New director for the Materials Research Laboratory

Dear colleagues,

I have good news to share. Effective March 15, C. Cem Tasan, POSCO Associate Professor of Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, will take up the leadership post at the Materials Research Laboratory as director.

MRL is a strategic asset for MIT, and Cem has a clear vision to build upon the lab’s engagement with materials researchers across the breadth of the Institute as well as with external collaborators and sponsors. I’m also pleased to share that, as director, Cem has agreed to assume responsibility for management of Building 13.

Cem is a metallurgist whose research focuses on fracture in metals and the design of damage-resistant alloys. In recent publications, for example, his lab has demonstrated a multiscale means of designing high-strength/high-ductility titanium alloys; and explained the stress intensification mechanism by which human hair damages hard steel razors, pointing the way to stronger and longer-lasting blades. Cem studied in Turkey and the Netherlands, earning his PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology before spending several years leading a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials in Germany. He joined the MIT faculty in 2016 and earned tenure in 2022. Cem has led one of the major collaborative research teams at MRL, and he expects to continue developing a strong community among the MIT materials research faculty.

This appointment concludes a lengthy search with an excellent outcome. I wish to thank everyone in the MIT materials community who has invested time and care in considering the future priorities of MRL and especially those who advised directly on the search.

Cem succeeds interim director Lionel “Kim” Kimerling, who has led MRL since Carl Thompson stepped down. As interim director, Kim brought deep knowledge of materials research and industry collaboration that served and strengthened the MRL.

Please join me in congratulating Cem on his new appointment, and in thanking both Kim and Carl for their longstanding service to MIT materials science.

Sincerely,

Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research