The Materials and Manufacturing for Aerospace and Extremes Laboratory (MMAX Lab), led by Professor Daniel Oropeza, is focused on advancing materials and manufacturing science and technology, with particular interest in aerospace platforms and applications in extreme environments.
In the MMAX Lab, we aim to understand the influence of manufacturing processes on material microstructure and performance, with the purpose of informing process optimization, developing novel techniques to control material behavior, and enabling responsive manufacturing solutions.
2025 MMAX Lab members (not pictured: Jessica Lu)
Our approach couples fundamentals from material science and mechanical engineering, spanning the study of material synthesis and characterization, machine and equipment design, and manufacturing process fundamentals. For this, we use and continue to develop state-of-the-art synthesis and manufacturing testbeds, including systems for metal atomization, inkjet-based ceramic processing, and powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.
In performing our multidisciplinary work, which extends from fundamental principles to applications, we engage with a diverse set of public and private sponsors and collaborators.
Research
News
Prof. Oropeza wins SHPE Young Investigator Award!
Prof. Oropeza has won the 2025 Young Investigator Award for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE).
Thank you to the STAR Awards Selection Committee for their support and to SHPE for the honor!
MMAX Lab receives equipment grant from ONR!
The MMAX Lab has received an equipment grant from the Office of Naval Research. This award will fund equipment for elemental analysis of impurities (C/H/N/O/S), upgraded ultrasonic atomization equipment, high-speed imaging tools, and dedicated computing hardware for machine learning to advance our work on ultrasonic atomization and refractory alloys.
Thank you to our sponsors at ONR for their continued support!
Logan wins the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Logan Winston has been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) to support his work in understanding the fundamentals of ultrasonic atomization of metals. Extremely proud of Logan's hard work and a particularly exciting award given added competition this year. We look forward to Logan's continued development at the MMAX Lab as a result of the NSF fellowship.
Congratulations, Logan!
LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative Award
Prof. Oropeza has been awarded the LLNL Early Career UC Faculty Initiative award. This award will fund our work in near-net-shape processing of ultra-high temperature ceramics and provide key interactions with LLNL.
Thank you to the LLNL Award Selection Committee for their support and we look forward to a sustained collaboration between UCSB and LLNL!
More details here.
Global Young Investigator Award
Prof. Oropeza has been named the 2025 Global Young Investigator for the American Ceramics Society (ACerS) Engineering Ceramics Division (ECD).
Thank you to the ECD Global Young Investigator Award Selection Committee for their support and to ACerS for the honor.