MAE Seminar – Data-driven Discovery of Stable Surfaces with Tailored Properties via Equivariant Graph Neural N

Details

Dear Undergraduate and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff,
You are invited! UF Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s Seminar Series
This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some coffee, cookies, and captivating talks! These sessions feature amazing guest speakers, from academic trailblazers and industry movers to our very own faculty candidates showing off their expertise and fresh perspectives.
Come for the treats, stay for the engaging discussions, and connect with fellow MAE enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome!

Data-driven Discovery of Stable Surfaces with Tailored Properties via Equivariant Graph Neural Networks and Foundational Interatomic Potentials

November 20, 2025, at 12:50pm
Location: MAE-A 303

Dr. Lucas Lindsay
Research Scientist at Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Abstract
The management of thermal energy is a ubiquitous challenge in numerous sciences and technologies, from global climate issues to managing local hot spots in microelectronics. Computational materials modeling is playing an ever-increasing role in developing fundamental insights into vibrational and thermal behaviors of solids, which determine the utility of a material for applications including thermoelectricity, nuclear power generation, and heat dissipation. Here, I will discuss theoretical and numerical advances towards modeling lattice dynamical properties and thermal conductivity of materials, with specific examples to highlight predictive capabilities and the role of symmetries.
L.L. acknowledges support from the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.

Biography
Dr. Lucas Lindsay received a BS degree in physics from the College of Charleston in 2004. He did his PhD work on theoretical thermal transport in carbon nanostructures at Boston College and received his PhD in 2010. Following this he taught physics for two years at Christopher Newport University, then spent three years as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He has been a research scientist in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2014. He received the Department of Energy Early Career Award in 2019. His general research area is the theoretical description of vibrational and transport properties of condensed matter.

MAE Faculty Host: Dr. Jaeyun Moon