Katherine T. Faber, who will be joining the Caltech faculty in July 2014 as the Simon Ramo Professor of Materials Science, has been elected to the 2014 American Academy of Arts and Sciences class of fellows. Professor Faber's research focuses on understanding fracture and toughening of brittle materials such as those used for high-temperature coatings for power generation applications.
She also works on the fabrication of ceramic materials with controlled porosity. She is cofounder and codirector of the Northwestern University-Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts (NU-ACCESS), which employs advanced materials science techniques for conservation science. She is a Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society (2013), and became a National Science Foundation American Competitiveness and Innovation Fellow in 2010. [Caltech Release]