We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our Seed PI, Prof. Maxx Arguilla: Selected as a 2025 IUPAC Young Observer. Maxx has been chosen by the U.S. National Committee as one of ten 2025 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)...
News & Updates
Congratulations to Héctor Pascual Herrero on Receiving the Henry Samueli Endowed Fellowship!
We are pleased to share that Héctor Pascual Herrero, a MRSEC Ph.D. student co-supervised by Regina Ragan and Ruqian Wu, has been awarded the Henry Samueli Endowed Fellowship. This prestigious fellowship recognizes his exceptional research contributions and academic...
Congratulations to Prof. Wilson Ho on Receiving the Fourth Heinrich Rohrer Grand Medal!
We are proud to announce that Prof. Wilson Ho, CCAM Seed PI, has been awarded the Fourth Heinrich Rohrer Medal – Grand Medal. This prestigious honor recognizes researchers who have made distinguished contributions to nanoscience and nanotechnology through advancements...
Research
Our research focuses on two key areas: advancing interface science in complex concentrated metals and ceramics by establishing structure-property relationships to guide the design of innovative materials, and developing self-assembly strategies to study fundamental charge-matter interactions in supramolecular “living” materials.
Together, these efforts lay the foundation for designing novel materials with enhanced functionalities and bioinspired properties for a wide range of applications.
Research Highlights
2025 IRG-2: Hierarchical Assembly of Conductive Fibers from Coiled-Coil Peptide Building Blocks
The paper describes the use of a short protein (peptide) sequence feature to control self-assembly using pH. We showed that this control allows access to structures unprecedented in nature or computationally designed protein assemblies. The resulting nanowires are...
2025 Seed: Anomalous Hall Spin Current Drives Self-Generated Spin–Orbit Torque in a Ferromagnet
Spin–orbit torques enable energy-efficient manipulation of magnetization by electric current and hold promise for applications ranging from non-volatile memory to neuromorphic computing. A team lead by Prof. Ilya Krivorotov of the CCAM seed project discovered a new...
2025 IRG-2: Cryo-EM Informed Molecular Dynamics Simulations to Investigate the Disulfide Hydrogel Self-Assembly
Disulfide hydrogels, based on cysteine-driven redox systems, exhibit remarkable self-assembly properties through reversible disulfide bond formation, making them a promising platform for dynamic material design. A research team from IRG-2, led by Prof....
Education & Outreach
CCAM is committed to fostering engagement, skill development, and long-term participation in STEM across all educational levels. Through hands-on modules, we introduce K-8 students to scientific concepts and career possibilities, while high school and college programs provide advanced training in materials science, including instrumentation, computational methods, and data analysis. Over the past four years, CCAM has engaged more than 1,000 students, inspiring future STEM leaders.
Our Junior Research Fellows, postdocs, and graduate students receive technical and professional development training to prepare for careers in both academia and industry. CCAM’s faculty and researchers have earned prestigious national awards and independent research funding, reflecting our dedication to advancing STEM education and career development.
Education Programs

Materials Bootcamp

Materials-SPIRE

Materials REU

Junior Research Fellows (JRF) Program
Materials Innovation Slam

Future Materials (K-12)
Facilities
IMRI’s world-class materials characterization facilities are central to interdisciplinary research at UCI and play a vital role in CCAM’s success. These state-of-the-art facilities operate 24/7 with support from dedicated technical staff and are accessible to UCI researchers as well as external academic and industrial partners. UCI’s leadership remains committed to expanding IMRI’s capabilities through new equipment acquisitions and technical upgrades. Recent additions include a Cryo-TEM (TFS Glacios) for soft material characterization, a pixelated direct electron detector on the Nion UltraSTEM 200 for enhanced imaging and spectroscopy of electron beam-sensitive samples, and a liquid-phase TEM holder for simultaneous heating and electrochemistry testing. Additionally, a customized double-tilt electro-cryo vacuum transfer holder has been introduced to improve imaging of soft and air-sensitive specimens, further advancing CCAM’s research capabilities.


