Dr. S. Pamir Alpay is the General Electric Endowed Professor in Advanced Manufacturing in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs, CT. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1999 and joined UConn’s MSE in 2001, serving as department head from 2013 to 2017. Dr. Alpay is currently the Executive Director of UConn Tech Park, leading multidisciplinary R&D programs in a state-of-the-art research facility. He is also Director of one of its programs, UTC Aerospace Systems Center for Advanced Materials.

Dr. Alpay’s research employs a palette of theoretical tools ranging from ab initio computations to basic thermodynamic models towards understanding materials properties across multiple length scales. He and his students have laid much of the critical theoretical groundwork on the development of electrically tunable dielectrics, pyroelectrics for solid state heating/cooling, and atomistic design of compositionally graded ferroelectric devices.

Dr. Alpay is an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). Notable awards include the NSF CAREER grant in 2001, the UConn School of Engineering Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2004, and the UConn School of Engineering Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 2013. He has over 170 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, four invited book chapters, and an invited book on graded ferroelectrics. 

Dr. Alpay has been a member of the American Ceramic Society since 2002. He is involved with the Electronics Division and has organized four symposia at the annual Electronic and Advanced Materials Applications (EAM) meetings.