Marc De Graef
John and Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering
Faculty Director, Materials Characterization Facility
Marc De Graef received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics from the University of Antwerp (Belgium) in 1983, and his Ph.D. in physics from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1989, with a thesis on copper-based shape memory alloys. He then spent three and a half years as a postdoctoral researcher in the Materials Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara before joining Carnegie Mellon University in 1993 as an assistant professor. He is currently a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and faculty director of the Materials Characterization Facility. In 2023, he was appointed as the John and Claire Bertucci Distinguished Professor of Engineering. He was recognized as the 2025 recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award in the physical sciences by the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) as well as the Peter Duncumb Award for Excellence by the Microanalysis Society.
Behind the Researcher
Education
1989 Ph.D., Physics, Catholic University of Leuven
1983 MS, Physics, University of Antwerp
1983 BS, Physics, University of Antwerp
Media mentions
De Graef recognized as distinguished scientist
MSE’s Marc De Graef was selected by the Microscopy Society of America as the 2025 recipient of the Society’s Distinguished Scientist Award in the physical sciences.
Materials Science and Engineering
De Graef recognized for achievement in microscopy
Professor Marc De Graef has been selected by the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) as the 2025 recipient of the Society’s Distinguished Scientist Award in the physical sciences.
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation
Scott Institute Seed Grants Support CMU Energy Projects in Eleventh Annual Round
The Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation’s Seed Grants for Energy Research program will support three research projects in the 2023 cycle.
Five Engineering faculty receive professorships
ECE’s Yuejie Chi, MSE’s Marc De Graef, ECE’s Swarun Kumar, ECE’s Brandon Lucia, and MechE’s Rebecca Taylor recently received professorships in Engineering for their outstanding scholarly achievements.
Materials Characterization Facility
X-Ray Laboratory Opens in Materials Characterization Facility
MCF recently expanded its footprint to the second floor of Hamerschlag Hall with the addition of a new X-Ray laboratory.
CMU Engineering
CMU software aids materials scientists worldwide
Marc De Graef has developed a materials characterization software so powerful it can create orientation maps from low-quality materials.
CMU Engineering
Faculty projects awarded DURIP funding
Three College of Engineering faculty members have been selected to receive funding for their projects through the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP): Marc De Graef, Anthony Rollett, and Rebecca Taylor.
CMU Engineering
Magnetic symmetry is not just like looking in a mirror
Vincent Sokalski and Michael Kitcher have uncovered the quantitative explanation for magnetic symmetry breaking during domain wall motion, a contribution to the fundamental physics of technology needed to build faster computers.
CMU Engineering
Behind the Researcher
The College of Engineering is known for our cutting-edge research, academic rigor, and amazing students, but you might be surprised by some of the other talents of our award-winning faculty.
Materials Science and Engineering
MSE researchers win best poster
MSE Ph.D. student Nisrit Pandey and recent Ph.D. graduate Maxwell Li won first place in The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society poster competition. Their advisors are MSE’s Marc De Graef and Vincent Sokalski.
CMU Engineering
Air Force partnership to fuse AI and materials research
CMU and Air Force Research Laboratory establish 5-year, $7.5M Center of Excellence in data-driven materials research.
De Graef to deliver keynote at Microscopy Society of South Africa conference
MSE’s Marc De Graef has been invited by the Microscopy Society of South Africa to present the 2019 John Matthews Materials Sciences Keynote Lecture at the Society’s 56th Annual Conference in Langebaan, South Africa, on December 3rd, 2019. This will be followed by an invited talk at a two-day workshop immediately after the conference.