Chemistry & Biochemistry
Let's make Quantum Materials together!
Professor
Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, Chem & Biochem
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Maryland Quantum Materials Center
University of Maryland, College Park
Email: efrain@umd.edu
Phone: (301) 405-1541
About Me
Welcome to our website! I am passionate about solid state chemistry, crystallography, neutron scattering, quantum materials, mentoring, science nonprofits, and broadening participation in the sciences. Originally from a small town in West Texas (Pecos, TX if you want to look it up), I have lived all over the US for my education and career. I received my B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Materials Science and Engineering and my PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. While at UCSB I worked with my PhD advisor Sir Tony Cheetham, FRS, and also had the opportunity to work with Drs. Alfred Sattelberger and Anna Llobet at Los Alamos National Laboratory. After my PhD, I went to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for a National Research Council post-doctoral fellowship. I then joined the University of Maryland College Park where I have been since 2012.
During my time as an Assistant Professor, it was my great honor to receive the Margaret C. Etter Early Career Award from American Crystallographic Association and the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. In 2019, I joined the Board of Directors at the American Institute of Physics. In 2022, I was elected to the US National Committee on Crystallography and the Executive Committee of the Neutron Scattering Society of America. Recently, I took my sabbatical as a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany with the help of the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.
In 2023, the University of Maryland gave me the great honor to name me as a Distinguished Scholar Teacher. Since 2024 I have had the privilege to serve on the Board of Directors for SACNAS, an organization I care deeply about for student mentoring and professional development.
For more information, you can download my short CV or my long-form CV. Here is a link to my LinkedIn if you would like to connect there as well.
Fundamentals Of Quantum Materials: A Practical Guide To Synthesis And Exploration
Efrain E Rodriguez, Johnpierre Paglione, Nicholas P Butch
Despite a long tradition of sophisticated, creative materials synthesis among quantum materials researchers, a sense of broader community has been lacking. In initiating the Fundamentals of Quantum Materials Winter School held annually at the University of Maryland, we wanted to bring together the next generation of growers to learn techniques and pointers directly from senior scientists, and it turns out that we were not alone. The enthusiasm from both students and teachers has been both gratifying and invigorating. Four schools later, we can confidently say that physicists, chemists, and materials scientists, experimentalists and theorists alike, all want to know how to make a good sample. With this in mind, we asked our lecturers to record their most important ideas and share their expertise with a broader audience. This resource is a compilation of fundamental and practical guides on the modern methods of materials synthesis utilized by these experts. We hope that you enjoy reading their essential guidance and state-of-the-art techniques as you explore the Fundamentals of Quantum Materials.
