Directors

Matt Maschmann

Matt Maschmann is an Associate Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) and the Director of Graduate Studies in the MAE department. He has served as the Acting Director of the MU Center for Nano/Micro Systems and is currently the director of graduate studies in the MAE department. He previously worked as a research engineer at the Air Force Research Lab and as a thermal engineer for Intel Corporation. He has co-authored 50 publications in the areas of nanoscale materials and thermal energy transport. He has been funded by the NSF, ARO, AFOSR, ERDC, and DOE for materials projects spanning numerous applications of nanoscale materials. Dr. Maschmann has received the NSF CAREER award and the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. He has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Army Research Office, and Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

Carlos Wexler

Carlos Wexler is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Wexler and his research group use a combination of theoretical modeling and computer simulations to investigate a variety of materials whose properties depend on their structure at the nanometer scale, for example nanoporous solids for adsorption of hydrogen and natural gas, the self-assembly of molecular structures on surfaces, or the migration of ions in solids. He has co-authored over 90 publications. He has worked at the University of Missouri for over 20 years, and as a visiting Professor at the Universities of Tokyo (Japan), Aix-Marseille (France), Federal do Ceará (Brazil), Nacional de San Luis and Nacional de La Plata (Argentina), and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Poland). He is a Fulbright and Erasmus-Mundus Fellow and has recently received the Ann K. Covington Award for Mentoring. He has served as President of MU’s Graduate Faculty Senate, as Director of Undergraduate Studies in Physics, and is currently serving in MU’s Faculty Council and as Chair of the American Physical Society Prairie Section. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Departments of Energy and Defense, the California Energy Commission, and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.

Emeritus Director

Tommy Sewell

Tommy Sewell is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry with an Adjunct Professor appointment in MAE. Prior to moving to MU 13 years ago to pursue an academic career, Sewell was a technical staff member in the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory for nearly 15 years. He has over 100 journal publications in the areas of materials theory & simulation and fundamental theoretical chemical dynamics. Sewell was named APS Fellow in 2017 for his sustained contributions to the field of shock compression of condensed matter. He is PI for an active DoD/AFOSR MURI project, Integrating multiscale modeling and experiments to develop a meso-informed predictive capability for explosives safety and performance. At MU, Sewell has served as PI or Co-PI on funded federal research grants from AFOSR, ARO, DTRA, NNSA and ONR. Recent graduate student/postdoctoral outcomes from Sewell’s group at MU include research appointments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NIH, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory—all but one of which became permanent positions; tenure-track faculty positions in MAE at Ole Miss and Chemistry at Ferris State University; and permanent positions in scientific software development and industry.

Core Faculty

Affiliated Faculty