Vincent H. Crespi

Professor Vin Crespi is a Distinguished Professor of Physics, Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State University. He received his Ph.D. in physics at UC Berkeley, and joined the faculty at Penn State in 1997. He is currently the Director of the Penn State Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Theory Lead of the 2D Crystal Consortium (an NSF Materials Innovation Platform), and co-PI of Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials with North Carolina Central University and Cal State University Los Angeles. He predicted carbon nanothreads in 2001, and participated in their experimental discovery in 2014. His research covers a broad range of condensed matter theory, from simple analytical models to large-scale computation. Topics include mechanical, optical, and electronic properties of semiconducting and metallic 1D, 2D and 3D nanostructures with special emphasis on synthesis, magnetic frustration, molecular and catalytic motors, mechanical response of cellulose, neutron star crust phase diagrams, information theory applied to materials, and self-assembly. Work on public outreach includes development of hands-on museum kits on nanomaterials in partnership with the Franklin Institute. His name appears on a blackboard in the movie Fat Man and Little Boy, if you know where to look.