New Frontiers of Sound
The University of Arizona has been awarded $30 million over five years to establish a new National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. The New Frontiers of Sound, which comes with an additional $30 million funding option over the following five years, will bring together researchers working in topological acoustics, from partner institutions the California Institute of Technology; the City University of New York; Georgia Institute of Technology; Spelman College; University of Alaska Fairbanks; University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Colorado Boulder; and Wayne State University.
Topological acoustics allows researchers to see and exploit properties of sound that were not previously visible, like looking at the field with a new pair of eyeglasses – or better yet, listening to it with a new pair of hearing aids. Having such a precise level of control over soundwaves could revolutionize areas including computing, telecommunications and sensing. Quantum-like computing speeds, improved battery life for electronics, and sensing changes in aging infrastructure or the natural environment due to climate change are just a few applications for this growing field.
Electronic Press Kit
UArizona Senior Personnel
Pierre Deymier
NewFOS Director and Principal Investigator
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
520-621-6080
Pierre Deymier is a pioneering researcher in the field of phononics, or the branch of physics studying phonons, a type of quasi-particle that carries sound and heat. His research interests include materials theory, modeling and simulation, acoustic metamaterials, phononic crystals, topological acoustics and biomaterials.
Sara Chavarria
NewFOS Co-PI and Human Resource Development Lead
Assistant Dean of Research Development in College of Education, Assistant Director of STEM Learning Center
520-307-0963
Sara Chavarria is a Latina, first-generation college graduate who designs and conducts informal, learner-centered educational programming for underserved and underrepresented students, as well as for teachers that serve these populations. She is especially interested in best practices for attraction and retention of low-income, first-generation undergraduate students.
Susan Beck
Professor of Global Seismology and Tectonics
520-621-8628
Susan Beck’s research involves using broadband seismology to understand mountain belts, subduction zones and earthquakes.
Regina Deil-Amen
Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the College of Education
520-621-8468
Regina Deil-Amen has expertise in qualitative research methods, having engaged in major studies about college planning strategies and trajectories of socio-economically, racially and ethnically diverse university students.
Ivan Djordjevic
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Optical Sciences
520-626-5119
Ivan Djordjevic’s research areas include optical communications and networks, quantum communications, quantum networks, quantum sensing and error control coding.
Kasi Kiehlbaugh
Director of Health Sciences Design
520-626-1266
Kasi Kiehlbaugh develops courses that teach students how to apply design thinking principles to health and wellness challenges through experiential, project-based collaborative learning. With a research focus on improving STEM education, her passion is teaching (and co-teaching) courses designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between peer groups from across the university.
Minkyu Kim
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
520-621-2767
Minkyu Kim’s research interests are broadly clustered in the areas of bioinspired/biomimetic materials, biomolecular engineering, soft condensed matter physics and nanoscale biophysics. Among other areas, he is currently interested in how bioinspired design and biosynthesis can be used for the preparation of novel functional materials.
Corey Knox
Associate Research Scientist and Broader Impacts Coordinator in the College of Education
520-621-2345
Corey Knox has over 20 years of experience conducting community-based research and developing programs related to social justice, youth, women, and science and environmental topics.
Tribikram Kundu
Professor of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics
520-621-6573
Tribikram Kundu uses both structural health monitoring and nondestructive testing techniques for material characterization by ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves. His research interests include acoustic microscopy, elastic wave propagation in multilayered solids, fracture mechanics, computational mechanics and numerical modeling
Marat Latypov
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
520-626-3542
Marat Latypov’s research interests include materials informatics, computational materials science, artificial intelligence, digital twins and the mechanics of materials.
Joshua Levine
Associate Professor of Computer Science
520-621-3153
Joshua Levine’s research interests include visualization, geometric modeling, topological analysis, mesh generation, vector fields, performance analysis, computer graphics and computational topology.
Pierre Lucas
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Optical Engineering
520-322-2311
Pierre Lucas’ research focuses on the fundamentals and applications of chalcogenide glasses and phase change materials, including their structure, photosensitivity, relaxation, polyamorphism, and the development of novel optical sensors and fibers.
Samy Missoum
Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
520-626-5226
Samy Missoum’s research specialties include design optimization, probabilistic design and finite element analysis. He researches solutions for difficult design problems at the intersection of advanced computer-aided engineering, reliability and robustness, and optimization.
Krishna Muralidharan
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Planetary Sciences at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
520-626-8997
Krishna Muralidharan’s research focuses on implementing integrated computational materials engineering paradigms to push the frontiers of additive manufacturing, multiscale energy storage systems and planetary materials analysis.
Zafer Mutlu
Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
520-626-5164
Zafer Mutlu’s research interests include design, synthesis, characterization and engineering of electronic device applications, as well as large-scale, system-level integration of nanoscale and quantum materials.
Hao Zhang
Professor and Chair, Statistics and Data Science GIDP; Professor of Mathematics
520-621-6868
Hao Zhang’s research areas include data science, nonparametrics, high-dimensional data analysis, statistical machine learning, and biological and biomedical data analysis.
About the University of Arizona College of Engineering
The College of Engineering was founded when the University of Arizona was established in 1885. For nearly 140 years, our students, faculty and alumni have explored, shaped and made habitable the world – indeed the universe – in which we live. Today, graduates of the college, which offers 17 undergraduate degrees, are entrepreneurs who develop high-tech companies, create jobs and improve our quality of life. The college has $59 million in annual research expenditures, and U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arizona as a Top 50 Public University.
This is the fourth Engineering Research Center led by the University of Arizona. The other three are the ERC for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing, led by the College of Engineering, and the Center for Integrated Access Networks and the Center for Quantum Networks, led by the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences.
Content from the University of Arizona
Sound of the future: A new analog to quantum computing | University of Arizona News
Phononics society recognizes UArizona professor for pioneering role in the field | University of Arizona Engineering
UArizona materials science engineers lead global phononics conference | Unviersity of Arizona Engineering
Coverage by the Media
Sound vibrations can encode and process data like quantum computers do| New Scientist
Sound over silicon: Computing's wave of the future | Phys.org