UTM2 2026

2026 Summit on Ultra-high Temperature Materials and Manufacturing (UTM²)

Extreme environments in energy, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing demand materials capable of operating at ultrahigh temperatures while maintaining structural integrity and functional stability. Developing such materials and their synthetic strategies represents a grand challenge in materials science and is essential for enabling next-generation technologies in hypersonics, advanced nuclear systems, concentrated solar power, and high-efficiency energy conversion. In response to these challenges, the 2026 Ultra-high Temperature Materials and Manufacturing (UTM²) Summit was created as a platform to foster knowledge sharing and academic excellence in the field of materials designed for extreme environments. The upcoming Summit, hosted by the Yale Center for Materials Innovation, will be held at Yale West Campus, West Haven, Connecticut, USA, from September 14-15, 2026.

High-temperature materials offer exceptional thermal stability, mechanical strength, and resistance to degradation under extreme conditions. These properties make them indispensable for technologies operating far beyond the limits of conventional materials. However, significant challenges remain, including difficulties in synthesis and processing, oxidation and corrosion at high temperatures, and limited manufacturability.

More than thirty leading experts from academia, industry, national laboratory, and federal agencies will share their perspectives on emerging high-temperature materials and synthesis technologies and their role in enabling next-generation extreme-environment applications. The Summit will explore a wide range of topics, including synthesis of refractory metals and alloys, ultra-high-temperature ceramics, advanced high-temperature composites, extreme-environment processing methods, Artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) and automation, microstructural evolution during rapid heating and cooling, oxidation resistance, and thermal stability. In addition, discussions will also cover emerging approaches in computational materials science, artificial intelligence, and high-throughput experimentation for accelerating materials discovery, design, and synthesis for extreme thermal environments.

Location: Yale West Campus Conference Center (800 West Campus Dr., West Haven, CT)

Date: Sep 14 (8:30 am) – Sep 15 (noon), 2026

Host: Yale Center for Materials Innovation

Program

Monday, September 14

*Poster Exhibition: showcasing Ph.D. & Postdoctoral research throughout the summit. (Platinum Sponsor: Abbott Furnace Company)

7:45 AM Breakfast (Platinum Sponsor: Abbott Furnace Company)

8:30 AM Opening Remarks

Liangbing Hu, Yale University

Avinash Dongare, University of Connecticut

Session 1 – Ceramics, Metals

Chair: Jeffrey Youngblood

8:40 AM How Can We Accelerate the Development and Manufacturing of High-Temperature Materials? Lessons Learnt From the Recent ARPA-E ULTIMATE Program

David Clarke, Harvard University

9:00 AM Refractory Compositionally Complex Ceramics, Nanocrystalline Alloys, and Dual-Phase Composites

Jian Luo, University of California San Diego

9:20 AM Advanced High-Temperature Composites: Enabling Next-Generation Thermal Management and Thermal Runaway Protection for EVs and Data Centers

Hua Wang & Fei Wang, Saint-Gobain Innovation Hub – North America (Silver Sponsor)

9:50 AM Coffee Break (Silver Sponsor: Saint-Gobain)

Session 2 – Ceramics, Metals

Chair: David Clarke

10:10 AM Processing of Ceramics for High Temperature Applications

Jeffrey Youngblood, Purdue University

10:30 AM Can Machine Learning Predict the Glass Forming Ability of Alloys?

Jan Schroers, Yale University

10:50 AM Materials Design for High Temperature Applications using Calphad-Based Modeling Enhanced by Materials Informatics

Wei Xiong, University of Pittsburgh

11:10AM From UHS to USP: Inventions Enabling Ultrafast Materials Synthesis and Processing

Liangbing Hu, Yale University

11:30 AM Modeling Approaches for Understanding Laser-Driven Phenomena in Materials Processing

Avinash Dongare, University of Connecticut

11:50 AM Yale Engineering Dean’s Welcome

Jeffrey Brock, Yale University

12:00 PM Group Photo

12:10 PM Lunch – (Silver Sponsor: USPlasma)

Session 3 – AI, ML, Automation

Chair: Ahmad Soltani

1:20 PM Addressable / Programmable Matter

Ioannis (Yannis) Kevrekidis, DOD DARPA / Johns Hopkins University

1:40 PM Toward Agentic and Physical AI for Science and Engineering

Na Li, Harvard University / Yale University

2:00 PM Foundation Neural Operators and Diffusion Models Over Function Spaces

Lu Lu, Yale University

2:20 PM Self-Driving Experimentation with Real-Time Multimodal Feedback: From Autonomous Synthesis to Agentic Chemistry

Yugang Zhang, Brookhaven National Laboratory

2:40 PM Accelerated Materials R&D via Holistic Experimentation-Computation Integration

Ji-Cheng (JC) Zhao, Dean of Engineering, University of Connecticut

3:00 PM Coffee Break (Silver Sponsor: Saint-Gobain Innovation Hub– North America)

Session 4 – Ultrahigh Temperature Processes, Characterizations

Chair: Jian Luo

3:20 PM Assessing the Printability of Refractory Alloys

Tresa Pollock, University of California Santa Barbara

3:40 PM Furnace Fundamentals for Continuous Processing of High Temperature Materials

Stephen Feldbauer, Abbott Furnace Company (Platinum Sponsor)

4:00 PM Material R&D for Electrification, Decarbonization, and Sustainability at GE Vernova Advanced Research Center

Hongyi Zhou, GE Vernova Advanced Research Center (Silver Sponsor)

4:20 PM USPlasma, Inc.: A Unique Thermal Plasma Reactor Platform for Ultrahigh-Temperature Synthesis and Treatment

Ahmad Soltani & Hamideh Soltani, USPlasma (Silver Sponsor)

4:40 PM Advanced Microscopy of Tungsten Oxidation: Linking Oxide Microstructure to Oxidation Resistance

Yuanyuan Zhu, University of Connecticut

5:00 PM Yale’s Ultrahigh Temperature Lab - UHS (Joule Heating) and USP (Plasma)- Optional

6:00 PM Dinner - (Platinum Sponsor: Abbott Furnace Company)

Dawa Restaurant (473 Saw Mill Rd, West Haven, CT), Carpool recommended

Tuesday, September 15

*Poster Exhibition: showcasing Ph.D. & Postdoctoral research throughout the summit. (Platinum Sponsor: Abbott Furnace Company)

7:45 AM Breakfast (Platinum Sponsor: Abbott Furnace Company)

Session 5 –Characterizations, Applications

Chair: Soydan Ozcan

8:30 AM Operando Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction: Insights into High-Temperature Synthesis and Far-From-Equilibrium Processing Pathways

Sanjit Ghose, Brookhaven National Laboratory

8:50 AM Orientation-Dependent Deformation Mechanisms in Niobium-Based Alloys

Udo Schwarz, Yale University

9:10 AM Electrified Ultrahigh-Temperature Synthesis and Manufacturing of Compositionally Complex Materials

Xizheng Wang, University of California Irvine

9:30 AM Thermal Spray as a Platform for Ultra High Temperature Materials Processing and Evaluation

John Saputo, Stony Brook University

9:50 AM Plasma Material Interaction: a Novel Concept of Plasma Response Catalysts for Chemical Synthesis

Yiguang Ju, Princeton University / Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

10:10 AM Coffee Break (Silver Sponsor: GE Vernova)

Session 6 – Characterizations, Applications

Chair: Udo Schwarz

10:20 AM Structure-Property Relationships of High Performance Carbon Fibers

Soydan Ozcan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

10:40 AM Accelerating Materials Innovation for Extreme Environments: Integrating Alloy Development with Processing Science

Andrew Kustas, Ames National Laboratory

11:00 AM Ultrafast High-Temperature Manufacturing of Advanced Catalysts, Coatings, and Membranes

Yunhui Gong, HighT-Tech (Silver Sponsor)

11:20 AM Design and Evaluation of Materials for Extreme Environments in the Aerospace Industry

Wesley Jackson, RTX / Pratt & Whitney

11:40 AM Two Decades of Innovation in High-Temperature Electrochemical Sensing: From Solid-State Reference Electrode Breakthroughs to In Situ Hot Corrosion Monitoring of Superalloys

Xingbo Liu, West Virginia University

12:00 PM Closing Remarks

Liangbing Hu, Yale University

12:10 PM Lunch (Silver Sponsor: HighT-Tech)