Research

Research Areas Summary

  • Microstructure characterization of materials using transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography
  • Development and manufacturing of advanced materials such as bulk nanostructured alloys, high entropy alloys and bulk metallic glasses with dramatically improved mechanical properties and irradiation resistance than conventional materials
  • Nuclear fuels and structural materials designed for current and next generation nuclear reactors
  • Irradiation effects in materials
  • Mechanical behavior and deformation mechanisms of materials
  • Application of advanced materials in energy, transportation and defense

Research Group

  • 4 PhD students currently: Matthew Luebbe, Hans Pommerenke, Visharad Jalan, Joshua Rittenhouse
  • 3 PhD students with Dr. Wen as advisor have graduated: Andrew Hoffman (graduated in December 2019) now at General Electric Research, Maalavan Arivu (graduated in January 2022) now at Micron Technology, Inc., Adam Bratten (graduated in July 2022) now at General Electric Research
  • 5 joint/visiting PhD students with Dr. Wen as co-advisor have graduated: Dewen Hou now at Argonne National Laboratory, Hongliang Zhang now at University of Wisconsin – Madison, Ranran Su now at University of Wisconsin – Madison, Ke He now at Chongqing University, Ruoyu Chen now at Anhui University of Technology
  • 1 postdoc has been trained and left: Jiaqi Duan now at University of Warwick (UK)
  • 9 undergraduate researchers have previously worked in the group: Victor DeLibera, Brady Creek, Carter Glynn, Seth Crawford, Nathan Curtis, Jacob Stacy, Michele Pallett, Meredith Asbury, Marina Wright.

Research Grants

After joining Missouri S&T

  • Title: Nanostructuring to enhance phase stability of austenitic steels during irradiation; Role: PI; Funding agency: National Science Foundation; Dates: 9/1/2022 – 8/31/2025.
  • Title: Enhancing irradiation tolerance of steels via nanostructuring by innovative manufacturing techniques; Role: PI; Funding agency: Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy; Dates: 10/1/2017 – 9/30/2024.
  • Title: Oxidation behavior of silicon carbide and graphitic materials; Role: PI; Funding agency: Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy; Dates: 10/1/2018 – 9/30/2022.
  • Title: Ultrafast elemental depth profiling to enable high-throughput characterization of nuclear materials and fuels; Role: PI; Funding agency: Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy; Dates: 10/1/2021 – 9/30/2022.
  • Title: Nuclear Regulatory Committee Faculty Development Grant; Role: Co-PI; Funding agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Dates: 7/16/2018 – 7/15/2022.
  • Title: Additive Manufacturing of Silicon Carbide Based Materials for Nuclear Applications; Role: PI; Funding agency: Integrated University Program Fellowship from Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy; Dates: 6/30/2020 – 8/31/2023.
  • Title: Castability of Medium Carbon Boron Titanium Steels; Role: Co-PI; Funding agency: Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center (an industry consortium); Dates: 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2025.
  • Title: Effects of mold flux, furnace atmosphere and mechanical loads on Scale Formation and Scale Removal; Role: Co-PI; Funding agency: Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center (an industry consortium); Dates: 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2025.
  • Title: Inclusion Engineering, Ca Treatment Clean Steel Processing and Clogging; Role: Co-PI; Funding agency: Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center (an industry consortium); Dates: 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2025.
  • Title: Characterizing the Performance of Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Fuels for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Technology; Role: Co-PI; Funding agency: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; Dates: 5/12/2020 – 12/31/2021.
  • Title: MRI: Acquisition of High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography System for Real-Time, In Situ Studies of Various Effects on Microstructure of Materials; Role: senior personnel; Funding agency: National Science Foundation; Dates: 10/1/2020 – 9/30/2021.