Symposium fosters engagement between students and industry leaders

Written by
Wright B. Señeres
April 17, 2024

More than 200 materials scientists, engineers and students gathered at Princeton University earlier this month to discuss advances in quantum computing, AI and ML, manufacturing and energy challenges, sustainable and bio-inspired materials, and the need for core facilities for research, innovation and workforce development.

“Our symposium is distinctive in that it brings together students and a wide range of companies in the materials industry,” said Richard A. Register, Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and director of the Princeton Materials Institute. More than 25 companies, government agencies, industry organizations and universities were represented in the audience.

Held April 3–4, the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI) annual symposium featured 19 expert talks and panel discussions by faculty and industry partners. Topics ranged from recyclable toothpaste tubes to renewable energy solutions. 

Forty-five students and postdoctoral researchers presented their work at the symposium’s poster session. Lin Lin, a researcher in Kelsey Hatzell’s lab, won first place for his work investigating chemical performance of solid-state batteries. Hatzell, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, is a PMI associated faculty member. 

The symposium also featured tours of PMI’s extensive characterization, micro/nanofabrication and packaging facilities; a collection of high-end instruments that are unique in the northeastern United States. Additionally, one of the symposium’s industry participants, Quantum Catalyzer, demoed a quantum diamond microscope that provides resolution down to less than a thousandth of a millimeter, capable of simultaneously showing an optical image and a magnetic field of a sample. Connor Hart, CTO of Quantum Catalyzer, was also a speaker at the event.

Complete details about the symposium, including a full list of speakers, can be found in the program agenda.

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