Events

Dr Erich Wimmer, scientific director of Materials Design, a company that develops software for materials research, will give a lecture at the Silesian University of Technology. The event will take place on Wednesday, 12 June at 12:00 in Hall A of the Education and Congress Centre, at 18 B Konarskiego Street, Gliwice.

Title: Multiscale Materials Modeling in the Age of Machine Learning
Abstract:
Modeling the processing, service performance, and environmental degradation of materials is a multiscale and multiphysics challenge. This applies to a wide range of materials including batteries, high-strength and light-weight materials, biodegradable polymers, materials for electronic and optical applications, and materials for extreme conditions such as fusion reactors. This lecture will provide an overview of the present approaches encompassing advanced electronic structure methods, large-scale atomistic simulations using machine-learned interatomic potentials, and finite element methods capturing microstructures and their evolution. Specific examples will include Li-ion batteries, radiation damage and corrosion in the current generation of nuclear power plants and in future fusion reactors, as well as examples from polymers and fluids related to CO2 capture. An assessment of current capabilities of physics-based simulations and machine learning will show the exciting opportunities for future research and developments in multiscale materials modeling.

Biography:
Erich Wimmer is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Materials Design, a company developing software and providing services for materials research. He received an engineering degree in 1974 from the University of Technology in Vienna, Austria, and a doctoral degree in chemistry in 1977 from the same institution. As research associate with Prof. A. J. Freeman at Northwestern University, Illinois, USA, Dr. Wimmer was instrumental in the development of the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method for calculating structural and electronic properties of solids and surfaces. In 1985 he joined Cray Research in Minnesota as Technical Director, where he initiated and headed an industrial consortium to develop a new generation of software for materials modeling ("UniChem"). In 1992 he was hired by Biosym Technologies in San Diego to start an industrial consortium in electronic, optical, and magnetic materials. At Materials Design he is leading a team having so far carried out well over 100 major research projects for industrial customers. Dr. Wimmer is the author and co-author of over 130 scientific publications and book contributions. He has given numerous invited talks worldwide. Dr. Wimmer has been selected as “Outstanding Referee” by the American Physical Society. He is also member of the Materials Research Society, the American Chemical Society, and the American Nuclear Society.