Background:

Brandon's research at LLNL is centered on modeling phase transformations in metallic and ceramic systems, employing atomistic, mesoscale, and machine learning techniques. His focus lies in high-throughput computation for materials design and expanding Calphad modeling into novel state and property regimes, embracing uncertainty quantification, and integrating Calphad with physics-based simulations and machine learning. As the co-lead for PyCalphad and the lead for the ESPEI project, Brandon is a driving force in open-source scientific software, advocating for innovation and serving on the board of the Materials Genome Foundation. Brandon is also actively engaged in delivering regular software workshops on the tools he works on, facilitating knowledge dissemination within the scientific community.

Brandon earned his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Michigan State University, where he contributed to projects involving solid oxide fuel cells. He later earned his Ph.D. from Penn State as a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow. His diverse doctoral projects included developing ESPEI, designing tools for modeling additive manufacturing of functionally graded materials including joining stainless steel to titanium alloys, modeling alloys with thermodynamically stabilized nano-sized grains, and predicting glass-forming ability for bulk metallic glasses.

Research interests: Materials design and modeling, high performance computing, metallurgy, additive manufacturing, functionally graded materials, uncertainty quantification

 

PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Penn State, University Park, PA

BS, Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Hz5aqyoAAAAJ

Robert E. Newnham Award for Research Excellence, Penn State University (2020)

Larry Kaufman Scholarship, Calphad XLIX Conference (2020)

Runner Up, NASA Software of the Year (SoY) award for PyCalphad (2019)

Helen R. and Van H. Leichliter Graduate Fellowship, Penn State University (2016)

 

Board member, Materials Genome Foundation (2022-present)