Materials Science

The Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory (FSEL) at UT Austin is one of the largest structural research facilities globally, located at the Pickle Research Campus. It features extensive loading equipment for large-scale studies of structural behavior, supporting innovative research in structural engineering. FSEL emphasizes collaboration between faculty and students, providing graduate research assistants with hands-on experience and mentorship opportunities.

Services Offered

• Structural testing for large-scale infrastructure
• Custom experimental setups for materials and load testing
• Seismic simulation and impact studies
• Consulting on construction materials and structural design optimization
• Research support for civil engineering projects

The MRC is the administrative unit responsible for providing access to advanced nano-fabrication equipment for users from various fields, including electronics, optics, physics, chemistry, and engineering disciplines. It serves both university and corporate researchers, offering not only state-of-the-art clean room facilities but also a collaborative environment. MRC staff provide guidance and support to lab users, fostering a community of scientists who work together to advance technology and knowledge.

Services Offered

• Nanofabrication and microfabrication facilities
• Semiconductor device prototyping
• Cleanroom access and support
• Training in photolithography, etching, and thin-film deposition
• Collaborative research in electronics and materials science

The Center for Electromechanics (CEM) at UT Austin specializes in the development and application of advanced electromechanical and energy storage systems. CEM conducts cutting-edge research in high-power energy conversion, transportation electrification, and grid-scale energy storage. The center provides expertise in system modeling, prototyping, and performance testing for applications ranging from defense and aerospace to renewable energy integration. With state-of-the-art facilities and interdisciplinary collaboration, CEM supports industry and government partners in advancing next-generation technologies through research, development, and commercialization.

Services Offered

• Design and testing of electromechanical systems
• High-power energy storage research
• Prototyping and custom engineering solutions
• System modeling and simulation
• Electric vehicle and grid-scale storage technologies
• Advanced manufacturing support for energy applications

The Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Analytical Service Center provides a unique facility for determining concentrations of environmental contaminants in soil, air and water samples. The lab operates as a user facility where researchers can come in to use the requested equipment.

The facility helps address state, national, and international research project needs. This can include specialized analyses from outside firms that are within our areas of expertise but are not commercially available.

Students across the university can have the opportunity to learn how to use environmental analytical instrumentation, become familiar with quality control procedures, and help analyze the numerous samples typically required for research projects.

Services Offered

• Water quality and contaminant monitoring
• Hydrologic and environmental modeling
• Resource management and policy consulting
• Sustainable water solutions for urban and agricultural use
• Research partnerships on climate and ecosystem impact on water resources

TMI is the administrative unit responsible for providing state-of-the-art instrumentation and infrastructure to support materials research at UT-Austin. TMI oversees a variety of specialized facilities, each managed by Ph.D.-level experts, that offer resources for thin film and nano/micro fabrication, x-ray scattering, electron and atomic force microscopy, surface and bulk spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and electronic and optoelectronic testing. TMI staff provide essential support to researchers across these facilities, ensuring access to advanced tools and expertise for innovative materials research.

Services Offered

• Materials synthesis and characterization
• Access to microscopy and spectroscopy facilities
• Thin-film and nanomaterials research
• Consulting on material properties and testing

Services Offered

• Characterization of materials via spectroscopy
• Access to X-ray diffraction, Raman, and infrared spectroscopy
• Thermal and mechanical analysis of materials
• Consultation on material selection and characterization techniques

The Texas Materials Institute Electron Microscopy Facility provides user access to the University of Texas at Austin community for state-of-the-art atomic scale characterization. Established in 2020, this new facility hosts advanced instruments for the analysis of materials and their preparation. This includes a low-voltage aberration corrected JEOL neoARM TEM that can operate from 30 – 200 kV, equipped with EDX and EELS, a Thermo Fisher Scios FIB:SEM, and several SEMs. Located in the ground floor (level 0) of the Engineering Education and Research (EER) Building. The facility consists of a suite of specially designed low-vibration rooms with precise temperature and humidity control. Operation of TEM is done remotely in a separate room to remove the impact of people on the room stability. An array of specialized holders and detectors are available for state of the art in-situ capabilities and imaging.

Services Offered

• High-resolution electron microscopy (SEM, TEM)
• Sample preparation for imaging and analysis
• Elemental and structural analysis
• Advanced imaging for biological and material sciences
• Training in electron microscopy techniques
• Consultation on microscopy experiment design and data interpretation

The Cleanroom Nanofabrication Facility at UT Austin provides state-of-the-art resources for micro- and nanoscale device fabrication. Equipped with advanced tools for photolithography, etching, thin-film deposition, and metrology, the facility supports research in electronics, materials science, and biomedical engineering. Users have access to a controlled cleanroom environment for developing semiconductor devices, MEMS, and other nanoscale technologies. The facility offers training, technical support, and process consultation, enabling researchers to refine fabrication techniques and advance next-generation materials and devices.

Services Offered

• Nanofabrication and microfabrication tools
• Device prototyping and custom fabrication
• Lithography, etching, and thin-film deposition
• Electron beam lithography and nanoscale patterning
• Training and support in cleanroom protocols
• Advanced materials testing and characterization

The NASCENT Center at UT Austin is an NSF-funded Nanosystems Engineering Research Center focused on advancing scalable nanomanufacturing technologies. By developing high-throughput manufacturing systems, materials, and metrology, NASCENT addresses the practical challenges of creating next-generation mobile computing and energy devices. The center collaborates with academic and industry partners, translating nanoscience innovations into scalable, real-world applications in healthcare, energy, and electronics. Through transformative research and educational programs, NASCENT is training future leaders and enabling industrial impact in nanotechnology.

Services Offered

• Research in scalable nanomanufacturing processes
• Access to nanoscale fabrication tools
• Testing of nano-enabled devices
• Collaboration with industry for technology transfer and commercialization
• Training in nanomanufacturing techniques

The mission of CAMDI is to advance current additive manufacturing (AM) processes and foster innovation through AM research into new processes and design-for-AM best practices that enable widespread adoption of AM.

We partner with researchers, educators, and industrial partners who seek to:

• Explore the use of industrial-quality AM processes to fabricate parts of interest to them. We have in-house expertise to help with technology selection, design (or re-design) to suit a particular AM process, and fabrication and finishing of parts.
• Push the boundaries of industrial-quality AM into new materials, new design capabilities, and new levels of quality control and predictability. We have in-house expertise and equipment for process and part metrology and control, advanced design for AM, and materials development.
• Innovate entirely new AM processes. We have a suite of in-house experimental testbeds that enable aerosol deposition, reactive extrusion of thermoset polymers, micro-sintering of metals, AM of polymer composites, and many other capabilities. We are experts at process innovation.

Services Offered

• 3D printing and additive manufacturing
• Prototyping and design assistance
• Access to advanced manufacturing tools
• Training in additive manufacturing methods
• Custom fabrication support