Ertekin recognized with award for excellence in research

Assistant Professor Elif Ertekin has won the College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. The distinction recognizes assistant professors like Ertekin who have seen exceptional research accomplishments in the previous academic year. The award is presented at the Engineering Faculty Awards Ceremony on April 27.

Ertekin joined MechSE in 2011 after working as a postdoctoral research scientist at MIT and the University of California, Berkeley.

Ertekin’s highly interdisciplinary work focuses on the intersection of engineering and physics, including computational modeling; simulation of fundamental materials processes; atomic-scale materials design; and collaboration with experiments to address real-world challenges. Ertekin and her research group use computational methods to understand and design new materials and material systems across a wide variety of applications such as photovoltaics, catalysis, and heat transport, among other areas.

The goal of her research on a global scale is to tackle societal problems including energy sustainability, environmental remediation, and next-generation electronics.