Engineering properties of multifunctional materials

Ferroelectrics and piezoelectrics are the most versatile multifunctional materials with applications ranging from medical echography and ultrasonic therapy, via mobile communications, pressure sensing, scanning systems, fuel injection, memories, energy harvesting, heat sensing to image stabilization. Engineering these materials for a specific application is a challenging scientific task. Interestingly, tailoring of the properties is often accomplished by introducing defects into materials on various length scales, and describing those efforts will be a core of this talk. Properties can be controlled by defects by adjusting the degree of their randomness, interaction of defects with strain and polarization, ionic mobility and introducing dislocations, to name only a few available mechanisms. These interventions often lead to discovery of unexpected phenomena, illustrating the serendipitous nature of materials science, and opening paths for new applications and improved understanding of properties. Besides functional properties, environmental and biocompatibility issues have to be taken into account when engineering materials, which makes property optimization particularly challenging. As an example, I will briefly touch upon personal experience with societal, scientific, and engineering challenges and dilemmas raised in replacing lead-based piezoelectric materials with biocompatible alternatives.
Bio: Dragan Damjanovic received BSc diploma in Physics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Sarajevo, in 1980, and PhD in Ceramics Science from the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 1987. From 1988 to 1991 he was a research associate in the Materials Research Laboratory at the PSU and  joined the Ceramics Laboratory, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne in 1991. At EPFL, he was "professeur titulaire", head of the Group for Ferroelectrics and Functional Oxides at the Institute of Materials and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on structure and electrical properties of ceramic materials. The research activities included fundamental and applied investigations of piezoelectric, ferroelectric and dielectric properties of ceramics, crystals, thin films, polymers and composites. He is a Fellow of IEEE and Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and has received several awards for his research and teaching, including Humboldt Research Award. He participated in the organization of several scientific conferences and was associate editor of four journals. Damjanovic presently serves as the president-elect of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society.