Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) is a critical link in Illinois’ booming quantum infrastructure. With partners in academia, government, and national labs, Chicago is now the premier location for quantum research, education, technology and business.

Illinois is celebrating several recent announcements: the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park in South Chicago, anchored by investments from PsiQuantum, the state of Illinois, and up to $140 million from DARPA, and the news that the Bloch Quantum Tech Hub, led by the Chicago Quantum Exchange, is receiving a $500,000 Consortium Accelerator Award to accelerate industry adoption of quantum technologies.

Read more in UChicago PME Dean Nadya Mason's August Message:

A Monthly Message from the Dean About A Monthly Message from the Dean Related links Join our mailing list View previous editions of the Pritzker Molecular Engineering Review A Welcome from Dean Mason Visit PME News August 15, 2024 Dear Community, When UChicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering was founded, a core goal w...

👩‍🔬🔬This summer, UChicago College hosted the Pathways in Molecular Engineering, a 3-week program for 10-12th graders. Taught by the University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering professors with guest lectures by industry experts, the goal is to highlight how a background in molecular engineering can help students’ careers in or out of the lab.

Building tomorrow’s engineers from the molecule up UChicago Summer Session’s Pathways in Molecular Engineering program teaches an interdisciplinary mindset to high school students

As global temperatures and urban populations rise, the world’s cities have become “urban heat islands." With 68 percent of all people predicted to live in cities by 2050, this is a growing, deadly problem.

University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Prof. Po-Chun Hsu and his lab have developed a new cooling textile that reflects both direct sunlight and the thermal radiation from pavement and buildings in urban heat islands. Their results, published in News from Science, show the material keeps 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than outdoor endurance sports fabric and 8.9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than commercialized silk.

Read more about Hsu Lab's research in Fast Company's latest article.

High-tech clothing can help protect workers from the heat—but not from their bosses As the planet gets hotter and hotter, heat-resistant clothing could be useful, but outdoor workers also need policy protections.

Giulia Galli, professor at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the University of Chicago Department of Chemistry Department and Argonne National Laboratory senior scientist, has been named the 2024-2025 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Awardee by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Theoretical Chemistry Institute. The award recognizes Galli's contributions and exceptional work in the field of theoretical chemistry.
https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/giulia-galli-wins-joseph-o-hirschfelder-prize-theoretical-chemistry

Giulia Galli wins Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry News Giulia Galli wins Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry August 12, 2024 By Paul Dailing Related content Calcium oxide’s quantum secret: nearly noiseless qubits Advanced computational tool for understanding quantum materials A new quantum approach to solve electronic structures...

Researchers in the Yang Lab at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have made unexpected progress toward developing a new optical memory that can quickly and energy-efficiently store and access computational data.
https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/new-material-optically-controlled-magnetic-memory-discovered

Science

New material for optically-controlled magnetic memory discovered PME researchers were carrying out basic research on a magnetic topological insulator when they realized it had the potential to build optical storage devices.

Check out STAGE Lab at Tohoku University!

Quantum Games at Open Campus Members from the University of Chicago's STAGE Lab, with support from Tohoku University students, introduced interactive games designed to demystify the principles of quantum mechanics.

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering hosted CAMPS 2024, a free event for attendees and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The student-led conference is unique experience, promoting research collaboration and networking in materials science.

“Students from various backgrounds of education within these STEM programs are able to come to this conference and speak to professionals in the industry, as well as different key, high-profile faculty that are working in their research area, and they know this is focusing on the material side of research,” said UChicago MRSEC Administrator Tracy Walker.

📰Read more at: https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/students-help-students-camps-2024

Soft matter, such as Play-Doh, battery electrolytes, and latex paint, is easily deformed and their properties are highly responsive to outside stimuli, such as a force, temperature change or chemical reaction. Now scientists from Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering report a better understanding and improving the flow properties of soft matter at the atomic level (nanoscale). This research has the potential to study natural phenomena, such as landslides, earthquakes, and the growth of plaque in arteries.

Ability to track nanoscale flow in soft matter could prove pivotal discovery Breakthrough in analysis method will boost studying soft matter for many applications

We are excited to see several of our professors, including Stuart Rowan, Shrayesh Patel, Chong Liu, and Po-Chun Hsu featured in the Summer 2024 issue of the University of Chicago Magazine.
Check out PME's feature article here: https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/material-world
And check out Dean Nadya Mason's feature here: https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/material-world

Our Summer/24 issue is online now (and in your mailboxes soon)! Sample Rebecca McCarthy’s (AB’77) biography of Norman Maclean, PhD’40; explore the new materials invented by UChicago researchers; listen in as deans discuss the future of higher ed; and more: https://mag.uchicago.edu/current-issue

✨Inspiring the next generation of quantum engineers. ✨

The University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering and University of Chicago Physics faculty led lectures, lab tours, and hands-on activities during this summer's Quantum Quickstart cohort, inspiring the next generation of engineers about quantum computing, mechanics, and physics.

Read more: https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/summer-among-qubits

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering's Guha Lab have found a new way to study charge density waves, wave-like patterns of electrons — negatively charged particles — that move in a correlated fashion. The ability to control the waves could provide fast switching of the resistance on and off. This property could then be exploited for more energy-efficient computing, as well as ultraprecise sensing.

https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/understanding-brain-computing

Understanding brain-like computing Novel ultrafast electron microscopy technique from UChicago PME, Argonne advances understanding of processes applicable to brain-like computing

The University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering’s STAGE Lab presented their innovative suite of Quantum Games at Tohoku University's Open Campus event. Known in the U.S. as the Quantum Casino, the games are a suite of entertaining activities that explain complicated scientific concepts UChicago PME researchers use to design unhackable computers, high-speed networks, groundbreaking superconductors and healthcare innovations. 

Read more: https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/teaching-quantum-concepts-through-play

What happens when your electronic devices are no longer usable? Instead of piling up in landfills or being buried underground, researchers at The University of Chicago, Purdue University, Yale University, and Argonne developed a strategy to design luminescent polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies that are both biodegradable and recyclable - https://bit.ly/3WeVyj8

Asst. Prof. Joyce Chen and her team of scientists are finding innovative ways to grow lung cells and structures inside the laboratory. This helps us understand the many tiny changes that take place in your lungs when disease strikes—and thus find new ways to treat diseases and protect lung health.

Check out the full profile from The University of Chicago's Inside the Lab series.

Inside the Lab: How Joyce Chen protects lungs from disease News Inside the Lab: How Joyce Chen protects lungs from disease August 1, 2024 By Louise Lerner You may also like … Innovative research sheds light on how lung cancer advances Using light to control heartbeats after surgery Small molecules induce trained immunity, opening a new approach to fightin...

🔋The University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering professor Shirley Meng joined the Science Friday podcast to discuss her lab's latest research with the University of San Diego demonstrating the world’s first anode-free, sodium-based, solid-state battery architecture, which can charge quickly and last for several hundred cycles. Meng, also a chief scientist for energy storage science at the U.S. Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory, talks about the advancements in eco-friendly batteries.

🎧Read more and listen to the show online here: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/sodium-solid-state-green-battery/

Sodium Replaces Lithium In a New Type Of Battery Researchers developed the first anode-free solid-state battery that’s based on sodium, which is cheaper and more abundant than lithium.

The quantum revolution is happening in Illinois. In a new op-ed from the Chicago Tribune, University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering's Dean Nadya Mason and Samir Mayekar, managing director of the UChicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, detail how PME and UChicago are paving the way in the quantum computing, networking, and technology.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/07/28/opinion-quantum-computing-illinois-south-side/

Samir Mayekar and Nadya Mason: The quantum revolution is coming to Illinois The creation of the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park in South Chicago builds on Illinois’ lead in quantum technology.

University of Chicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering PhD candidate Yuqin Wang is completing an internship this summer at Momentive, working with a team to develop PFAS-free products. Wang, who is in both the Junhong Chen Research Group at PME and the Seth Darling Group at Argonne National Laboratory is working on ways to detect and remove these stubborn “forever chemicals” from the world’s waters.

Read more about Wang's career goals in our latest Engineering The Summer profile!

Engineering the Summer: Fighting ‘forever chemicals’ News Engineering the Summer: Fighting ‘forever chemicals’ July 26, 2024 Related content Engineering the Summer: From PME to NASA Engineering the Summer: Innovating for consumer health UChicago engineer driving key role in Great Lakes water transformation Engineering the Summer is an annual serie...

⚛Exciting news for quantum ⚛
Startup PsiQuantum will join Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Quantum Exchange in solidifying the Chicagoland area as a leading zone for quantum innovation. The Palo-Alto startup announced on Thursday plans to build and operate quantum computers in Chicago — bringing as many as 150 jobs in the next five years and anchoring a massive quantum campus to be built at the former US Steel South Works plant on Chicago’s South Side.

“The UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the University of Chicago as a whole are fully committed to pushing quantum forward and being a key link in Illinois’ booming quantum infrastructure. “PME is the catalyst for quantum at UChicago, and we are proud help lead this important work that will impact so much of our future." - University of ChicagoUChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering's Dean Nadya Mason.

https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/psiquantum-anchor-massive-quantum-campus-chicagos-south-side

PsiQuantum to anchor massive quantum campus on Chicago’s South Side The historic development solidifies Chicagoland’s place as a leading zone for quantum innovation — and is the latest win for UChicago’s quantum ecosystem

Pritzker Molecular Engineering's Bernien Lab, including researchers and graduate students Noah Glachman and Shankar Menon, have discovered how to combine two powerful technologies—trapped atom arrays and photonic devices—to yield advanced systems for quantum computing, simulation, and networking.

“It is not only fundamentally interesting to see how we can scale quantum systems in this way, but it also has a lot of practical applications," said Hannes Bernien, assistant professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago PME and senior author of the new work, published in Nature Communications.

https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/combining-trapped-atoms-and-photonics-new-quantum-devices

Combining trapped atoms and photonics for new quantum devices A new platform lets PME researchers combine atom array processors with photonic and semiconductor chips

♻ A new discovery has the potential to reduce electronic waste and develop new applications for luminescent polymers. Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Purdue University, and Yale University have developed a strategy to design luminescent polymers—found in a variety of everyday electronics—with high light-emitting efficiencies that are both biodegradable and recyclable.

​“This work serves as an important benchmark in addressing the urgent need for sustainability in the design of future electronics." - Jie Xu, UChicago CASE scientist at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and a scientist in the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/reducing-electronic-waste-biodegradable-luminescent-polymers

Reducing electronic waste with biodegradable luminescent polymers The discovery has the potential to reduce electronic waste and develop new applications for luminescent polymers

Researchers from around the world to attended a three-day computational modeling conference at the University of Chicago the flagship event for 's (Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire) first-ever North American node to promote fundamental research on advanced computational methods in AI, quantum, and polymer design.

"CECAM workshops like this provide a unique environment for participants to share cutting-edge results, collaboratively define new directions for the field, and spur new international and interdisciplinary collaborations.” - UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Prof. Andrew Ferguson, the director of the new node.

The U.S. node partners include Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Notre Dame.

https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/using-computational-modeling-tackle-sciences-biggest-questions

Using computational modeling to tackle science’s biggest questions Three-day computational modeling conference at UChicago was the flagship event for the Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire’s first-ever North American node

Quantum grad student Marquis McMillian took part in the Berkeley Lab You Belong in Quantum series this past April. McMillian shared how his curiosity for engineering and physics led him to research quantum mechanics at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

“It’s so interesting to be in the lab and see all the things that you can apply quantum mechanics to; that’s a big wow moment for me.”

📰Read the full article here: https://quantumsystemsaccelerator.org/2024/07/17/second-you-belong-in-quantum-series/

In the latest installment of the Engineering the Summer series, University of Chicago molecular engineering undergrad and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering undergrad research assistant Trevor Hagan shares how his internship at the NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Materials Chemistry and Physics Branch Polymer Synthesis Lab has broadened his knowledge in polymer science, and aerogel chemistry, physics, and processing.

"Doing a research internship has allowed me to experience more kinds of materials, to meet other scientists, and to make connections between my classes, my research at the PME, and the various kinds of materials research at NASA."

📰https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/engineering-summer-pme-nasa

UChicago College

Engineering the Summer: From PME to NASA News Engineering the Summer: From PME to NASA July 18, 2024 Related content NASA to launch UChicago undergraduates’ satellite A student-developed class builds community among UChicago engineering undergrads Engineering the Summer: Innovating for consumer health Engineering the Summer is an annual ...

💻Prof. Andrew Cleland at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering has been named a 2024 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellow, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)'s flagship single-investigator award for basic research. Cleland will use the fellowship money to support research using phonons - mechanical vibrations - to build fast, powerful, game-changing quantum computers.
https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/innovative-phonon-based-quantum-computing-research-uchicago-engineering-gets-3-million-boost

Innovative phonon-based quantum computing research at UChicago Engineering gets a $3 million boost by the U.S. Department of Defense UChicago Engineering Physicist Andrew Cleland named Vannevar Bush fellow

🌍At the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), our international partnerships highlight PME's dedication to building and nurturing vital connections. Two recent visits organized and led by PME faculty – a quantum workshop as part of a new partnership with IIT Bombay and a separate recruitment visit to IIT Delhi this June – have strengthened those ties.

🤝In Dean Nadya Mason's Monthly Message, she elaborates on how PME's varied partnerships drive innovation on a global scale.

A Monthly Message from the Dean About A Monthly Message from the Dean Related links Join our mailing list View previous editions of the Pritzker Molecular Engineering Review A Welcome from Dean Mason Visit PME News July 11, 2024 Dear Community, Our mission at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering is to work collabo...

Carlos Medina Jimenez's path to working at the forefront of polymer research started with a pop science book on materials. Now a University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering PhD candidate in the Tirrell Lab, Medina is spending the summer interning with consumer goods giant P&G. During this time, Medina has applied his interdisciplinary training from PME in polymer research to consumer goods.
https://pme.uchicago.edu/news/engineering-summer-innovating-consumer-health

Engineering the Summer: Innovating for consumer health News Engineering the Summer: Innovating for consumer health July 11, 2024 Related content Engineering the Summer: Collaborating with an international cohort of scholars in Kenya Engineering the Summer: Understanding the world through quantum chemistry Engineering the Summer: Working at the forefront...