Northwestern Engineering

“We’re about to witness the meteoric rise of materials discovery, and this is just the start.”

Traditional materials discovery is slow and inefficient, relying on sequential trial-and-error methods that make it difficult to rapidly identify and optimize materials with targeted properties. Professor Chad Mirkin demonstrated that the use of “megalibrary” platforms to synthesize and screen millions of material candidates in parallel enables rapid discovery and intentional design of materials with specific performance characteristics.

This approach could dramatically accelerate materials innovation while also generating large, high-quality datasets needed to train AI systems for future materials discovery.

https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2026/05/megalibraries-in-pole-position-for-autonomous-discovery-over-self-driving-labs/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-post&utm_campaign=mcc-news-promotion&utm_content=___

Professor Sinan Keten has been awarded the 2026 Zdeněk P. Bažant Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Keten studies how soft materials behave and break, using computational models and machine learning to better understand polymers and biomolecular materials. His work supports the design of more durable materials for applications ranging from infrastructure to therapeutics.

https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2026/05/sinan-keten-wins-2026-zdenek-p-bazant-medal/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-post&utm_campaign=mcc-news-promotion&utm_content=___

Professor Jennifer Fowlie has been named a CIFAR Global Scholar.

Fowlie is one of 15 early-career researchers selected from more than 450 applicants worldwide for the 2026–2028 cohort. The program connects researchers across disciplines and provides support to pursue new ideas and collaborations.

https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2026/05/jennifer-fowlie-named-a-cifar-scholar/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-post&utm_campaign=mcc-news-promotion&utm_content=___

Computers today rely on moving electric charge—but that approach is running into limits in energy use and heat.

Professor James Rondinelli is exploring an alternative: controlling an electron’s spin using an electric field. Their work identifies nitride materials that combine electric and magnetic properties, which could enable devices that switch faster, use less power, and store information more efficiently.

These materials could help shape new kinds of memory and computing technologies.

https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2026/05/electric-control-of-spin-could-enable-a-new-class-of-energy-efficient-electronics/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-post&utm_campaign=mcc-news-promotion&utm_content=___