News

  • MSE Senior Award for Scholarly Achievement Apr. 2026

    Our undergraduate researcher Eli has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the MSE Senior Award for Scholarly Achievement, in recognition of his outstanding academic performance and contributions to the research on oxide membranes. Congratulations to Eli on this well-deserved honor! (NC State News)

  • Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award Jan. 2026

    Ruijuan was selected to receive a Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award in the inaugural year of Scialog: Quantum Matter and Information for her team project, Terahertz Quantum Interconnects via Reconfigurable Ferron Networks, awarded by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. (RCSA News)

  • Goodnight Early Career Innovators Award Dec. 2025

    Ruijuan was selected to receive the NC State 2025-26 Goodnight Early Career Innovators Award! (NC State News)

  • Reza published his first lead-author paper Aug. 2025

    Our work, “Strain-induced lead-free morphotropic phase boundary“, led by Reza, has now been published in Nature Communications! (NC State News, Arkansas News, EurekAlert!, Technology Networks)

  • Welcome Yiming Aug. 2025

    Yiming Ding has joined us as a graduate researcher. Yiming completed her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and her M.S. in Materials Science at Cornell University. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Yiming!

  • Scialog QMI Fellow June 2025

    Ruijuan was selected as a Scialog Quantum Matter and Information (QMI) Fellow by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. (NC State News)

  • Konnor published his first lead-author paper May 2025

    Our work, “Low-loss, far-infrared surface phonon polaritons in suspended SrTiO3 nanomembranes”, led by Konnor, has now been published in Advanced Functional Materials! (NC State News, EurekAlert!, Phys.org)

  • Most-viewed paper in Advanced Materials‍ ‍Apr. 2025

    Our work “Size-induced ferroelectricity in antiferroelectric oxide membranes“ has ranked within the top 10% of most-viewed papers published by Advanced Materials in 2023. (Certificate)

  • NSF CAREER Award Apr. 2025

    Ruijuan was selected to receive a NSF CAREER Award. We thank the NSF for supporting our research on studying strain-induced effects in lead-free ferroelectric oxide heterostructures and membranes. (NC State News)

  • Welcome Anthony Mar. 2025

    Anthony Lavelle has joined us as a graduate researcher. Anthony completed his B.S. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is currently pursuing his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Anthony!

  • Welcome Kabelo and Doug Jan. 2025

    Kabelo Lebogang has joined us as a graduate researcher. Kabelo completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Botswana International University of Science and Technology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Doug Barefoot has joined us as an undergraduate researcher. Doug is currently pursuing his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Kabelo and Doug!

  • ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award Nov. 2024

    Ruijuan was selected to receive a Doctoral New Investigator (DNI) Award from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF). We thank the ACS PRF for supporting our research on the atomic-scale design of novel photocatalysts.

  • Oxide Electronics Prize Oct. 2024

    Ruijuan was awarded the prestigious Oxide Electronics Prize for Excellence in Research at the 30th International Workshop on Oxide Electronics in Darmstadt, Germany. She was recognized “for her outstanding progress in the creation and control of dielectric and ferroelectric properties in complex oxide thin films and freestanding membranes.”

  • New publication on surface phonon polaritons June 2024

    Our work “Highly confined epsilon-near-zero and surface phonon polaritons in SrTiO3 membranes“ got published in Nature Communications! (NC State News, ALS News, SciTech Daily, AZO Optics, EurekAlert!, Phys.org)

  • Welcome Eli and Kaden May 2024

    Eli Rodrigues and Kaden Figuerres have joined us as undergraduate researchers. Both Eli and Kaden are currently pursuing their B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Eli and Kaden!

  • Farewell Ian and Sharon May 2024

    Congratulations and farewell to Ian and Sharon who will be starting their graduate studies at the Penn State University.

  • Senior Spotlight April 2024

    NC State Senior Spotlight features Ian on the MSE department website! (NC State News)

  • Reza wins the AFM imaging contest Nov. 2023

    Congratulate Reza for winning the first place prize in the AFM imaging contest at the Carolina Science Symposium!

  • Welcome Konnor and Ian Aug. 2023

    Konnor Koons has joined us as a graduate researcher, co-advised by Ruijuan and Prof. Yin Liu. Konnor completed his B.S. in Physics at the Penn State University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Ian Mercer has joined us as an undergraduate researcher. Ian is currently pursuing his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Konnor and Ian!

  • Seed Grant from the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics (CDP) July 2023

    Our group received a seed grant from the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics. We thank the CDP for supporting our research on studying novel lead-free ferroelectric heterostructures and membranes.

  • Faculty Research and Professional Development Award June 2023

    Ruijuan was selected to receive a Faculty Research and Professional Development (FRPD) Award from NC State University.

  • New publication on oxide membranes Feb. 2023

    Our work “Size-induced ferroelectricity in antiferroelectric oxide membranes“ got published in Advanced Materials! (Frontispiece, NC State News, ACerS News, Physics World, Materials Today, Phys. org).  

  • Welcome Reza Jan. 2023

    Reza Ghanbari has joined us as a graduate researcher. Reza completed his B.S. in Materials and Metallurgy Engineering at the Sharif University of Technology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Reza!

  • Welcome Sharon Sept. 2022

    Sharon Yang has joined us as an undergraduate researcher. Sharon is currently pursuing her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University. Welcome, Sharon!