Lee Hsun Lecture Series （236-L166）

Topic: Coating materials design for harsh environments - Are protective coatings predictable?

Speaker: Prof. Jochen M. Schneider, Materials Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University

Time: 10:00-11:30, (Thur.) Jun. 25^th, 2026

Venue: Room 468, Lee Hsun Building, IMR CAS

Abstract:

Designing the next generation of protective coating materials requires predictive computational approaches that go beyond traditional trial-and-error methods. Key design criteria include synthesizability, mechanical performance, as well as thermal and chemical stability. This talk will explore the good, the bad and the ugly of our predictive capabilities - highlighting successful experimental validations, as well as cases where theoretical models fall short. Based on this analysis, the presentation will also address implications for future material design efforts particularly in the context of structural and compositional complexity.

CV：

Jochen M. Schneider, Ph.D., is Professor of Materials Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. His research focuses on the quantum-mechanically guided design of thin films with tailored thermal and chemical stability, as well as elasticity. He also designs self-reporting materials.

He has studied materials engineering at FH-Furtwangen, Germany,and graduated from Hull University, U.K. with M.Sc. (1995) and Ph.D. (1997) degrees in engineering, design and manufacturing. He holds a docent degree (2001) in thin film physics from Linköping University, Sweden. After post doc stints at Linköping and Berkeley, he accepted the position of Professor of Materials Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany in 2002.

In 2001, Jochen was awarded the Sofya Kovalevskaya Prize by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for his excellence in thin film materials science research. The award, which is granted for outstanding talent and a creative approach to research, is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany.

Jochen was named a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS) in 2013 and Fellow of the Max Planck Society (2015) and of RWTH Aachen University (2015).

He was elected to the Board of Trustees of Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Leipzig,Germany,in 2018 and in 2019 he was appointed member of the Henry Royce Institute Strategic Facilities Advisory Board, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

In 2020 he received the Bill Sproul award from the Advance Surface Engineering Division of the AVS. In 2022 he received the Rudolf-Jaeckel-Award of the German Vacuum Society (DVG) and was appointed in the same year as a member of the advisory committee of the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden. In 2023 Jochen was appointed as Honorary doctor in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Uppsala University, Sweden. In 2026 he was awarded the Lee Hsun Lecture Award on Materials Science by the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Furthermore, he serves as editorial board member in Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) and Surface and Coatings Technology (Elsevier) as well as in the editorial advisory board member of Applied Surface Science Advances (Elsevier).