Acta Student Awards
The Acta Journals, Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia, Acta Biomaterialia and Materialia, are pleased to announce the Acta Student Awards. Up to sixteen awards of $2,000, four for each of the four journals, will be awarded annually. This award is limited to candidates whose work was reported in one of the Acta Journals as a full-length paper, and who were bona fide graduate students at the time the work was performed (review articles are not eligible).
For more details: https://www.materialstoday.com/acta-student-awards-2018/
Acta Student Awards Award Recipients
Françoise S.L. Bobbert
“Additively manufactured metallic porous biomaterials based on minimal surfaces: A unique combination of topological, mechanical, and mass transport properties,” Acta Biomaterialia 53 (2017) 572-584
Silvia Budday
“Mechanical characterization of human brain tissue,” Acta Biomaterialia 48 (2017) 319-340
Tamás Csanádi
“Slip activation controlled nanohardness anisotropy of ZrB2 ceramic grains,” Acta Materialia 140 (2017) 452-464
Locke Davenport-Huyer
“Moldable elastomeric polyester-carbon nanotube scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering,” Acta Biomaterialia 52 (2017) 81-91
Yun Deng
“In-situ micro-cantilever bending test in environmental scanning electron microscope: Real time observation of hydrogen enhanced cracking,” Scripta Materialia 127 (2017) 19-23
Nima Haghdadi
“A novel high-strain-rate ferrite dynamic softening mechanism facilitated by the interphase in the austenite/ferrite microstructure,” Acta Materialia 126 (2017) 44-57
Philipp Kürnsteiner
“Massive nanoprecipitation in an Fe-19Ni-xAl maraging steel triggered by the intrinsic heat treatment during laser metal deposition,” Acta Materialia 129 (2017) 52-60
Jiao-Jiao Li
“Nanosized sustained-release drug depots fabricated using modified tri-axial electrospinning,” Acta Biomaterialia 53 (2017) 233-241
Konstantin Molodov
“Profuse slip transmission across twin boundaries in magnesium,” Acta Materialia 124 (2017) 397-409
James Andorko
“Intrinsic immunogenicity of rapidly-degradable polymers evolves during degradation,” Acta Biomaterialia 32 (2016), 24-34.
Yiqiang Chen
“An investigation of diffusion-mediated cyclic coarsening and reversal coarsening in an advanced Ni-based superalloy,” Acta Materialia 110 (2016), 295-305.
Sébastien Dézécot
“In situ 3D characterization of high temperature fatigue damage mechanisms in a cast aluminum alloy using synchrotron X-ray tomography,” Scripta Materialia 113 (2016), 254-258.
Mohsen Esmaily
New insights into the corrosion of magnesium alloys - the role of aluminum,” Scripta Materialia 115 (2016), 91–95.
Anirudh Raju Natarajan
“On the early stages of precipitation in dilute Mg–Nd alloys,” Acta Materialia 108 (2016), 367-379.
Emilio Martínez Pañeda
“Strain gradient plasticity-based modeling of hydrogen environment assisted cracking,” Acta Materialia 117 (2016), 321-332.
Ali Navaei
“Gold nanorod-incorporated gelatin-based conductive hydrogels for engineering cardiac tissue constructs,” Acta Biomaterialia 41 (2016), 133-146.
Abbey Thorpe
“Thermally triggered injectable hydrogel, which induces mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to nucleus pulposus cells: Potential for regeneration of the intervertebral disc,” Acta Biomaterialia 36 (2016) 99-111.
Mousa Younesi
“Heparinized collagen sutures for sustained delivery of PDGF-BB: Delivery profile and effects on tendon-derived cells In-Vitro,” Acta Biomaterialia 41 (2016) 100-109.
Shiteng Zhao
“Amorphization and Nanocrystallization of Silicon under Shock Compression,” Acta Materialia 103 (2016), 519-533.
Aditya Chauhan
“Multicaloric effect in Pb(Mn1/3Nb2/3)O3-32PbTiO3 single crystals,” Acta Materialia 89 (2015), 384-395 and “Multicaloric effect in Pb(Mn1/3Nb2/3)O3-32PbTiO3 single crystals: Modes of measurement,” Acta Materialia, 97 (2015), 17-28.
Myra Noemi Chavez
“Photosynthetic biomaterials: A pathway towards autotrophic tissue engineering,” Acta Biomaterialia, 15 (2015), 39-47.
Wen Chen
“Does the fracture toughness of bulk metallic glasses scatter?” Scripta Materialia, 107 (2015), 1-4.
Oleksii Yu Liashenko
“Differences in the interfacial reaction between Cu substrate and metastable supercooled liquid Sn-Cu solder or solid Sn-Cu solder at 222°C: Experimental results versus theoretical model calculations,” Acta Materialia, 99 (2015), 106-118.
Christian Martin Koller
“Corundum-type Fe-doped cathodic arc evaporated Al-Cr-O coatings,” Scripta Materialia, 97 (2015), 49-52.
Martin Christoph Lentz
“In situ X-ray diffraction and crystal plasticity modeling of the deformation behavior of extruded Mg–Li–(Al) alloys: An uncommon tension–compression asymmetry,” Acta Materialia, 86 (2015), 254–268.
Xiaochao Liu
“Characterization of plastic deformation and material flow in ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding,” Scripta Materialia, 102 (2015), 95–98.
Christopher J. Marvel
“The critical influence of carbon on the thermal stability of nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys,” Scripta Materialia, 96 (2015), 45-48.
Sheng Ouyang
“Twin relationships between nanotwins inside A–C type variant pair in Ni–Mn–Ga alloy,” Acta Materialia, 84 (2015), 484-496.
Shang Song
“The synergistic effect of micro-topography and biochemical culture environment to promote angiogenesis and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells,” Acta Biomaterialia, 18 (2015), 100-111.
Leping Yan
“Bilayered silk/silk-nanoCaP scaffolds for osteochondral tissue engineering: In vitro and in vivo assessment of biological performance,” Acta Biomaterialia, 12 (2015) 227-241.
Supansa Yodmuang
“Silk microfiber-reinforced silk hydrogel composites for functional cartilage tissue repair,” Acta Biomaterialia, 11 (2015) 27-36.
Riccardo Casati
Dr. Riccardo Casati, Politecnico di Milano & CNR-IENI Lecco, ITALY. Advisor, Prof.
Maurizio Vedani. “Thermal cycling of stress-induced martensite for high-performance
shape memory effect,” Scripta Materialia 80 (2014), 13-16.
In-Chul Choi
Dr. In-Chul Choi, Hanyang University, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA (now at Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany). Advisor: Prof. Jae-il Jang. “Evolution of
plasticity, strain-rate sensitivity and the underlying deformation mechanism in Zn–22%
Al during high-pressure torsion,” Scripta Materialia 75 (2014), 102-105.
Jun Ding
Dr. Jun Ding, Johns Hopkins University, USA (now at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory). Advisor: Prof. Evan Ma. “Full icosahedra dominate local order in
Cu64Zr34 metallic glass and supercooled liquid,” Acta Materialia 69 (2014), 343-354.
Denver Faulk
Mr. Denver Faulk, University of Pittsburgh, USA. Advisor: Prof. Stephen F. Badylak.
“The effect of detergents on the basement membrane complex of a biologic scaffold
material,” Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014), 183-93.
Heemin Kang
Mr. Heemin Kang, University of California, San Diego, USA. Advisor: Prof. Shyni
Varghese. “Mineralized gelatin methacrylate based matrices induce osteogenic
differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells,” Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014),
4961-70.
Philipp Krooß
Mr. Philipp Krooß, University of Paderborn, GERMANY (now at Technische Universität
Bergakademie Freiberg). Advisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Jürgen Maier. Mr. Krooß is
receiving dual awards for outstanding work in both Acta Materialia and Scripta
Materialia, an unprecedented event in our student award program. “Cyclic degradation
mechanisms in aged FeNiCoAlTa shape memory single crystals,” Acta Materialia 79
(2014), 126-137 and “Thermal cycling behavior of an aged FeNiCoAlTa single-crystal
shape memory alloy,” Scripta Materialia 81 (2014), 28-31.
Brittany R. Muntifering
Dr. Brittany R. Muntifering, Boise State University, USA (now at Northwestern
University, USA). Advisor: Prof. Peter Müllner. “Intra-variant substructure in Ni–Mn–
Ga martensite: Conjugation boundaries,” Acta Materialia 71 (2014), 255-263.
Kelsey A. Potter-Baker
Dr. Kelsey A. Potter-Baker, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
(now at Cleveland Clinic Foundation). Advisor: Prof. Jeffrey R. Capadona. “Curcumin-
releasing mechanically compliant implants prevent neurodegeneration and blood-brain
barrier instability at the implant-tissue interface.” Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014), 2209-
2222.
Jana Šmilauerová
Ms. Jana Šmilauerová, Charles University in Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC. Advisor:
Prof. M. Janeček. “Ordered array of # particles in $-Ti matrix studied by small-angle Xray
scattering,” Acta Materialia 81 (2014), 71-82.
Spencer E. Szczesny
Dr. Spencer E. Szczesny, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. Advisor: Prof.
Dawn M. Elliott. “Interfibrillar shear stress is the loading mechanism of collagen
fibrils in tendon,” Acta Biomaterialia 10 (2014), 2582-2590.
Dalong Zhang
Mr. Dalong Zhang, University of California, Davis, USA. Advisor: Prof. Enrique
Lavernia. “Prism stacking faults observed contiguous to a {10-12} twin in a Mg–Y
alloy,” Scripta Materialia 76 (2014), 61-64.
Zafir Alam
Dr. Zafir Alam, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, INDIA (now at Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA). Advisor, Prof. Vikram Jayaram. “Tensile
behavior of a free-standing Pt-aluminide (PtAl) bond coat,” Acta Materialia 61, (2013),
1093-1105
Dor Amram
Mr. Dor Amram, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, ISRAEL. Advisor, Prof.
Eugen Rabkin. “Phase transformations in Au(Fe) nano- and microparticles obtained by
solid state dewetting of thin Au-Fe bilayer films”, Acta Materialia 61, (2013), 5130-
5143.
Brennan Bailey
Dr. Brennan Bailey – Texas A&M University, USA (now at École Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland). Advisor, Prof. Melissa Grunlan. “Tissue
engineering scaffolds fabricated with continuous property gradients for rapidly screening
cell-material interactions.” Acta Biomater 2013;9:8254–8261.
André Butscher
Dr. André Butscher – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, SWITZERLAND (now at
RMS Foundation, Switzerland). Advisor, Prof. Ralph Müller. “New depowderingfriendly
designs for three-dimensional printing of calcium phosphate bone substitutes.”
Acta Biomater 2013;9:9149-58.
Sabba Dharani
Ms. Sabba Dharani, Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORE. Advisor, Prof.
Subodh Mhaisalkar. “High-surface-area, interconnected, nanofibrillar TiO2 structures as
photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells”, Scripta Materialia, 68, (2013), 487-49.
Tingping Hou
Dr. Tingping Hou, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, CHINA (now at
University of Cambridge, U.K.). Advisor, Prof. Kaiming Wu. “Alloy carbide
precipitation in the tempered 2.25Cr-Mo steel under high magnetic field,” Acta
Materialia, 61, (2013), 2016-2024.
Michael M. Porter
Dr. Michael M. Porter, University of California-San Diego, USA (now at Clemson
University, USA). Advisor, Prof. Joanna McKittrick. “Highly deformable bones: unusual
deformation mechanisms of seahorse armor.” Acta Biomater 2013;9:6763-6770.
Agung Purnama
Mr. Agung Purnama, Laval University, CANADA. Advisor, Prof. Diego Mantovani.
“Gene expression profile of 3T3 fibroblasts exposed to a biodegradable iron alloy for
stents.” Acta Biomater 2013;9:8746-8753.
Hillary Smith
Ms. Hillary Smith, California Institute of Technology, USA. Advisor, Prof. Brent Fultz.
“Changes in vibrational entropy during the early stages of chemical unmixing in fcc Cu6%Fe,”
Acta Materialia, 61 (2013), 7466-7472.
Yang Tong
Mr. Yang Tong, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. Advisor, Prof. Wojciech
Dmowski. “Recovering compressive plasticity of bulk metallic glasses by hightemperature
creep”, Scripta Materialia, 69 (2013), 570–573.
Mary Beth Browning
Ms. Mary Beth Browning, Texas A&M University, USA. Advisor, Dr. Elizabeth
Cosgriff-Hernández. “Multilayer vascular grafts based on collagen-mimetic proteins,”
Acta Biomaterialia, 8 (2012), 1010-1021.
Jae Hoon Jang
Dr. Jae Hoon Jang, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH),
KOREA. Advisor, Prof. Dong-Woo Suh. “Stability of (Ti,M)C (M=Nb, V, Mo and W)
carbide in steels using first-principles calculations,” Acta Materialia, 60 (2012), 208-217.
Roman Korobko
Mr. Roman Korobko, Weizmann Institute of Science, ISRAEL. Advisor, Prof. Igor
Lubomirsky. “Influence of Gd content on the room temperature mechanical properties of
Gd-doped ceria,” Scripta Materialia, 66 (2012), 155-158.
Scott Skirlo
Mr. Scott Skirlo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Advisor, Prof. Michael J.
Demkowicz. “The role of thermal spike compactness in radiation-induced disordering
and Frenkel pair production in Ni3Al,” Scripta Materialia, 67 (2012) 724-727.
Fabian Meder
Mr. Fabian Meder, University of Bremen, GERMANY. Advisor, Prof. Kurosch Rezwan.
“Protein adsorption on colloidal alumina particles functionalized with amino, carboxyl,
sulfonate and phosphate groups,” Acta Biomaterialia, 8 (2012), 1221-1229.
Melanie Timpel
Dr. Melanie Timpel, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien and Energie,
GERMANY. Advisor, Dr. Nelia Wanderka. “The role of strontium in modifying
aluminium–silicon alloys,” Acta Materialia, 60 (2012), 3920-3928.
Akhilesh K. Gaharwar
Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Advisor, Prof.
Gudrun Schmidt (at Purdue University). “Assessment of Using Laponite Cross-linked
Poly(ethylene oxide) for Controlled Cell Adhesion and Mineralization,” Acta
Biomaterialia 7 (2011), 568-577, and “Transparent, Elastomeric and Tough BioNanocomposites
from Poly(ethylene glycol) and Silicate Nanoparticles,” Acta
Biomaterialia 7 (2011), 4139-4148
Chandan Mondal
Mr. Chandan Mondal, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, INDIA. Advisor, Prof. K.
Chattopadhyay. “Formation of a single, rotated-Brass {110}<556> texture by hot crossrolling
of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy,” Scripta Materialia 64 (2011), 446-449
Stefan Pogatscher
Mr. Stefan Pogatscher, University of Leoben, AUSTRIA. Advisor, Prof. Dr. Helmut
Antrekowitsch. “Mechanisms controlling the artificial aging of Al-Mg-Si alloys,” Acta
Materialia 59 (2011), 3352-3363
Yong Sun
Mr. Yong Sun, University of South Carolina, USA. Advisor, Prof. Xiaodong (Chris) Li.
“Evaluation of local strain evolution from metallic whisker formation”, Scripta
Materialia, 65 (2011), 388-391
Hsin-jay Wu
Ms. Hsin-jay Wu, National Tsing Hua University, TAIWAN. Advisor, Prof. Sinn-wen
Chen. “Phase equilibria of Ag-Sb-Te thermoelectric materials,” Acta Materialia, 59
(2011), 6463-6472
Adam Young
Mr. Adam Young, University of California, San Diego, USA. Advisor, Prof. Karen L.
Christman. “Injectable hydrogel scaffold from decellularized human lipoaspirate,” Acta
Biomaterialia 7 (2011) 1040-1049
Markus Chmielus
Dr. Markus Chmielus, Technical University of Berlin, GERMANY. “Effects of surface
roughness and training on the twinning stress of Ni–Mn–Ga single crystals,” Acta
Materialia 58 (2010), 3952-3962
Nan Li
Dr. Nan Li, Texas A&M University, USA. “In situ TEM observations of room
temperature dislocation climb at interfaces in nanolayered Al/Nb composites,” Scripta
Materialia 63 (2010), 363-366
Sreekanth Purushotham
Dr. Sreekanth Purushotham, Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORE.
“Thermoresponsive magnetic composite nanomaterials for cancer therapy”, Acta
Biomaterialia, 6 (2010), 502-510
M.J.N.V. Prasad
Dr. M.J.N.V. Prasad, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, INDIA. “Extraordinary high
strain rate superplasticity in electrodeposited nano-nickel and alloys,” Scripta Materialia
63 (2010), 136-139
Matthew J. Webber
Mr. Matthew J. Webber, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
“Development of bioactive peptide amphiphiles for therapeutic cell delivery,” Acta
Biomaterialia, 6 (2010), 3-11
Joseph A. Yasi
Mr. Joseph A. Yasi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. “First-principles
data for solid-solution strengthening of magnesium: From geometry and chemistry to
properties,” Acta Materialia 58 (2010) 5704–5713
Subhadip Bodhak
Mr. Subhadip Bodhak, Washington State University, USA. “Role of surface charge and
wettability on early stage mineralization and bone cell-materials interactions of polarized
hydroxyapatite”. Acta Biomaterialia 5 (2009) 2178–2188.
Chuang Deng
Dr. Chuang Deng, The University of Vermont, USA. “Fundamental differences in the plasticity
of periodically twinned nanowires in Au, Ag, Al, Cu, Pb, and Ni”. Acta Materialia 57 (2009)
6090–6101.
Shalu Suri
Dr. Shalu Suri, The University of Texas at Austin, USA. “Photopatterned collagen-hyaluronic
acid interpenetrating polymer network hydrogels”. Acta Biomaterialia 5 (2009) 2385–2397.
Zhijun Lin
Dr. Zhijun Lin, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science at Institute of Metal
Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CHINA. “Amorphization by dislocation accumulation
in shear bands”. Acta Materialia 57 (2009) 2851–2857.
Giovanni Bonny
Dr. Giovanni Bonny, SCK•CEN, Ghent University, Belgium. “On the !-!’ miscibility
gap of Fe-Cr alloys,” Scripta Materialia 59, 2008: 1193-1196.
Daniel Kiener
Dr. Daniel Kiener, Erich Schmid Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Leoben,
Austria. “A further step towards an understanding of size-dependent crystal plasticity: In
situ tension experiments of miniaturized single-crystal copper samples,” Acta Materialia
56, 2008: 580-592.
Huinan Liu
Dr. Huinan Liu, Brown University, USA. “An in vitro evaluation of the Ca/P ratio for the
cytocompatibility of nano-to-micron particulate calcium phosphates for bone
regeneration,” Acta Biomaterialia 4, 2008: 1472-1479.
Jeremy K. Mason
Dr. Jeremy K. Mason, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. “Hyperspherical
harmonics for the representation of crystallographic texture,” Acta Materialia 56, 2008:
6141-6155.
Kakoli Das
Dr. Kakoli Das, Washington State University, USA. “Surface modifications and cellmaterials
interactions with anodized Ti”, Acta Biomaterialia 3, 2007:573-585.
Kaushik Dayal
Dr. Kaushik Dayal, California Institute of Technology, USA. “A real space non-local
phase-field model of ferroelectric domain patterns in complex geometries,” Acta
Materialia 55, 2007: 1907-1917.
Marcus Young
Dr. Marcus Young, Northwestern University, USA. “Load Partitioning during
Compressive Loading of a Mg/MgB2 Composite,” Acta Materialia 55, 2007: 3467-3478.
Ignacio Quintana
Mr. Ignacio Quintana, Cambridge University, UK. “Damage Tolerance of an Elasticbrittle
Diamond-Celled Honeycomb,” Scripta Materialia 56, 2007: 693-696.
Herbert Willmann
Dr. Herbert Willmann, University of Leoben, AUSTRIA. “Single crystal growth of
NaCl-structure A-Cr-N thin films on MgO(001) by magnetron sputtering epitaxy,”
Scripta Materialia 57, 2007: 1089-1092.
Abhijit Brahme
Dr. Abhijit Brahme, Carnegie Mellon University, USA. “3D reconstruction of
microstructure in a commercial purity aluminum”, Scripta Materialia 55, 2006 : 75-80.
Daniel Gianola
Dr. Daniel Gianola, Johns Hopkins University, USA. “Stress-assisted discontinuous
grain growth and its effect on the deformation behaviour of nanocrystalline aluminium
thin films”, Acta Materialia 54, 2006: 2253-2263. Dr. Gianola is also receiving
recognition for his contribution to Scripta Materialia in 2006: “Increased strain rate
sensitivity due to stress-coupled grain growth in nanocrystalline Al”, Scripta Materialia
55, 2006, 649-652.
Norihiko Okamoto
Dr. Norihiko Okamoto, Kyoto University, Japan. “Splitting of guest atom sites and
lattice thermal conductivity of type-I and -III clathrate compounds in the Ba-Ga-Ge
system”, Acta Materialia 54, 2006: 5519-5528; “Crystal structure refinement of a type-I
clathrate compound Ba8Ge43 with an ordered arrangement of germanium vacancies”,
Acta Materialia 54, 2006: 173-178.
Evelyn K.F. Yim
Dr. Evelyn K.F. Yim, Duke University, USA. “Enhanced extracellular matrix production
and differentiation of human embryonic germ cell derivatives in biodegradable poly(-
caprolactone-co-ethyl ethylene phosphate) scaffold”, Acta Biomaterialia 2, 2006: 365-
376.
Samrat Choudhury
Mr. Samrat Choudhury, The Pennsylvania State University, USA. “Phase-field Simulation of
Polarization Switching and Domain Evolution in Ferroelectric Polycrystals,” Acta Materialia 53,
2005: 5313-5321.
Damiano Galvan
Mr. Damiano Galvan, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. “TEM characterization of a
Cr/Ti/TiC graded interlayer for magnetron-sputtered TiC/a-C:H nanocomposites coatings,” Acta
Materialia 53, 2005: 3925-3934, and “Nanostructure and properties of TiC/a-C:H composite
coatings,” Acta Materialia 53, 2005: 4505-4521.
Johannes May
Mr. Johannes May, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. “Strain rate sensitivity of
ultrafine-grained aluminium processed by severe plastic deformation,” Scripta Materialia 53,
2005 : 198-194.
Angela K. Pannier
Ms. Angela K. Pannier, Northwestern University, USA. “Substrate-mediated delivery from selfassembled
monolayers: effect of surface ionization, hydrophilicity, and patterning,” Acta
Biomater. 2005 Sep; 1(5): 511-22.