The jumble of chemical elements was tamed when the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev discovered how to group them into families with common properties.
Nanoparticles, which can be fashioned into an infinite variety of building blocks, need their own form of organization. Sharon Glotzer, newly named the John Werner Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering, is helping to define it.
Distinguished University Professorships are the highest professorial title granted at U-M. Glotzer will present her Distinguished University Professor lecture at 4 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Alumni Center. A reception will follow her talk.
“Civilizations are defined by the materials available to them. We’re entering a new era of materials on demand, whereby we will create — on the spot — materials with precisely the properties we need, when we need them,” Glotzer said.
“Materials of the future will have high information content, be programmable and be responsive to stimuli, as biological matter is.”
Glotzer, a recently inducted member of the National Academy of Sciences, invented the idea of “patchy particles,” a conceptual approach to designing nanoparticles. Different surfaces of the particles have different properties, performing roles that result in a certain behavior. Her group has explored how particle shapes can cause them to organize into different types of materials, from glasses to crystals.
Glotzer’s lecture will map out her vision for the future of materials and how it can be achieved with the aid of powerful software.
“Computers will play a critical role in developing future materials by designing — from a nearly infinite number of possibilities — the best building blocks for the job,” Glotzer said.
Her group is known for computer simulations of self-assembly processes that rely solely on particle shapes. As these processes are driven by thermodynamic principles, it is particularly fitting that Glotzer’s new title honors John Werner Cahn, a U-M alumnus and leading authority on thermodynamics as recognized by, among other high honors, the National Medal of Science. Cahn will be present at the lecture.
In addition to her excellence as a researcher, Glotzer is recognized as a gifted teacher who started several popular courses and, since 2001, has mentored 70 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers.
Glotzer also is the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering and a professor of materials science and engineering, macromolecular science and engineering, and physics.
