“The community of graduate students in the Materials Science and Engineering Department are a close knit group who are always willing to lend a helping hand whether it’s in the lab doing research or out of the lab deciding where to hang out in one of Baltimore's many welcoming neighborhoods.”

Stephen Ryan and Travis DeJournett are PhD Candidates in the Materials Science and Engineering Department who work in the lab of Professor James B. Spicer.  Stephen received an Applied Physics Laboratory fellowship to study the optical properties of the NASA Solar Probe+ heat shield using a one of a kind facility that simulates the temperatures and vacuum of space in the near solar environment.  Travis received a NASA GSRP fellowship to study the microstructural, chemical, and optical properties of high temperature nanocomposites that are used in the satellite’s heat shield.