Pulickel Ajayan, Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering and founding chair of the Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, has received the 2024 Materials Today Innovation Award.
Ajayan is a pioneer in the field of nanoengineered materials, with research focused on creating functional materials from nanoscale building blocks for various applications. This award recognizes the broad impact of his research, which advances novel battery chemistries, recycling, 3D printing of complex structures, growth of high-quality diamond films and the development of nano-engineered catalysts, among other areas.
According to the journal’s website, Materials Today is the flagship journal of the Materials Today family and covers influential work in the materials science community. The journal’s Innovation Award recognizes researchers who have made significant contributions to the field of materials science.
In a statement to Materials Today, Ajayan shared, "We are excited about how advanced materials can impact future technologies. Specifically, I am enthusiastic about our progress in understanding the fundamental structure-property correlations in nanomaterials. Nanomaterials can serve as crucial units in developing complex, multifunctional architectures. It is often said that those who control materials control technology, and this is true for much of what we do in our research."
Ajayan will be formally recognized at the Materials Today 2025 Conference June 23-26 in Sitges, Spain.