Dr. Patricia McGuiggan is an associate research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
How did you get interested in materials science? What interests you the most about materials science?
My background is very mixed. I have a BS in Chemistry and Math and a PhD in Chemical Engineering, so I am not trained as a traditional Materials Scientist. However, I consider myself a Surface Scientist, and since every material has a surface, I am able to find any material interesting. That is one of the things that most interests me about Materials Science; the fact that it is so varied. From hard materials such as metals and ceramics to soft materials such as adhesives, polymers and biomaterials, you can study a range of range of materials with unique chemical and physical properties. I also enjoy studying materials that have real world applications and understanding how these materials behave at the molecular level.
What do you consider your biggest research accomplishment so far?
One of my favorite and most fun projects was the study of the adhesion and friction between two surfaces separated by molecularly thin lubricant films. My colleagues and I showed how the friction, including stick slip motion, is dictated by the structure and packing of the lubricant molecules. We showed how the friction forces and shear stresses can vary many orders of magnitude when separated by a few molecular lubricant layers. I am currently having a lot of fun studying historic materials including ancient Greek Ceramics and aging books and paper. In the ancient Greek Ceramics project, Sanchita Balachandran, Matt Hyleck and I are trying to recreate ancient red figure ceramic pottery using the same processes and materials that would have been used. The materials science in this process is quite complex and it is fascinating to imagine how much science the ancient Greek artists may have understood in making these beautiful pieces.
Where do you see the future of your field of research headed? What innovations are coming?
Since a lot of what I do entails testing and characterization of materials, I see the experimental techniques having greater resolution with faster speed. We can now image, identify, and manipulate atoms and molecules with amazing precision. These techniques will continue to improve allowing us to create, characterize, and measure an infinite number of materials with unique properties.
What advice do you have for students and young engineers engaging in materials research?
First of all, enjoy what you are doing. Second, take a variety of classes from writing to computer science to biology to physics to archaeology. These classes will not only expose you to a wide variety of disciplines and give you the tools to approach and tackle problems, they will also allow you to effectively communicate with experts in the field and allow you to imagine what might be possible. Third, take chances, try experiments which might not work, and observe. Unexpected results are where true scientific breakthroughs occur.