Professor of Materials Science and Mechanics

Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University (2005)
M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University (2000)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1997)

• TMS Early Career Faculty Award (2013)
• SES Young Investigator Award (2013)
• World Economic Forum in Davos invitee (2012)
• NASA (inaugural) Early Career Faculty Award (2012)
• DOE Early Career Award (2011)
• DARPA Young Faculty Award (2009)
• National Academy of Engineering's U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (2009)
• TR-35 Top Young Innovator Under 35, Technology Review's award honoring the world's top young innovators (2008)
• NSF CAREER "In-situ Investigation of Plasticity at the Nano-scale" award (2007)
• Gold Medal recipient of the MRS Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2004)
• Winner of Redwood Symphony Piano Concerto competition (2004, 2006) as well as the U.S. Open Concerto Competition (2003).

Julia R. Greer received her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering (with a minor in Music) from MIT, after which she worked as an intern in Components Research Department of Intel Corp. while pursuing a M.S. In Materials Science at Stanford University, where she built a novel X-ray diffractometer in order to study mechanical properties of materials in computer microprocessors. Subsequently, after working at Intel's Mask Operations Department for 2 years, Julia received a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University studying size effects in plasticity of metals at the nano-scale with Professor William D. Nix. Prior to starting her appointment as a faculty member at Caltech in June of 2007, Julia was a post-doctoral fellow at PARC, Palo Alto Research Center, from August of 2005 until May of 2007. In order to broaden her expertise, she worked on investigating the behavior of organic semiconductor - thin film transistors (OTFTs) as well as nano-ink-derived metals for jet-printing in flexible electronics with Dr. Robert A. Street. Throughout her scientific career, Julia has also been pursuing her "secondary career" as a concert pianist - having studied at the Moscow's Gnessin School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and at Stanford. She has performed numerous solo recitals (most recently at Caltech's "Off the Clock" event in 2011), chamber music concerts (most recently in Lagerstrom Series at Caltech with violinist C. Kovalchik), as well as as a soloist with an orchestra (most recent performance of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Redwood Symphony).

Julia Greer is set to appear as a guest on a new Discovery Channel show in the spring of 2012, hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters!

Julia Greer on set with Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.