2025 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit

Keynote Breakfast, Presented by the Women in Materials Science & Engineering Shared Interest Group

Wednesday, April 9
7:00 am – 8:30 am
Summit, Level 5, Signature Room

Prineha Narang

University of California, Los Angeles

Driving Quantum Materials Out-of-Equilibrium

Nature's most fascinating phenomena occur far from equilibrium - from the swirling storms of Jupiter to the dance of quasiparticles in quantum systems. While textbooks might portray physics through the lens of equilibrium, our Universe is dynamic, perpetually seeking but never reaching balance. This lecture will discuss both fundamentals of nonequilibrium dynamics in quantum materials and applications of these in next-generation quantum devices. Advances in theoretical understanding and computational approaches to correlated states in materials, paired with leading experiments in ultrafast nonlinear optical spectroscopy now allow us to reveal emergent states created by strongly nonequilibrium external drives. Following a pedagogical introduction to these advances, this talk will present the latest results in accessing observables in nonequilibrium interactions with coupled dynamics of spins, nuclei and light.

People from all backgrounds in materials science are encouraged to attend this discussion and complimentary breakfast.

Advance sign-up is required. A limited number of seats are available. Please join us for an enjoyable and engaging presentation.

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Biography

Prineha Narang is a professor in Physical Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she holds the Howard Reiss Chair. Prior to moving, she was an assistant professor of Computational Materials Science at Harvard University. Before starting on the Harvard faculty in 2017, Narang was an Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE), and worked as a research scholar in condensed-matter theory in the Department of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received MS and PhD degrees in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology. Her group works on understanding correlated quantum materials, nonequilibrium dynamics and transport in quantum matter. In 2023, she was appointed a U.S. Science Envoy by the State Department. Narang’s work has been recognized by many awards and special designations, including the 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship in Physics, American Physical Society (APS) Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, 2022 MRS Outstanding Early-Career Investigator Award, Mildred Dresselhaus Prize, Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Max Planck Society Sabbatical Award, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics, National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Global Scholar, and Top Innovator by MIT Technology Review (MIT TR35). Narang has organized several symposia and workshops at APS and MRS. 

Narang is also the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Aliro, a venture capital-backed U.S. quantum network company. At Aliro, she spearheads the effort in quantum information toward commercializing scalable quantum networks. Further, she has worked with various companies including Applied Materials and Northrop Grumman Corporation over the last years on building and expanding their quantum technology programs. Outside of science, Narang is an avid Ironman-triathlon racer and marathon runner.