The Institute for Materials Discovery and Design applies data analytics and machine learning together with rapid materials synthesis and multi-scale characterization in order to accelerate the discovery, design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel functional materials.
The Institute is a joint initiative between the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and Division of Physical Sciences. We are strengthening UC San Diego’s position as the recognized global academic leader in nanoscale and quantum materials design and discovery.
The Institute leverages UC San Diego strengths and resources such as the Nano3 nanofabrication cleanroom facility and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and will build on the university’s excellent Materials Science Graduate Program, which has more than 100 participating faculty.
Much of the economic growth over the past 100 years is rooted in materials discovery and manipulation, ranging from semiconductor technology, to metallurgy and polymers. Novel materials such as these have enabled lasers, liquid crystal and organic light-emitting displays, fiber optics, CMOS and CCD cameras, magnetic data storage, energy storage, photovoltaic materials, sensors, medical implants and devices and many other every-day life applications.
Through the Institute for Materials Discovery and Design, UC San Diego is paving the way for the materials that are critical for the technologies and breakthroughs that will define the next 100 years, including zero- and low-carbon energy and transportation systems; cost-effective healthcare advances; solutions for natural-resource sustainability; and next-generation information technologies.
