Advisory Board

The mission of the MSE External Advisory Board (EAB) is to guide the shaping of the goals of the department.

The External Advisory Board provides advice to the department leadership regarding priorities and directions for engineering education and research. Board members are from the private sector and academia, and include both alumni and other individuals who are interested in the success of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Elif Balkas

Chief Technology Officer at Wolfspeed and leads technology strategy and innovation for silicon carbide semiconductor materials and devices. (NC State MSE Ph.D. ’05)

Paul Besser

Enterprise Fellow and Vice President, Device Integration Solutions Leader for Advanced Innovation and Technology at Engris, bringing decades of leadership experience in semiconductor manufacturing and materials engineering. (NC State MSE B.S. ’88)

Elizabeth Dickey

Professor and Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and is internationally recognized for her research in electron microscopy and functional materials.

Ben Gaddy

Senior Director at Breakthrough Energy, where he works at the intersection of energy innovation, policy and technology commercialization. (NC State MSE Ph.D. ’13)

Natalie Gibson-Corrigan

Chief Operating Officer for North America at Klipboard and provides leadership in technology operations, business strategy and organizational growth. (NC State MSE M.S. ’09, Ph.D. ’10)

Ibrahim Karaman

Chevron Professor and Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University and is known for his research in advanced alloys, shape memory materials and materials processing.

Mike Mills

Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University and is a leading researcher in structural materials, deformation mechanisms and electron microscopy.

Brent Neal

Senior Customer Applications Leader at Aurorium and brings extensive experience in specialty materials, customer engagement and industrial product development. (NC State MSE B.S. ’96)

John Russell

Senior Executive Service Superintendent of the Chemistry Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he leads research programs critical to national defense and scientific discovery.

Izabela Szlufarska

Harvey D. Spangler Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is internationally recognized for her work in computational materials science and multiscale modeling.

Anand Tanikella

Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation at Trinseo and leads global innovation efforts focused on advanced polymer and materials technologies. (NC State MSE M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’96)

Andy Thomas

Vice President of Research and Development at CoorsTek, Inc., where he oversees innovation and product development for advanced ceramic materials and technologies. (NC State MSE B.S. ’90)