Mike Spencer

Professor Department of Electrical Engineering

Morgan State University

LINK TO TALK: Growth and Characterization of Single Crystal Boron Carbide

Dr. Spencer received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in electrical engineering, all from Cornell University. He has more than 160 publications and 20 patents in the fields of compound semiconductors, graphene, power conversion, microwave devices and solar cell technology. His list of awards and honors includes, among others, the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation; the Allen Berman Research Publication Award from the Naval Research Laboratory; the Quality of Education for Minorities (QEM) Giants of Science Award; and an appointment as a Sigma Xi lecturer in the summer of 2014. Dr. Spencer recently served on the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Assessment of Solid State Lighting.

Janice Musfeldt

Professor Department of Chemistry

University of Tennessee 

LINK TO TALK: High Temperature Magnetism and Charge Ordering and Multiferroic (LuFeO₃)_m/(LuFe₂O₄)₁ (m=3, 7, 9)

Janice Musfeldt’s research area is experimental materials chemistry and physics. In her program, she employs a variety of spectroscopic methods to reveal and control the properties of quantum materials. External stimuli are used to tune these properties in order to explore new physical phenomena and uncover properties of technological relevance. Current research directions include (i) understanding coupling processes in multiferroic oxides, (ii) functionality from enhanced spin-orbit coupling in 4- and 5d-containing materials, (iii) phase diagrams and properties of molecule-based multiferroics, and (iv) unveiling the response of nanoscale materials and defect structures.

Robert Hovden
Assistant Professor Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Michigan

LINK TO TALK: Room-Temperature Stabilization of Commensurate 2D Charge Density Waves in Confined TaS₂ Polytypes

Robert Hovden is an Assistant Professor in Materials Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He completed his Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Cornell University. Utilizing electron microscopy he unveils new understanding of how structure at the atomic and nanoscale determines material properties at the macroscale—spanning a wide class of systems including 2D materials, next-generation energy devices, and biominerals.