Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced that Daniel Oropeza, assistant professor in the materials department at University of California (UC), Santa Barbara, has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative.
The initiative is a joint endeavor between LLNL's Strategic Deterrence Principal Directorate and UC National Laboratories at the University of California Office of the President, seeking to foster long-term academic partnerships and provide UC early-career faculty members with funding and Lab support for their research. The winning recipient will receive up to $1 million in funding over five years. This year's call for applications focused on innovative research projects in the fields of advanced materials and manufacturing.
"I love making things, so doing research to advance manufacturing processes is really exciting for me. Receiving this award is an incredible honor and amazing opportunity to develop close connections with folks at LLNL," said Oropeza. "This relationship will be a key element and resource for my group and UC Santa Barbara, and I am very grateful to have been selected."
Oropeza's winning proposal, "Near-net shaping of high-density, complex, spatially-tailored ceramics for extreme environments," aims to explore the unique challenges posed during the processing of ultra-high-temperature ceramic materials. The high temperature stability of these materials is useful for platforms like nuclear reactors, high-speed flight and renewable energy conversion, aligning closely with LLNL's mission to enable national and global security. However, these properties also make it difficult to manufacture the ceramics at reasonable costs and timeframes.
Under collaboration with LLNL staff, Oropeza and his team plan to study how near-net-shape fabrication and hot pressing can combine to achieve uniform densities and unique geometries. With near-net-shape fabrication, the initial processing of the item is very close to its final form, limiting the need for costly finishing methods like machining or grinding. Hot pressing combines heat and pressure to turn a collection of individual powder particles into a single, solid component. The team aims to create scalable models that can elucidate the fundamentals during material manufacturing and predict processing issues.
"Dr. Oropeza's research on high-density ceramics pushes the frontiers of materials science and is an exemplar of the cutting-edge science and technology we require for our national security mission," said Michael Zika, LLNL principal associate deputy director for Strategic Deterrence. "I look forward to seeing the excellent work and long-term relationships that will come from our sustained partnership with Dr. Oropeza and his research group."
-Ashley Piccone
