In the course of just over a month this summer, two Florida Tech faculty members in the same department received CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation. These prestigious, competitive grants recognize early-career professors who show potential to make significant academic contributions in their fields.
Assistant professors Soheil Saedi and Xiang He in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering each received five-year grants worth over $650,000 to fund their research projects and support the education of the graduate and undergraduate students they work with.
Department head Troy Nguyen described the two awards in quick succession as a “transformative achievement” for the department.
“Bringing in more than $1 million in federal funding demonstrates the national excellence of our faculty while strengthening our research infrastructure and graduate programs,” he said, noting the awards would support Ph.D. positions over the next five years and expand the research capacity of the department’s research programs.
On Aug. 6, Saedi was awarded a $675,531 grant for his project, “CAREER: Empirical Design and Precipitation Hardening Pathways in High-Temperature High-Entropy Shape Memory Alloys.” Saedi is studying high-entropy shape memory alloys, which are made up of five or more unique metals and demonstrate shape-memory properties by returning to their original shape after being deformed.
“The CAREER Award is very meaningful for any researcher,” Saedi said. “It represents the National Science Foundation’s belief in that specific science direction in the field.”
Shortly before, on July 1, He earned a $656,523 grant for his project, “CAREER: Understand and Regulate Surface Segregation of High-Entropy Oxides for Enhanced Catalysis.” He is also studying high-entropy material — oxides, not alloys like Saedi — which are ceramic materials containing five or more unique positively charged metal ions that chemically bond with negatively charged oxygen ions.
“It’s a very big award, and I’m grateful to receive recognition of what we’ve been doing at Florida Tech,” He said. “All the support from the college and university is important for receiving this award.”
More Details on Research
Saedi is studying the combination of high-entropy alloys and shape memory materials. Current shape memory alloys have limitations in strength, fatigue and high-temperature operation, and Saedi wants to find out if those qualities can be improved using high-entropy alloy design principles.
This research will also use machine learning technology to analyze data from previous studies on the composition and properties of high-entropy shape memory alloys to help predict the properties of new compositions.
Earning an NSF CAREER Award requires a focus on education, which is central to Saedi’s research. He will have Ph.D. students analyzing data from the machine learning algorithms and conducting physical experiments in the lab. Saedi said the grant will also provide opportunities for undergraduate students to help in the lab, gaining firsthand experience with the subject.
“I have educational goals of mentoring and training new people and new researchers to continue this work,” Saedi said.
Much like Saedi, He’s project also focuses in part on education.
“We have funding to provide a lot of opportunities for students,” He said. Most of the students working on this research are graduate students, but there will also be opportunities for undergraduates to work in the lab.
He’s research will focus on the surface structure of high-entropy oxides, since it can differ significantly from the internal structure. He aims to understand how different surface structures affect the material’s heat-resistant properties and ability to facilitate chemical reactions.
Since the surface of the material is what the chemicals interact with during a reaction, He wants to understand how ion groupings on the surface of the oxide affect the reaction, and what can be changed to promote faster reactions.
He’s findings could impact multiple industries: High-entropy oxides are useful as catalysts for electrochemical energy systems and as heat-resistant coatings in jet engines and gas turbines.
“The outcome from this project will give us a better understanding of the atomic structures and why the materials work in different engineering systems,” He said.
These mark the second and third CAREER Awards won by Florida Tech faculty this year, all in the College of Engineering and Science. In April, assistant professor Abdullah Aydeger was awarded a CAREER grant for his project, “CAREER: Post-Quantum Security and Identity Foundations for Adaptive 6G Infrastructure.”
