This one-day event brings together faculty, students, startups, and industry leaders to explore advances in materials science across energy, biotechnology, aerospace, semiconductors, and AI/ML. The workshop will feature keynote talks and panel discussions as well as a Student Poster Session and a Student 3-Minute Talk session, with $3,000 in total awards. Refreshments will be provided at no cost to attendees.
When: November 19th, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST), including lunch
Where: Oklahoma Memorial Union, Molly Shi Boren Ballroom, 900 Asp Avenue, Norman, OK 73069
Cost: Registration is free. Registration closes on October 25th.
Chair: Prof. Sarah Sharif
Posters: No limit on submissions
3M Talks: Available to the first 10 submissions
Awards will be presented at 4:00 p.m.
Four Poster Presentation Awards: $500 each
Two 3M Talk Awards: $500 each
8:30–8:45 a.m. — Vision for Materials Science and Engineering at OU
John Klier
8:45–9:15 a.m. — The NRT Diana: A Progress Update
Alberto Striolo and Sarah Breen
9:15–10:00 a.m. — VPRP MSE Seed Funding Outcomes
Stefan Wilhelm — Investments in Microscopy
Yuanning Feng (TBC) — Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
Thirumalai Venkatesan — Materials and Processes for Silicon Microsystems
Binbin Weng — Meta-Surface Engineering towards High-Performance MWIR Detectors
10:00–10:10 a.m. — Announcement of 2026–2027 Seed Funding Competition
10:10–11:00 a.m. — Coffee Break with Poster Viewing
11:00–11:30 a.m. — Presentation by Gerard Baillely, NAE, Former P&G R&D Senior Vice President
The Importance of Industry-Academia Collaborations
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. — Testimonials from Industrial Guests and Panel Discussion
Austin Burrus — BlueWhale Materials
Kenneth Kroenlein — Citrine Informatics
Marybeth Radtke (TBC) — Tinker Air Force Base
Edmund Seebauer — The University Perspective
12:30–1:00 p.m. — 3M Poster Presentations
1:00–2:30 p.m. — Lunch and Poster Viewing
(Advisory Board Members meet with Diana Students independently)
2:30–3:30 p.m. — Research Initiatives on Materials Across OU
Brian Grady — Institute of Applied Surfactant Research
Sarah Breen — IMPACT Scholar: Preparing Impactful Engineers in Oklahoma
Steven Crossley — Polymer Upcycling
Madalina Furis — Japan Collaboration
Royce Floyd — Southern Plains Transportation Center
3:30–3:45 p.m. — Concluding Remarks
Ann West
3:45–4:15 p.m. — Coffee Break
4:15–4:30 p.m. — Poster Awards
4:30 p.m. — Adjourn
