Kalinin Receives SEC Faculty Achievement Award
Sergei Kalinin, Weston Fulton Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Tickle College of Engineering, has received a 2026 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. One of the SEC's highest honors, the award recognizes excellence in teaching, research and service.
"I'm incredibly grateful for this recognition," Kalinin said. "It reflects not just our team's work but the collaborative efforts by many of my colleagues at UT, the unwavering support of UT leadership and the opportunity we have right now to shape the future of materials science."
Kalinin is receiving the honor for driving innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and materials science, where his work is reshaping how new materials are designed, tested and studied.
Automating the future of materials discovery
Materials science supports nearly every modern technology, from infrastructure and energy systems to microelectronics and advanced manufacturing. Yet until recently, Kalinin notes, the process of discovering and validating new materials had remained relatively unchanged compared to his first research experience 30 years ago.
Over the past decade, advances in big data and machine learning have enabled researchers to predict promising new materials computationally. More recently, attention has turned to automating the experimental side of science—and Kalinin's work is at the forefront of that shift.
He develops machine learning-driven systems that can not only predict new materials but also synthesize and characterize them at unprecedented speed. At UT, Kalinin and his collaborators have built some of the nation's first fully autonomous experimental platforms, including scanning probe microscopes and electron microscopes capable of operating with minimal human intervention and at an accelerated pace.
For now, UT remains one of the only universities in the country with these capabilities fully built and operationalized.
"Developing these systems requires expertise across many fields: materials science, machine learning, computer science, instrumentation and engineering," he said. "No single person can do it alone."
This highly collaborative approach has brought together researchers across disciplines to build capabilities that remain rare in the United States.
Preparing the next generation
Beyond research, Kalinin is preparing students to lead in a rapidly evolving scientific landscape. Recognizing a growing workforce gap, he has developed new courses that introduce students to machine learning in materials science and the design of autonomous laboratories, equipping them with skills that are increasingly in demand across academia and industry.
"We need people who understand both experimental research and AI tools," Kalinin said. "The future belongs to those who can use machine learning as part of the experimental hands-on work in research and development labs, manufacturing and product lines. That combination is still very rare and very valued."
Positioning the university as a leader
Kalinin sees this moment as a major opportunity—not just for his field but for the university as a whole. As federal agencies and industry continue to invest in AI-driven discovery, institutions that can connect materials science, artificial intelligence and manufacturing stand to lead the next era of technological advancement.
"If we build the infrastructure that connects AI-driven materials discovery directly to manufacturing and deployment, UT will become a major hub for advanced materials innovation," Kalinin said.
About the award
For more than a decade, the SEC Faculty Achievement Award recognizes one faculty member from each SEC university for outstanding contributions in research and scholarship.
Previous UT recipients are Paul Armsworth, Distinguished Service Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Alison Buchan, Carolyn W. Fite Professor of Microbiology; Elbio Dagoatto, Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics; Louis Gross, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; J. Wesley Hines, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Engineering; Suzanne Lenhart, Chancellor's Professor and James R. Cox Professor of Mathematics; Hap McSween, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Susan Riechert, Distinguished Service Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Tony Schmitz, Richard Rosenberg Distinguished Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering; Daniel Simberloff, Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies; Gregory Stuart, Professor of Psychology; Carol Tenopir, Chancellor's Professor Emerita of Information Sciences; Leon Tolbert, Min H. Kao Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Penny White, Professor Emerita of Law.
Provided by University of Tennessee at Knoxville
