Members

C. Cem Taşan 

POSCO Associate Professor of Metallurgy
B.Sc. M.Sc. METU/Turkey, 2005
Ph.D. Eindhoven University of Technology/Netherlands, 2010
Postdoc, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung/Germany, 2010-2012
Group leader, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung/Germany, 2012-2016

Cem started his academic journey in Ankara, in the beautiful campus of METU, moved to rainy Eindhoven for a Ph.D. degree on micro-mechanics of damage, and to classy Dusseldorf for more fun in alloy design. These days he is training to be a professional chess player, while spending his free time at MIT supervising a bunch of amazing researchers.

C. Naz Ersoz Okuyucu

Science Outreach Volunteer
B.Sc., M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, Hacettepe University/Turkey, 2023

Naz focuses on making materials science engaging, accessible and exciting for young minds. She aims to make the group’s ongoing research activities comprehensible for elementary school students and develop activities that spark their curiosity. When she’s not coming up with new ideas, you might find her dancing tango, taking photos in nature, or rewatching Star Wars for the hundredth time.

Kyung-Shik Kim

Postdoctoral Associate
B.Sc. Korea University/South Korea, 2016
Ph.D. Pohang University of Science and Technology/South Korea, 2021

Kyung-Shik works on defining hydrogen behavior in metals. He enjoys listening to music, reading, and jogging.

Sheng Huang

Postdoctoral Associate
B.Eng. (Mechanical Engineering) Nanyang Technological University/Singapore, 2017
Ph.D. Nanyang Technological University/Singapore, 2022

Sheng has a research background in additive manufacturing (not just metal) and is currently focused on building a system to understand laser-metal interactions. He is also interested in studying the effects of hydrogen on metals. In his free time, he enjoys reading and watching documentaries.

Minseo Koo

Visiting Researcher
Ph. D. in Material Engineering and Quantum Science, Ibaraki University/Japan
Senior researcher, POSCO Technical Research Laboratory/Korea

I’m studying the effect of microstructural differences on the deformation behavior and hydrogen embrittlement. I enjoy golf, video games, and experiencing various cultures and nature.

Julian Rackwitz

Graduate Student
B.Sc., M.Sc. in Engineering Science, Technical University of Berlin/Germany, 2020

Julian works on novel approaches to characterize the damping and fatigue properties of alloys. His goal is to design a high-strength high-damping steel. He centers his day around coffee and loves exploring different cultures.

Mingwei Xu

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Engineering Science, Case Western Reserve University/USA, 2022

Mingwei works on hybrid additive manufacturing. He spends his spare time cooking, jogging, and playing video games. Fun fact: he is left-handed, but he uses his right hand for writing.

Parth Khandelwal

Graduate Student
B.Tech. in Materials Science, IIT Kharagput/India, 2021

Parth is focusing on designing better hydrogen impermeable stainless steel and high entropy alloys. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, meditation, and travel for new experiences.

Abhi Sharda

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023

Abhi is primarily focused on increasing the sustainability of current manufacturing processes and finding new avenues to recycle metals. He is an amateur jeweler/silversmith and loves any DIY project that involves working with his hands (and power tools).

Alex Wang

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia/USA, 2023

Alex is studying thermomechanical fatigue of advanced transistor packaging. He loves hiking, video games, climbing, biking, Formula 1, and parkour.

Berk Soykan

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University/USA, 2023

Berk is studying the effect of alloying elements and strain rate on deformation mechanisms in titanium alloys. He is also studying in-space wear and repair mechanisms for pure metals and alloys. When not coming up with silly rhymes, he spends his free time playing double bass, hiking, and making drawings of trees.

Can Okuyucu

Graduate Student
B.Sc. M.Sc. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, METU/Turkey, 2023
A.A. Philosophy, Anadolu University/Turkey, 2022

Can’s research focuses on electron microscopy-, atom probe tomography-, and synchrotron-based advanced in-situ characterization of metals to reveal the hidden nature of mechanistic mechanisms behind structure-property relationships to develop high-throughput characterization routes for navy hulls, the steel industry, and more. Can likes philosophical and scientific discussions, nature, camping, bushcraft, photography, writing, music and fine arts.

You-Na Lee

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University/South Korea, 2023

You Na is investigating high entropy alloy design for high temperature environments. When she’s not immersed in her scientific pursuits, she travels off on adventures, works out, scribbles drawings, sings, and eagerly picks up new skills!

Minho Yun

Graduate Student
B.Sc. M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University/South Korea, 2023

Minho is currently focusing on revealing origin of high wear resistance for spinodal copper alloys. When not working or studying, he usually plays boardgames, work out, or just take a nap.

Zhao Liang

Graduate Student
B.Sc., M.Sc. in Materials Science & Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology/Israel, 2024

Liang is working on introducing gradient microstructures into titanium alloys through various processing techniques, and studying their mechanics and plasticity at high temperatures. He enjoys jogging, traveling, photography, and making shapes of clay.

Ekin Senvardarli

Graduate Student
B.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University/USA, 2024

Ekin is designing high-performance steels and alloys with tunable mechanical properties. When she’s not in the lab testing these materials, she takes her cat on adventures, goes backpacking and works on projects that combine metallurgy with art.

Sebastian Arevalo

UROP

Sebastian is a 2nd year undergraduate majoring in Materials Science and Physics. His research focuses on the decomposition of carbides and wear mechanisms. He enjoys playing table tennis, coffee, politics, and glassblowing.

Amelia How

UROP

Amelia is a second year undergraduate majoring in materials science. Her research focuses on hydrogen embrittlement of titanium alloys. Outside of the lab, Amelia likes to crochet, eat chocolate, and hang out with her Australian Shepherd.

Advika Namasivayam

UROP

Advika is a first year undergraduate majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. Her work is on programming the robotic arm and laser that is being used in the lab. Outside of this, she enjoys singing, photography, reading, and CAD.

Roxxie Midyett

UROP

Roxxie is a second year studying in the Material Science department with an interest in metallurgy and semiconductive materials. In the lab they’re working on optimizing heat treating practices for naval steel alloys. At home, Roxxie likes to work on DIY projects and watch old scifi with their friends.

Joy Pan

UROP

Joy is a first year undergraduate majoring in mechanical engineering. Her work is centered on the analysis of a novel titanium alloy. Besides psets and research, Joy loves drawing, gaming, sleeping, and reading.

Intia Ibnah

UROP

Intia is a first-year undergraduate majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses on finding ways to better recycle metals. She enjoys creating art in her free time, as well as playing games and reading!

Shaolou Wei 

Sc.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, 2022

Thesis: “Microstructural evolution and phase transformations for advanced complex concentrated alloys”

Moved to: MSE, Max Plank Institute/Germany (post-doc)

Jiyun Kang 

Sc.D. in Material Science and Engineering, 2022

Thesis: “Microscopic Strain Localization and Damage in Multi-Phase Alloys”

Moved to: ME/Stanford (post-doc)

Haoxue Yan 

Sc.D. in Material Science and Engineering, 2022

Thesis: “Beyond Embrittlement: In Situ Explorations of Hydrogen Effects Near Boundaries”

Moved to: MSE/Stanford (post-doc)

Menglei Jiang

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “High-strength transformation-induced plasticity steels with reverted interlath austenite”

Moved to: Questek (materials design engineer)

Gianluca Roscioli

Sc.D. in Material Science and Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “Failure of Martensitic Sharp Edges: A Micro-Mechanical Exploration for Design Guidelines”

Moved to: RazorSharp (CEO)

Jackie Cho

Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “Design of Superelastic Secondary Phase Toughened Alloys”

Tim Fountain

M.S. in Material Science and Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “The Effect of Co on the Response of Fe-Mn Alloys”

Moved to: US Navy

Maria Ronchi

M.S. in Material Science and Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “Hydrogen-Induced Transformations in Metastable High Entropy Alloys”

Moved to: Form Energy, Inc. (R&D scientist)

Benjamin Cameron

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, 2021

Thesis: “Expanding the limits of in-situ mechanical tests using data analytics and continuum mechanics”

Moved to: ME/University of Southampton/UK (lecturer)

Megan Cooper

M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, 2025

Thesis: “Uncovering the link between twin-twin interactions and damage nucleation in an (α+β) Ti alloy”

Moved to: RWTH Aachen Institut für Metallkunde und Materialphysik

Matej Repka

MEng. MIT/Imperial College Joint Program, 2020

Thesis: “Cutting edge research – corrosion effect on shaving blade degradation”

Moved to: Framatome Controls/Slovkia (nuclear instrumentation design engineer)

Rebecca Wang

MEng. MIT/Oxford Joint Program, 2018

Thesis: “Pop-in and op-out behaviour of superelastic TiNi nanoprecipitates”

Moved to:  Jane Street/UK (business development specialist)

Onur Güvenç

Topic: Sustainable metal processing

Michela Geri

Topic:  Chemo-mechanics of solid state batteries and hydrogen embrittlement in alloys

Moved to:  Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science/Duke University (assistant professor)

Prafull Pandey

Topic:  Design new superplastic-nano-phase toughened steels and resettable high entropy alloys

Moved to:  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar (assistant professor)

Felicity Worsnop

Topic: Micromechanics and hydrogen effects in alloys

Moved to: Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Germany (Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship)

Hyunseok Oh 

Topic: Alloy design and short range order effects

Moved to: MSE/University of Wisconsin Madison (assistant professor)

Jinwoo Kim

Topic: Microstructural change and mechanical behavior of materials in hydrogen environment

Moved to: KIST/South Korea (senior research scientist)

Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi

Topic: Hydrogen embrittlement, MD simulations, gradient structures

Moved to: MSE/Carnegie Mellon University (assistant professor)

Atieh Moridi

Topic: Surface engineering, Additive manufacturing, Carbon nanomaterials.

Moved to: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering/Cornell University (assistant professor)

Emeric Plancher

Topic: EBSD, ECCI, DIC, Crystal plasticity, multi-field mapping, in-situ micro-mechanical testing.

Moved to: Constellium C-TEC/France (R&D engineer)

Isao Arai

Visiting Scientist
BSc. Tokyo Institute of Technology/Japan, 2007
MSc. University of Tokyo/Japan, 2009

Daixiu Wei

Visiting Researcher
Assistant professor, Tohoku University/Japan, 2016
PhD. Tohoku University/Japan, 2016 Topic: Cobalt alloys for biomedical applications.

Zhiyuan Liang

Visiting Researcher
Hong Kong University
PhD. The University of Hong Kong/China, 2016
Topic: Deformation mechanisms in advanced high strength steels, small-scale mechanics.

Zhiyong Liu

Visiting Researcher
Associate Professor, USTB/China, 2012
Topic: Corrosion initiation, nano scale corrosion-deformation co-play, EBSD, ECCI, TEM, APT.

Meimei Wang

Visiting Researcher
Max Plank Institute MPIE
PhD. Max-Planck Institut fur Eisenforschung/Germany, 2016
Topic: Metastable steel design, mechanically-induced martensitic transformation, calphad based modelling, EBSD, TEM.

Jiali Zhang

Visiting Researcher
Max Plank Institute MPIE
PhD. Max-Planck Institut fur Eisenforschung/Germany, 2016
Topic: Self-healing alloy design, cracks microstructure interactions, recrystallization, ECCI, EBSD, TEM.

Sigurd Bjerkhaug

Visiting Graduate Student
Imperial College London/UK
MEng. MIT/Imperial College Joint Program, 2023

Casper Mornout

Visiting Graduate Student
Eindhoven University of Technology/Netherlands
B.S. and M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology/Netherlands, 2023

Gaoming Zhu

Visiting Graduate Student
Shanghai Jiao Tong University/China
B.S. and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology/China, 2016

Decheng Kong

Visiting Graduate Student
University of Science and Technology Beijing/China
B.S. and M.S., University of Science and Technology Beijing/China 2017

Ikuho Nakahata

Visiting Graduate Student
Tokyo Institute of Technology/Japan
BE. Tokyo Institute of Technology/Japan 2018

Federico Lucchini

Visiting Graduate Student
Politecnico di Milano/Italy
BSc. Politecnico di Milano/Italy
Topic: SLM multi-material graded samples.

Riccardo Rossi

Politecnico di Milano/Italy
BSc. Politecnico di Milano/Italy
Topic: SLM multi-material graded samples.

Feng He

Visiting Graduate Student
City University of Hong Kong
BSc, MSc, Northwestern Polytechnical University/China, 2016
Topic: High entropy alloys, phase transformation, TEM.

Shao-Shi Rui

Visiting Graduate Student
BSc. University of Science and Technology Beijing/China, 2014
Topic: EBSD misorientation mapping, crystal plasticity characterization, metallic failure analysis, fatigue and creep.

Ke Qu

Visiting Graduate Student
Lanzhou University/China
BSc. Lanzhou University/China, 2013
Topic: Nanomanipulation and nanofabrication, nanowelding, in-situ SEM/TEM.

Tomoki Mizoguchi

Visiting Graduate Student
Kyushu University/Japan
BSc. Kyushu University/Japan, 2016
Topic: Fatigue crack propagation, In-situ SEM, Hydrogen embrittlement, EBSD, FIB.

Stacy-Michelle Reid (Weybrant)

Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at the MIT MRSEC
BSE Arizona State University, Construction, 1999
MEd Northeastern University, Boston, MA 2010
Chemistry & Environmental Science Teacher, Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Boston MA
Topic: Materials testing curriculum for high school students.