Prof. John B Vander Sande

Professor Vander Sande has taught courses for both undergraduate and graduate students at MIT. At the undergraduate level, he taught Solid State Chemistry, a course for first year undergraduates who have not yet declared a major; subjects for Materials Science and Engineering majors including Defects in Solids and Physical Metallurgy; and a wide spectrum of laboratories, including X-Ray Diffraction and Electron Microscopies, and a senior level Design Laboratory where integration of the students’ undergraduate preparation focused on solving a materials design problem. At the graduate level, Professor Vander Sande has concentrated on advanced diffraction theory and its applications.

In research, Professor Vander Sande’s areas of expertise include observation of the structure of materials, particularly metals and ceramics, through the use of various forms of electron microscopy. He performs research on the relationship between the way in which a material is processed and the structure and properties the material exhibits. Much of his early research involved the modification of structure through rapid solidification processing. Along with work on iron-based and aluminum-based alloys, Professor Vander Sande has been deeply involved in high temperature superconducting oxides first discovered in 1986. In addition, he has been investigating carbonaceous material produced by combustion processes with an orientation toward correlating particle structure and composition with the particle source. Professor Vander Sande has also been investigating elevated temperature Mg alloys and fullerene formation in flames.