The Materials Research Society (MRS) has named Glenn H. Fredrickson, University of California, Santa Barbara, as the recipient of the 2017 Materials Theory Award “for pioneering the development of field-theoretic computer simulation methods and their application to investigate and design self-assembling polymers and soft materials.” Fredrickson will be recognized at the 2017 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston. The Materials Theory Award, endowed by Toh-Ming Lu and Gwo-Ching Wang, “recognizes exceptional advances made by materials theory to the fundamental understanding of the structure and behavior of materials.”

Over the past decade, Fredrickson and his group have shown that the complex-valued statistical field-theory models of classical fluids can be addressed through numerical simulation. Such “field-theoretic simulations” (FTSs) have an advantage over conventional particle-based computer simulations in a variety of situations, especially dense melts of high-molecular-weight polymers and systems with long-ranged interactions, such as polyelectrolytes. They are also well suited for multiscale simulations spanning nanometers to microns.

Fredrickson’s presentation will introduce the construction of field-theory models of polymeric fluids and the FTS framework. Two application examples will be provided: the design of uniquely hard-tough-elastic thermoplastics, and the complexation behavior of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. He will also discuss a “coherent states” representation of interacting polymers that offers potential computational advantages. A structural similarity with bosonic quantum field theories suggests a powerful new FTS approach to probe super fluidity and other exotic collective phenomena in cold bosons.

Fredrickson received BS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Florida and Stanford University, respectively. He was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories from 1984 to 1990, and has been on the chemical engineering and materials faculties at the University of California, Santa Barbara, since that time. Fredrickson has advised a wide range of companies in the chemical and materials sectors and has served as chief technology officer of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation during 2014–2017. He has received major research awards from the American Physical and Chemical Societies and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.