Two materials science and engineering faculty will be featured in Rutgers University's upcoming 2026 Malcolm G. McLaren Symposium.
Helen M. Chan, the New Jersey Zinc Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, will deliver the distinguished lecture, and Jeffrey M. Rickman, Class of ’61 Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, will present as part of the technical program on April 10.
The annual symposium is a focused, theme-driven gathering of academic and industry researchers, highlighting emerging directions in materials engineering. This year’s program—“Entropy: The ‘Secret Sauce’ in Materials Engineering”—centers on the growing importance of entropy-stabilized and compositionally complex materials in both ceramics and alloys.
Chan, an internationally recognized expert in ceramic and high-entropy materials, will discuss “Novel Processing of Entropy Stabilized and Compositionally Complex Materials.” Her work explores advanced processing methods, interfacial chemistry, and the mechanical behavior of complex material systems. She has authored more than 200 publications, holds five U.S. patents, and is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), where she serves on the Board of Directors.
Rickman, who is a Fellow of both ASM International and ACerS, studies materials informatics and the modeling of microstructural evolution in complex systems, including high-entropy alloys. He will speak on the role of entropy and complexity in shaping material microstructure and properties during the afternoon session.
Held at Rutgers' Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering, the symposium runs from 1:30 to 8:00 p.m. and includes technical talks, the distinguished lecture, and a reception and poster session.
For more information and the full agenda, visit the symposium webpage.
