Illinois Tech Research 2022
COMPUTATION AND DATA
Getting Granular The properties of all materials shift on a microstructural level as they are exposed to outside forces, but developing a model that accurately predicts how these properties shift has been elusive. Chun Liu, professor and chair of the Department of Applied Mathematics at Illinois Institute of Technology, has joined a team of researchers that aims to accomplish this task through a combination of mathematics and data analytics. The level of a given material’s functionality changes over time as its properties change. All materials are composed of a lattice structure of monocrystalline grains, with each grain fixed by boundaries. These boundaries are altered in a process called grain growth, and how that grain growth occurs affects the functionality of the material. “Being able to predict grain growth is one of the crown jewels in
materials science,” Liu says. “This will help both predict the changes in functionality of materials and create new materials.” By employing state-of-the-art mathematical modeling and analysis together with problem-specific analysis, Liu says the research team should be able to develop a computational platform that can accurately predict grain growth, especially if it can collaborate with other materials scientists. The team was awarded a $1.8 million National Science Foundation grant from the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program, with Liu receiving about $300,000 for “Microstructure by Design: Integrating Grain Growth Experiments, Data Analytics, Simulation, and Theory.” —Casey Moffitt
ENGINEERING
Can Computers Design Electric Motors? Ian Brown’s research is still in its infancy, but Ford Motor Company and the United States Department of Energy have already decided to help fund a project that could improve the future of electric motors and generators. Brown, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working to remove humans from time-consuming steps in designing electric machines. Currently, after human lists the objectives a new engine must meet, a process begins where designers pick a template, select ideal materials, and make it all fit together. Mathematical tools created by Brown skip the time-consuming process and find an ideal combination to elicit the best performance 4
Illinois Tech Research
What is the optimizer? Ask Illinois Tech’s Ian Brown
from electric machines. “We’re letting the optimizer come up with clever new ways to design things. It is an aide to human ingenuity,” Brown says. —Simon Morrow