4/3/2017 Susan Mumm, Editor
Written by Susan Mumm, Editor
An alumnus as well as faculty member of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at Illinois, Allain focuses on the interaction of radiation and plasma with surfaces and interfaces from the nanoscale to the mesoscale. He investigates rational design of dissipative spatio-temporal structures synthesized via irradiation synthesis, yielding high-fidelity control of material properties in areas that span nuclear materials, biomaterials and nano to mesoscale materials.
“Prof. Allain’s group has forged new fundamental and applied research directions in emergent areas of material surfaces and interfaces exposed to extreme environments,” said NPRE Department Head Jim Stubbins. Allain’s group has “pioneered the use of in-situ and in-operando surface diagnosis and directed irradiation synthesis, complemented with multi-scale modeling developed to support these research themes.”
In five years, the work has resulted in over 70 peer-reviewed publications, 100 contributed presentations and over 40 invited talks at major national and international meetings; as well as over $5 million in funding from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Department of Defense.
Joining NPRE in 2013 as an associate professor, Allain also is an affiliate of Bioengineering and the Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology.
He started his academic career at Purdue University in 2007, following his position as a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory from 2003-2007.
Among Allain’s honors have been the DOE Office of Science Early Career Award in 2010, an Excellence in Research Award at Purdue University in 2011, the U.S. Fulbright Scholar 2015-2016 Fulbright-Colciencias Innovation and Technology Award and a 2016-2017 Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellow.
In addition to earning his master’s degree in 2000 and PhD in 2001 from NPRE, Allain earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the California State Polytechnic University.