S. Pamir Alpay

Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Board of Directors Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

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Education

• Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Dept. of Materials and Nuclear Engineering, University of Maryland, 1999 – 2001
• Ph.D., University of Maryland, 1999

Research Focus

• Materials theory, computational materials science, and multiscale materials modeling
• Thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations in ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, and shape memory thin films and multilayer heterostructures
• Phase transformations in multiferroic systems
• Functionally graded smart materials
• Tunable dielectric materials for microwave devices
• Conducting oxides and materials for electrical contacts
• Multilayer polarizable semiconductor heterostructures

Awards

• Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, 2020
• Elected Fellow of ASM International (FASM), 2020
• Elected Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, 2020
• UConn-The American Association of Professors (AAUP) Excellence in Career Research and Creativity Award, 2020
• General Electric Professor in Advanced Manufacturing, 2020
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, University of Connecticut, 2013
• University of Connecticut Materials Science and Engineering Award for Teaching Excellence, 2013
• United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Professor in Engineering Innovation Award, 2008-2010
• Outstanding Junior Faculty Award of the School of Engineering, University of Connecticut, 2004
• National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, 2001

Publications

Modeling Structure-Properties Relations in Compositionally Disordered Relaxor Dielectrics at the Nanoscale
A. Gurung, J. M. Mangeri, A. M. Hagerstrom, N. D. Orloff, S. P. Alpay, and S. Nakhmanson, J. Appl. Phys. 134, 104102 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0160448 

High-Temperature Interactions Between Titanium Alloys and Strontium Zirconate Refractories
R. S. Uwanyuze, B. Yavas, J. Zhang, J. E. Kanyo, L. D. Frame, R. J. Hebert, S. Schafföner, and S. P. Alpay, Journal of Materials Engineering & Performance, (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-023-08597-8

Engineering the Electro-optic effect in HfO2 and ZrO2 through Strain and Polarization Control
F. Delodovici, C. Atkinson, R. Xu, P-E. Janolin, S.P. Alpay, C. Paillard, J. Appl. Phys. 134, 055108 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0158909

Quasicrystal stability in complex aluminum alloys: insights from first principles models on structural motifs in crystalline approximants
B. Yavas, C. J. Hung, S. K. Nayak, M. Aindow, and S. P. Alpay, Scripta Mater. 222, 115046 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2022.115046

Laser Glazing of a Quasicrystal-reinforced Al-Cu-Fe-Cr alloy: Implications for Use in Additive Manufacturing
B. Yavas, C. J. Hung, Cain J Hung, M. Li, R. J. Hebert, S. P. Alpay, and M. Aindow, Scripta Mater. 226, 115249 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2022.115249

Topological variations in aluminum-silicon alloys through inoculation with alkali earth elements: A first-principles study
T.K. Reid, B. Yavas, S. Sahoo, and S.P. Alpay, Scripta Mater. 234, 115574 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2023.115574

Data-driven methods for discovery of next-generation electrostrictive materials
D. Trujillo, A. Gurung, J. Yu, S. K. Nayak, S. P. Alpay, P. Janolin, npj Computational Materials (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-022-00941-1

Improving Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Activity of Palladium through Interactions with Transition-Metal Oxides
M. V. Pagliaro, C. Wen, B. Sa, B. Liu, M. Bellini, F. Bartoli, S. Sahoo, R. K. Singh, S. P. Alpay, H. A. Miller, and Dario R. DekeI,  ACS Catal. 12, 10894−10904 (2022)
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.2c02417

Magnetically Doped Molybdenum Disulfide Layers for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Capture
S. Bamonte, S. Shubhashish, H. Khanna, S. Shuster, S. J. B. Rubio, S. L. Suib, S. P. Alpay, and S. Sahoo,  ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14, 27799–27813 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c01820

Local atomic structure distortions in the Dion-Jacobson ferroelectric CsBiNb2O7
J. Kong, S. K. Nayak, J. Liu, S. P. Alpay, and A. Pramanick, Phys. Rev. B 106, 024103 (2022) https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.024103

Potassium Cyamelurate K3[C6N7O3] Rod: A New Visible-light Photocatalyst for Homogeneous / Heterogeneous Degradation of Antibiotics
W. Wang, Z. Chen, X. Yang, P. Audebert, S. Sahoo, J. Chen, Y. Liu, S. P. Alpay, L. Xie, and G. Wei, Applied Catalysis A General 641, 118669 (2022)

Matrix Controlled Structural Phase Transformations in Embedded Metallic Nanoparticles
C. J. Hung, S. K. Nayak, L. R. Parent, R. J. Hebert, and S. P. Alpay, Scripta Mater. 213, 114632 (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2022.114632

Post-synthetic Modification of STAM-17-OEt Metal-organic Frameworks via First Principles Calculations
U. A. Anene and S. P. Alpay, ACS Omega 7, 7791-7805 (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c06658

A First Principles Analysis of Oxidation in Titanium Alloys with Aluminum and Vanadium
R. S. Uwanyuze, S. P. Alpay, S. Schafföner, and S. Sahoo, Surface Science 719, 122026 (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2022.122026