Faculty Director
Swagelok Center for Surface Analysis of Materials, Case Western Reserve University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University
Jennifer is an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University. She is a University of California at Davis double-alumni, receiving her B.S. (2006) in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and her M.S. (2008) in Materials Science and Engineering working with Prof. Gibeling. She completed her Ph.D. (2012) in Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University with Prof. Mills.
Her research focuses on the design and validation of study protocols that explore the physics of microstructural evolution and material/device performance. The objective is to utilize data to inform the design of manufacturing routes and improve the application performance of interface-rich materials. Her group has shown these approaches are agnostic and improve the design of processing routes and application performance of metallic materials for elevated-temperature environments such as power plants and jet engines as well as inform art restoration approaches for maintaining cultural heritage artifacts curated by the Smithsonian. She was awarded an NSF-CAREER grant in 2016, and a 2019 PECASE for her interdisciplinary work.
In addition to her technical achievements, Jennifer devotes her time to STEM education and the inclusion of diverse viewpoints within her field. She is an academic advisor for students majoring in Materials Science, an affiliated faculty with the Applied Data Science Minor, and the faculty advisor for the CWRU softball team. She is a volunteer for The Metals Minerals and Materials Society, previously serving as the chairperson for the Mechanical Behavior Subcommittee and the past chairperson of the Diversity Committee.