Vincent Meunier

Vincent Meunier is the P. B. Breneman Chair and Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he also serves as Department Head. He holds joint appointments in Engineering Science and Mechanics and Physics. His research focuses on computational and theoretical nanoscience, with expertise in density functional theory, electronic structure, energy storage, quantum materials, and Raman modeling.

Meunier earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Namur (Belgium) in 1999. Before joining Penn State in 2022, he was a department head and endowed chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Physical Society (APS), and the Institute of Physics (IOP).

• Education: Ph.D. in Physics, University of Namur (Belgium), 1999
• Affiliations: College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, College of Engineering Science and Mechanics

His research group develops large-scale computational methods to study atomic-scale properties of materials, emphasizing low-dimensional systems such as graphene and nanoribbons. Collaborating with experimentalists, his work bridges quantum mechanics at the nanoscale and practical applications in energy storage and electronics.

• Grants & Projects: Includes U.S. Navy-funded studies on strain rates in graphene and National Science Foundation projects on peridynamics frameworks and 2D nanopores.
• Labs/Teams: Leads a multidisciplinary team focusing on computational materials science and nanotechnology.