Prof. Daniel S. Gianola

Daniel S. Gianola

Professor, Materials Department

University of California Santa Barbara

“High-Throughput Characterization of Materials for Extreme Environments: the Challenge of Microstructure Sensitivity”

Abstract: The quest for novel materials used in technologies demanding extreme performance has been accelerated by advances in computational materials screening, additive manufacturing routes, and characterization probes. The notion of fully autonomous materials discovery platforms capable of synthesis, characterization, and independent decision making aided by AI, has rapidly transitioned from concept to reality. Despite tremendous progress, the pace of adoption of new materials has still not met the promise of global initiatives in materials discovery. This challenge is particularly acute for structural materials with thermomechanical and environmental demands whose performance depends on microstructure as well as material composition. In this talk, we review advances in high-throughput materials characterization that show promise for acceleration of the materials development cycle with a focus on structural materials that demand robustness at ultra-high temperatures and under dynamic loading conditions. We identify a critical need to develop rapid testing and characterization strategies that faithfully reproduce design-relevant properties and circumvent the time and expense of conventional high fidelity testing. Conceptualizing fully integrated platforms addressing the speed-fidelity tradeoff promises the acquisition of a design-relevant suite of properties for new materials.

BIO: Daniel S. Gianola is a Professor of Materials at the University of California Santa Barbara and can be reached at: gianola@ucsb.edu. Dr. Gianola joined the Materials Department at UCSB in early 2016 after holding the positions of Associate Professor and Skirkanich Assistant Professor, all in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his PhD degree from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, Gianola was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Dr. Gianola is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER, Department of Energy Early Career, and TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow awards. His research group at UCSB specializes in research dealing with deformation at the micro- and nanoscale, particularly using in situ mechanical testing techniques.