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is interested on applying theoretical and computational materials science to derive quantitative relations between material processing, properties, and microstructure. Particular emphasis is placed on the analytical description of complex processes when possible and on the development of numerical algorithms and codes when microstructural simulation is required.

For more information on Professor García and his research, visit his website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Garcia.wshtml.


John Blendell has joined the staff of Materials Engineering from

For more information on Professor Blendell and his research, visit his website at https://engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Blendell.wshtml.


New Professors 2004

Eric Stach has joined the staff of Materials Engineering from the national Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research interests revolve around the unique ability of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) to observe the internal structure of a material at extraordinarily high spatial resolutions (<2Å) and moderate time resolution (<50 ms). His most recent research - published in Science in July 2004 - has shown that as grain sizes in metals shrink to the nanoscale, grain boundary sliding can become a prominent deformation mode.

For more information on Professor Stach and his research, visit his website at www.engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Stach.wshtml.


R.Byron Pipes joined Purdue Fall of 2004 as the John L. Bray Distinguished Professor of Engineering. He will have faculty appointments in Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Pipes is a distinguished researcher, currently working on the application of nanotechnology to engineering disciplines including aerospace, composite materials and polymer science and engineering. He has active programs in the study of the advanced manufacturing science for composite materials.

For more information on Professor Pipes and his research, visit his website at www.engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/Pipes.wshtml.


Jeff Youngblood has joined the School of Materials Engineering faculty at Purdue University. Jeff comes from Cornell University, where he served as Postdoctoral Associate. Jeff received his B.S. in Chemistry and Physics (1996) from Louisiana State University, followed by a Ph.D. (2001) in Polymers Science and Entgineering. Our School is excited to have Jeff join our faculty and look for big things in teaching and research with Jeff.

For more information on Professor Youngblood and his research, visit his website at www.engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Fac_Staff/Faculty/youngblood.wshtml.


Tim Sands has become the Turner Professor of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. Tim comes from the University of California at Berkeley, where he served as a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Sands received his B.S. in engineering physics (1980) from Berkeley, followed by an M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1984) in materials science. Our School is excited to have Tim join our faculty.

For more information on Professor Sands and his research, visit his website at www.engineering.purdue.edu/MSE/Turner/.