Transportation of today is dictated by the ability to achieve high speed, maximum vehicle safety, minimum energy utilization, and low cost, none of which can be compromised. The challenge therefore, is the conflicting characteristics that are often required in materials to meet these demands. Advancements in air/water/land based transportation are consequently limited by the time it takes from development to deployment of materials that satisfy the demanding performance requirements.

This is one of the challenges where research guided by the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) has the potential to make a significant impact. MSE faculty are actively pursuing research in various aspects of materials for transportation, leveraging the MGI program paradigm. Some of the efforts include developing materials for sensors, batteries, fuel cells; as well as light-weight Al- and Mg-based alloys and high-performance third-generation steels for automobiles; high-strength fibers and composites for airplanes and automobiles, and blast resistant alloys for ship hulls.

The faculty listed below, have identified their primary research in the area of Transportation as the grand challenge being addressed in their work.