Reeja Jayan

Reeja Jayan is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with courtesy appointments in Materials Science & Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering. She leads the Far-from-Equilibrium Materials Laboratory (J-Lab), focusing on electromagnetic field-driven material synthesis and energy-efficient manufacturing. Her research spans ceramics, polymers, and energy storage systems, with breakthroughs in low-temperature material processing and data-driven discovery. Jayan holds prestigious awards including the ARO and AFOSR Young Investigator Awards, and is a CMU Engineering Dean’s Early Career Fellow. She pioneered game-based learning using Minecraft to teach materials science. J-Lab’s work includes additive manufacturing of ceramics, field-assisted synthesis, and autonomous robotic platforms for materials engineering. Jayan advises a dynamic team of graduate and undergraduate students, with notable alumni in academia and industry.

Education:

• M.S. in Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
• Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
• Postdoctoral Associate in Chemical Engineering, MIT

Research Interests: Materials synthesized under electromagnetic fields, far-from-equilibrium processing, additive manufacturing of ceramics, energy storage systems, and data-driven autonomous synthesis. J-Lab’s work merges experiments with computational models to explore novel material behaviors and sustainable manufacturing techniques. Key thrusts include low-temperature ceramic synthesis, field-induced phase transitions, and machine learning-guided robotics for materials discovery.

Publications: Over 50 peer-reviewed articles in top journals like Advanced Materials and Journal of the American Ceramic Society, focusing on electromagnetic field applications, battery interfaces, and ceramic processing innovations.

Grants & Awards:

• NSF CAREER Award (2018)
• CMU Scott Institute Seed Grant (2020)
• Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Center of Excellence funding

Labs & Teams: J-Lab collaborates with industry and national labs, including the AFRL and NIST. Projects include developing closed-loop robotic systems for materials synthesis and low-emission ceramic manufacturing processes.