Biography
Professional Background
Michael is a Deputy Group Leader and Staff Scientist in the High Performance Materials Group within the Materials Science Division. His research focuses on intelligent soft materials—liquid-metal/polymer composites, 4-D-printable elastomers, 3-D printed silicones, and plastic scintillators— all for non-proliferation, energy, and soft-robotics applications. Prior to LLNL, he was a postdoctoral researcher in Carnegie Mellon University’s Soft Machines Lab, where he studied active polymesr including self-healing and shape-morphing elastomers. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials (2018) from UC Santa Barbara, investigating polymer semiconductors, and a B.S. in Chemistry (2012) from UC Davis. Michael is a technical expert in soft-matter synthesis, additive-manufacturing formulations, actuators with low modulus, and polymer characterization, and he leads multi-disciplinary teams developing next-generation functional materials.
Research Interests
- Soft matter synthesis and processing
- Additive manufacturing formulations
- Plastic scintillators
Education
- PhD, Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2018
- Data Science Certificate Program, Data Science, Naval Postgraduate Academy, 2022
- BS, Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 2012
Publications
2024 6 publications
- Roca, C., Bowden, N. S., Carman, L., Dazeley, S. A., Durham, S. R., Falana O. M., Ford, M. J., Glenn, A. M., Hurlbut, C., Li, V. A., Mendenhall, M. P., Shipp, K., Sutanto, F., Zaitseva, N. P. Performance of large-scale 6Li-doped pulse-shape discriminating plastic scintillators. NIMA. (2024)
- Ford, M. J.,Porcincula, D. H., Telles, R., Mancini, J. A., Wang, Y., Rizvi, M. H., Loeb, C. K., Moran, B. D., Tracy, J. B., Lewis, J. A., Yang, S., Lee, E., Krikorian, C. C. Movement with light: photoresponsive shape morphing of printed liquid crystal elastomers. Matter. (2024).
- Armas, J. A., Ford, M. J., Foster, K. P., Hall, T., Loeb, C. K., Schmidt, S., Williams, S. F., Baron, K. L., Pérez Pérez, L. X., Xie, F., Bryson, T. M., Lenhardt, J. M. Electrostatic Dissipation in 3D-Printable Silicone. ACS Appl. Mater. Int.(2024).
- Zaitseva, N., Carman, L., Glenn, A., Kim, Y., Ford, M. J., Eccleston, G., Hurlbut, C., Shipp, K. Performance stability of plastics for neutron-gamma pulse shape discrimination. NIMA. (2024).
- Ford, M. J.,Lenhardt, J. M. Controlling Curing Kinetics and Network Structure of Polysiloxanes Using Curing Accelerators and Inhibitors. US Patent App. 18/197,603. (2024).
- Ford, M. J.,Zaitseva, N. P., Carman, M. L. Lipophilic lithium salts for direct dissolution in organic scintillators. US Patent App. 18/229,038. (2024).
2023 6 publications
- Kim, Y., Zaitseva, N., Ford, M. J.,Carman, L., Glenn, A., Febbraro, M., Hausladen, M. J., 3D printable polyvinyltoluene-based plastic scintillators with pulse shape discrimination. NIMA. (2023).
- Chandler, C., Porcincula, D. H., Ford, M. J., Kolibab, T. J., Fein-Ashley, B., Brodsky, J., Killgore, J. P., Sellinger, A. Influence of fluorescent dopants on the vat photopolymerization of acrylate-based plastic scintillators for application in neutron/gamma pulse shape discrimination. Add. Manuf.(2023).
- Zaitseva, N. P., Carman, M. L., Ford, M. J., Glenn, A. M., Roca, Ch., Durham, S., Sutanto, F., Dazeley, S. A., Bowden, N. S., 6Li-loaded liquid scintillators produced by direct dissolution of compounds in diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN). NIMA. (2023).
- Ford, M. J., Aigeldinger, E., Sutanto, F., Zaitseva, N. P., Li, V. A., Carman, M. L., Glenn, A., Catala, C. R., Dazeley, S. A., Bowden, N. Synthesis and processing of lithium-loaded plastic scintillators on the kilogram scale. NIMA. (2023).
- Ohm, Y., Liao, J., Luo, Y., Ford, M. J.,Majidi, C., Reconfigurable electrical networks within a conductive hydrogel network. Adv. Mater. (2023).
- Brodsky, J., Ford, M. J.,Golobic, A., Hook, C., Lee, E., Porcincula, D. H., Zhang, X., Chandler, C., Sellinger, A., Polyvinyl toluene scintillators produced using cationic photoinitiators for additively manufactured radiation detectors. US Patent App. 18086379. (2023).
2022 2 publications
- Ford, M. J., Zaitseva, N. P., Carman, M. L., Dazeley, S., Bernstein, A., Glenn, A., Akindele, O., Pulse-shape discrimination in water-based scintillators. NIMA. (2022).
- Ford, M. J.,Majidi, C. Multifunctional Shape Morphing Elastomer With Liquid Metal Inclusions. US Patent App. 17/486,713. (2022).
2019 3 publications
- Bridges, C. R., Ford, M. J., Bazan, G. C., Segalman, R. A. Formation and Structure of Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Mesophases in Donor-Acceptor Semiconducting Polymers. US Patent App. 10/249,821 (2019).
- Ford, M. J.,Bazan, G. C. Stable organic field-effect transistors by incorporating an electron-accepting molecule, US Patent 10,367,144 (2019).
- Bridges, C. R., Ford, M. J., Thomas, E. M., Gomez, C., Bazan, G. C., Segalman, R. A. Branch point effect on structure and electronic properties of conjugated polymers. US Patent App. 16/144,512 (2019).
2017 1 publication
- Ford, M. J.,Wang, H., Bazan, G. C., Organic semiconductor blends for switching ambipolar transport to n-type transport, US Patent App. 15/599,816 (2017).
Awards
Department of Energy I-Corps Program
Academic Collaboration Team
Interlaboratory LDRD
Department of Energy I-Corps Program
Global Security Silver Award
LLNL Internship Award
PLS Directorate Scientific & Technical Award
BioPACIFIC MIP Associates Program Award
MRSEC Rising Stars in Soft and Biological Matter Honorarium
Graduate Opportunity Mentor Fellowship
APS Ovshinsky/DMP Travel Award Honorable Mention
MRL-Dow Travel Fellowship
International Center for Materials Research Fellowship


