Dallas R. Trinkle

Dallas R. Trinkle is an Ivan Racheff Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio State University (2003) and joined UIUC's faculty in 2006 after postdoctoral research at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His research focuses on computational methods to study defects in materials at the atomic scale, including density-functional theory and machine learning applications in diffusion and mechanical behavior.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Physics, Ohio State University, 2003
• Postdoctoral Researcher, National Research Council (Air Force Research Laboratory), 2003–2006

Research Interests:

Trinkle’s work centers on defects in materials, including dislocations, point defects, and interfaces, with applications to structural metals like magnesium, titanium, and palladium. Key areas include:

• Computational materials science using atomistic methods (DFT, tight-binding)
• Mechanical behavior of alloys and phase transformations
• Mass transport mechanisms, including diffusion of interstitials and solutes
• Machine learning for materials discovery and predictive modeling

Awards:

• TMS Young Leader International Scholar (2008)
• NSF CAREER Award (2009)
• Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2011)
• TMS Brimacombe Medal (2019)

Advising & Grants:

Trinkle mentors graduate and postdoctoral researchers in computational materials science. His research is supported by NSF, Boeing, and the Department of Energy. He has developed educational modules integrating computation into undergraduate curricula, emphasizing digital materials and atomic-scale simulations.

Labs & Groups:

His research group maintains a Trinkle Group page with resources on computational tools (e.g., Mg solute database on GitHub) and ongoing projects.