An internationally renowned expert in materials science and a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering, Horst Hahn, Ph.D., will provide leadership in integrating several materials-oriented research teams across the University of Oklahoma, which will serve as a foundation for building a world-class material science enterprise at OU.
In addition to his role as Distinguished Materials Visiting Professor in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, Hahn also has a joint faculty position in the Departments of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering.
“By nucleating materials research at the University of Oklahoma around specific areas, such as those defined in the OU strategic plan – health, radar and defense applications, energy, environmental applications – we can develop research efforts that will be of strong interest to the State of Oklahoma, the nation and the world,” Hahn said.
Materials research, which spans chemistry, physics, engineering, quantum technologies and more is vital to improving our understanding and functionality of the materials we interact with all around us.
The former director and research unit chair of the Institute of Nanotechnology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hahn’s extensive experience in a wide range of materials science will be a force multiplier for this research at OU.
“From semiconductors to opto-electronics and medical devices, there is an urgent need for rapid, scalable, domestic production of innovative materials research and development in the United States,” said OU Vice President for Research and Partnerships Tomás Díaz de la Rubia. “Dr. Hahn is an internationally respected leader in material sciences and through his expertise and professional relationships will play an integrative role in building up OU’s research efforts in support of these national priorities.”
In addition to being a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Hahn is an elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the European Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors and a Fellow of the Materials Research Society.
He holds a doctorate from the Technische Universität Berlin and has held positions at the Universität des Saarlandes, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rutgers University before returning to Germany for a professorship at Technische Universität Darmstadt. He is a distinguished professor at IIT Madras, India, an honorary professor at both University of Hyderabad, India and at Xi’an Jiaotong University, China.
Hahn has co-authored more than 500 publications on his research on defects and diffusion in metals and ceramics, on nanostructured and amorphous materials, tailored and tunable properties of nanostructures, energy materials, printed electronics and high entropy materials.
