TIME：14:00, Jun. 26, 2026
VENUE：Thinkers Hall, NIMTE
Abstract:
Designing the next generation of protective coating materials requires predictive computational approaches that go beyond traditional trial-and-error methods. Key design criteria include synthesizability, mechanical performance, as well as thermal and chemical stability. This talk will explore the good, the bad and the ugly of our predictive capabilities — highlighting successful experimental validations, as well as cases where theoretical models fall short. Based on this analysis, the presentation will also address implications for future material design efforts particularly in the context of structural and compositional complexity.
Speaker Biography:
Jochen M. Schneider, Ph.D., is Professor of Materials Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. His research focuses on the quantum-mechanically guided design of thin films with tailored thermal and chemical stability, as well as elasticity. He has received numerous awardsincluding the Sofya Kovalevskaya Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Bill Sproul Award from the American Vacuum Society (AVS), the Rudolf-Jaeckel-Preis from the German Vacuum Society (DVG), and the Lee Hsun Lecture Award from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University, Sweden. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS) and a Fellow of the Max Planck Society. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) in Germany, as a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Henry Royce Institute (the UK National Institute for Advanced Materials Research and innovation), and as a member of the advisory committee of the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) in Sweden. He has supervised 48 Ph.D. graduates and mentored 33 postdocs.
