Home | The Institute of Materials Science & Engineering at WashU

About IMSE

IMSE leverages the full potential of interdisciplinary materials research by bringing together researchers from engineering; physics; chemistry; earth, environmental, and planetary sciences; and the medical school.
IMSE research

IMSE researchers develop and apply advanced materials to address challenges in clean energy, medicine and environmental sustainability.
IMSE facilities

IMSE currently has approximately 12,000 net ft²of facility space which includes a nanofabrication facility and a materials characterization facility. It is supported by a dedicated team of professional technical and administrative staff.

Materials Science & Engineering is the interdisciplinary field focused on the development and application of new materials with desirable properties and microstructures. Disciplines in the physical sciences and engineering fields frequently play a central role in developing the fundamental knowledge that is needed for materials studies. The discipline of Materials Science & Engineering integrates this knowledge and uses it to design and develop new materials and to mate these with appropriate technological needs.

IMSE facilities

The majority of the IMSE user facilities are located in the basement of Scott Rudolph Hall (Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences), including a 12,000 net square foot facility opened in Fall 2013, which includes a nanofabrication facility and a materials characterization facility. These facilities are available for use by researchers both inside and outside the university. Please email the relevant point of contact regarding user fees, training and scheduling.

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Graduate program

The IMSE offers an interdisciplinary PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering designed to allow students to easily work across departmental boundaries. Student apply directly through the McKelvey School of Engineering, pursue coursework offered by several of the member departments and conduct their thesis research with the mentorship of interdisciplinary faculty teams. This allows our students to take advantage of the rich breadth of materials science expertise and facilities across the university.

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The Plastics Problem

McKelvey engineers tackle one of the biggest environmental issues of our time.

04.30.2024

Imaging technique shows new details of peptide structures

A new imaging technique developed by engineers at Washington University in St. Louis can give scientists a much closer look at fibril assemblies, stacks of peptides like amyloid beta, most notably associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These results stem from a fruitful collaboration between lead author Matthew Lew, associate professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, and Jai Rudra, associate professor of biomedical engineering, in WashU's McKelvey School of Engineering.

04.25.2024

Smart nanoparticles may be able to deliver drugs to heart after heart attack

With a four-year $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Jianjun Guan and his team plan to enclose a set of proteins designed to curb inflammation and a peptide to prevent fibrosis inside cleverly disguised drug-delivering smart nanoparticles. These nanoparticles would be delivered intravenously into the blood, which would take them directly to the heart.

04.25.2024

Novel material supercharges innovation in electrostatic energy storage

In a study published April 18 in Science, Sang-Hoon Bae, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborators, including Rohan Mishra, associate professor of mechanical engineering & materials science, and Chuan Wang, associate professor of electrical & systems engineering, both at WashU, and Frances Ross, the TDK Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, introduced an approach to control the relaxation time – an internal material property that describes how long it takes for charge to dissipate or decay – of ferroelectric capacitors using 2D materials.

04.18.2024

Flores named ASM Fellow

Katharine M. Flores, the Christopher I. Byrnes Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been elected a Fellow of ASM (American Society for Metals) International for her contributions to the field of materials science and engineering. She will be inducted at the International Materials Applications and Technologies Conference and Exhibition (IMAT) conference in October 2023.

12.23.2023

Chakrabarty to study vertical distribution of aerosol properties

Rajan Chakrabarty, the Harold D. Jolley Career Development Associate Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of 13 scientists who recently received funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science (FICUS) program.

10.27.2023

Flawed diamonds: Physicists gain quantum insights from imperfect crystals

Diamonds are often prized for their flawless shine, but Chong Zu, assistant professor of physics, sees a deeper value in these natural crystals. As reported in Physical Review Letters — one of the most prestigious journals in the field of physics — Zu and his team have taken a major step forward in a quest to turn diamonds into a quantum simulator.

09.27.2023

Engineering team receives $3.6M to combat plastic waste

Plastics transformed engineering in the past century, but they also transformed the environment in ways that will take millennia to repair. Washington University in St. Louis is leading a new effort to address the grand challenge of developing the next generation of high-performance, sustainably sourced and biodegradable plastics that advance engineering while also protecting the environment.

05.31.2023

Diao named to ‘AACYF Top 30 under 30’ list

Alumnus Yifan Diao was selected by the All-American Chinese Youth Federation for their 2023 “AACYF Top 30 under 30” list

05.26.2023

Katherine Flores
IMSE Director
Christopher I. Byrnes Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

New metallic glass research brings in artificial intelligence
Erik Henriksen
Associate Director of IMSE facilities
Associate Professor of Physics, Department of Physics

Henriksen lands CAREER grant to chase electron effects
Lan Yang
Edwin H. & Florence G. Skinner Professor, Electrical & Systems Engineering

Yang named 2020 AAAS fellow

Faculty spotlight

IMSE brings together more than 50 faculty and student researchers from engineering, the physical and natural sciences and the medical school to discover new materials, understand how they behave and envision innovative applications.