IAM Executive Committee

Patrick (Pat) Dimario

Patrick (Pat) DiMario is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, a member of IAM Executive Committee, and a leader in the SIF Executive Committee. Dr. DiMario is a National Academies Education Fellow in Life Sciences and recipient of the LSU Tiger Athletic Association Faculty Teaching Award. His research focuses on questions regarding the structure and function of the nucleolus; the eukaryotic organelle that assembles ribosomal subunits and performs several recently discovered functions in small nuclear RNA processing. His current efforts focus on nucleoli in Drosophila which affords a vast array of molecular and genetic tools to dissect nucleolar function.

Barbara (Barb) Dutrow

Barbara (Barb) Dutrow is the Adolphe G. Gueymard Professor of Geology in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, recipient of an LSU Distinguished Faculty Award, and a member of IAM Executive Committee. Her specialties include mineralogy and metamorphic petrology. She is coauthor of the 23rd Manual of Mineral Sciences, the longest selling and most used mineralogy textbook in the world (first published in 1848). She served as the 2007 President of the Mineralogical Society of America. She uses a broad suite of high-resolution mineral chemical data combined with field studies and 4-D heat and mass transport computational studies to understand mineral nucleation and growth and the influence of fluids on mineral behavior. Her past experience involves high-pressure experimental work and use of one of the first ion microprobes for quantitative light element determination in minerals.

John Flake

John Flake is the Jay Affolter Endowed Professor in the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, the Director of Graduate Studies in Chemical Engineering, member of IAM Executive Committee, head of the IAM Education Committee, and founder of Electrochemical Materials. His research focuses on electrochemical processes and materials. His group is currently working on energy storage technology including electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction and materials for lithium batteries.

Rongying Jin

Rongying Jin is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, a fellow of APS, a LSU Mid-Career Rainmaker, and a member of IAM Executive Committee. Her research focuses on the development of novel complex materials with intriguing physical properties (unconventional superconductivity, quantum critical phenomena, heavy – Fermion behavior, thermoelectricity etc.). Thus, her research effort is devoted to (1) “science-driven” synthesis and (2) investigation of basic physical properties (charge, spin and heat transport, magnetization, specific heat, etc.).

Robert (Rob) Lipton

Robert (Rob) Lipton is the S.B. Barton Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics, an LSU Rainmaker, recipient of the LSU Distinguished Faculty Award, and member of IAM Executive Committee. His research focuses on the effect of microstructure and length scale as it effects physical processes: current work focuses on engineering meta-materials for design of high power microwave amplifiers, strength of high performance composites, and multi-scale modeling of dynamic fracture. The aim is to develop mathematical and computational tools for the understanding of physical processes that occur across several length scales.

Robin McCarley

Robin McCarley is the Barbara Womack LSU Alumni Professor in the Department of Chemistry, a LSU Distinguished Research Master, a member of the IAM Executive Committee, and Co-Chair of the SIF Executive Committee. His research focuses on the chemistry of supramolecular systems in solution and on surfaces. Dr. McCarley desires to be able to control the properties of materials by manipulating the structure of the materials on the molecular scale.

Wen Jin Meng

Wen Jin Meng is the Gerald Cire & Lena Grand Williams Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, the Deputy Director of IAM, Co-Chair of the SIF Executive Committee, and the founder of Enervana Technologies LLC. He was elected to National Academy of Inventors in 2014. His research spans topics concerning solid-state phase transformations, hetero-epitaxial growth of ceramic and metal thin films, plasma-assisted vapor phase deposition processes, nanostructured ceramic coatings, and micro/nano scale fabrication and assembly, especially in relation to metal-based micro/nano structures and devices.

Dimitris Nikitopoulos

Dimitris Nikitopoulos is the Richard J. & Katherine J. Juneau Distinguished Professor, Alexis and Marguerite Voorhies Endowed Professor, and Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a member of the IAM Executive Committee. Dr. Nikitopoulos was a recipient of the Dow Chemical Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2009, he received the Louisiana Engineering Foundation Professionalism (Teaching) Award from the Louisiana Engineering Society. His research focuses on Experimental and Numerical Fluid Dynamics and Transport, including Multiphase Flows and Multiscale Phenomena.

Ward Plummer

Ward Plummer is a professor of Physics and Astronomy, the special advisor to the vice president for Research and Economic Development, the Director of IAM, and a member of NAS. He has experience in managing major interdisciplinary materials research laboratories; the Laboratory for Research in the Structure of Matter at PENN, the Tennessee Advanced Materials laboratory at UTK, and the Joint Institute for Advance Materials at UTK/ORNL. His research is focused on the manifestations of broken symmetry on the structure/property relationship at surfaces and interfaces. Recently, he has studied the emergent behavior at surface and interfaces of complex transition-metal compounds.

Mileva Radonjic

Mileva Radonjic is an associate professor in Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering and a member of the IAM Executive Committee. Her research focuses on carbon storage and capture, global warming mitigation as well as Oil-well cement and well bore stability including geomechanics. Dr. Radonjic and SEER (Sustainable Energy and Environmental Research) Lab Team are focused on prevention of leaky wellbores, through development of a more effective hydraulic barrier materials.

William (Bill) Shelton

William (Bill) Shelton is a professor in the Cain Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the IAM Executive Committee where he is responsible for computational and data management activities. He is the recipient of three IEEE Gordon Bell Awards, Computerworld Smithsonian Award and the Blue Obelisk award for open data and data standards. The main body of his work is in the general area of disorder systems, alloy theory and surface science where he has worked on incorporating magnetic and chemical disorder including point defects, such as vacancies and anti-sites in both materials and chemistry.