Hanna Kindlund

Hanna Kindlund is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is affiliated with the College of Engineering and holds an office in 255 Holden Hall. Her research focuses on advanced materials synthesis and nanomechanics, particularly involving transition-metal nitrides and carbides.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Materials Science, Linköping University (2014)
• M.S. in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, Linköping University (2010)

Research interests include ultra-high vacuum reactive magnetron sputtering, epitaxial thin film growth, and nanomechanical characterization of 2D layered materials. Her work emphasizes understanding structure-property relationships in hard materials like VC and NbC single crystals, with applications in high-performance coatings and nanodevices.

Publications highlight innovative approaches to thin film growth (e.g., self-organized nanorods on MgO), vacancy-engineered toughening mechanisms, and high-entropy alloy nitrides. Recent work explores slip activity in single crystals and graphene-supported Ta₂C films.

Received the NanoLund Junior Researcher Ideas Award (2017) for contributions to materials innovation. Active in both experimental and theoretical studies of materials behavior at micro/nanoscales.