Materials Science & Engineering

The recently announced Drexel 40 under 40 includes three extremely accomplished young MSE alums: Zikria Saif (BS ’25), Kyle Matthews (PhD ’24) and Steven Spurgeon (PhD ’14). Read all about their amazing achievements in the latest issue of Drexel Magazine https://drexelmagazine.org/story/40-under-40-2026/

Great masks, great materials, great vibes 🎭✨ The Drexel Material Advantage chapter’s Materials Masquerade Ball brought the creativity and style, with masks designed to represent their favorite materials. Congrats to Best Mask winner Hans Geiser, for a victorious wood design 🌳👏

We had a fantastic showcase celebrating materials related undergraduate research, bringing together students from Drexel MSE, Chemistry, and Biomed — along with students conducting research with Drexel Materials alum Amanda Huon, now a professor of physics at Saint Joseph’s University.
🏆 Congratulations to our poster competition winners:
🥇 Hans Geiser (Materials)
🥈 Abigail Meek (Chemistry) & Elizabeth Hartnett (Chemistry)
🥉 Ria Goal (Biomed)
Amazing work by all of these students — the future of materials research is bright! 🙌🔬✨

Cheerio! Earlier this week our student group Material Advantage hosted their annual authentic British afternoon tea with Professor Emeritus Rick Knight, complete with scones and jam, cucumber sandwiches and digestive biscuits. Since we’ve come back from the pandemic, this event has become a favorite late winter gathering and a sort of celebration of the approaching spring. (Or maybe a way of conjuring it up. Let’s hope!)

More big congratulations are in order for members of our outstanding Drexel Materials community! We’re so proud to celebrate the many Drexel Materials faculty and students who are recipients of this year’s College of Engineering awards:

Asst. Prof. Yong-Jie Hu – Outstanding Early-Career Research Award
Prof. Steve May – Outstanding Career Research Award
Prof. Chris Weyant – Outstanding Service Award
Alessandra Cabrera – Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Christopher Tandoc – Outstanding PhD Student Award
Xinle (Leo) Zhang – Outstanding PhD Student Award

Congratulations to all — your leadership, scholarship, and service continue to advance the field and inspire those around you.