Everything is made of something.
Making a more sustainable and healthier world starts with imagining new materials. Everything from renewable energy to medical devices to consumer electronics can be advanced by improving the materials they are made from.
Our Programs
Studying the properties of materials and their applications is ideal for those who are excited to work at the forefront of industries like electronics, energy, and healthcare.
Strategic Areas of Research
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![Eric Dufresne Research image of Droplets]()
Bioinspired Materials and Systems
Bioinspired composites, engineered protein films for adhesion, lubrication and sensing applications, molecular tools for in-vitro and in-vivo imaging, and biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery.
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![Andrej Singer Research Image of bright spectrum of colors across a rectangle]()
Electronics and Photonics
Oxide semiconductors, 3D integration, materials beyond silicon, high K and low K dielectrics, plasmonics, spintronics and multiferroics.
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![Research Image from Julia Dshemuchadse's group]()
Energy Production and Storage
Photocatalysis, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, phononics, batteries and supercapacitors.
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![Crosspolarized microscope image of cholesterol acetate crystals with added quarter waveplate]()
Green Technologies
We have targeted green composites and new systems for CO2 capture and conversion as areas of future growth.
News Highlights
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3 faculty inducted into 2025 Class of AIMBE College of Fellows
Engineering professors Ilana Brito, Iwijn De Vlaminck and Krystyn Van Vliet were inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows Class of 2025 for contributions to engineering and medicine research.
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Jill Tarter ’65 keynotes celebration of women engineers at Cornell
Renowned astronomer and engineer Jill Tarter ’65 delivered the keynote address at a two-day symposium celebrating 140 years of women in engineering at Cornell, which also featured panel discussions and remarks from women leaders.
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Solar solutions: ‘MacGyver engineering’ extends PV panel life
A materials science and engineering student and his professor devised a low-cost, DIY way to increase the lifespan and efficiency of commercial photovoltaic modules: by lowering the panel’s operating temperature with phase-change materials.
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X-ray study sheds light on cost-effective fuel cell materials
Cornell researchers have captured an unprecedented, real-time view of how a promising catalyst material transforms during operation, providing new insights that could lead to replacement of expensive precious metals in clean-energy technologies.
Upcoming Events
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MSE Seminar: Matt Ferguson Ph.D. ’22 (Max Planck Institute)
Strain control of micro-structured quantum materials Quantum materials have the potential to play a central role in next-generation electronic and information processing devices. Despite this promise,…
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MSE Seminar: Krishanu Saha ’01 (Wisconsin)
Engineering nanoparticles containing CRISPR for precision gene and cell therapy Therapeutic genome editing has tremendous promise for correcting pathogenic mutations and programming cell behavior usin…
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Engineering Undergraduate Research Poster Session
The Office of Inclusive Excellence is sponsoring its annual Engineering Undergraduate Research Poster Session in Duffield Atrium. This event will feature the work of students who received Cornell Engi…
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MSE Seminar: Hiroshi Amano (Nagoya)
Acceleration of Social Implementation of Wide Bandgap and Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductors I would like to emphasize the need for the research and development of wide- bandgap (WBG) and ultrawide-band…
