Alejandro H Strachan

Alejandro H Strachan is the Reilly Professor of Materials Engineering at Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering. He leads research initiatives in computational materials science, with a focus on molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning for materials discovery, and FAIR data infrastructure. His work spans high-pressure materials, energetic materials, and solid-state electrolytes for energy storage.

Research interests include shock physics, defect engineering in perovskites, and predictive modeling of phase transitions and mechanical behaviors. He develops open-source tools like nanoHUB and Sim2Ls to advance reproducible research. His contributions bridge atomistic simulations with continuum models, particularly in polymers and metallic alloys.

Recent work emphasizes data-driven approaches for materials design, including active learning frameworks for alloy discovery and generative models for property prediction. He collaborates on FAIR data standards and has pioneered studies on mechanochemistry in energetic materials under extreme conditions.

Key projects involve shock-induced reactions in HMX/RDX, machine learning for battery electrolytes, and hierarchical Bayesian methods for material property prediction. His lab explores both fundamental mechanisms (e.g., martensitic transformations) and applied areas like polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries.