Manipulating molecules is tricky business, but two University of Delaware professors have earned international recognition for “outstanding scientific and technical contributions” to their respective science and engineering fields by being named 2021 AVS Fellows.

The College of Engineering’s Joshua Zide, professor of materials science and engineering, and chemistry and biochemistry professor Andrew Teplyakov recently earned the recognition of their peers at AVS, an international organization that promotes research and communicates advancements in the fields of surface, interface, vacuum, and thin film science and technology. This major international accolade is typically bestowed to more senior researchers and shows that the University of Delaware’s engineering faculty are truly world-class.

“AVS is such a fantastic professional society, bringing together academics, people in industry and at national labs, all in a wide range of fields related to electronic materials,” said Zide, who has been an AVS member for about 12 years.

Zide, who joined the College of Engineering in 2007, has focused his research on the “growth” of new materials, specifically implementing a technique called molecular beam epitaxy to produce films of new materials. By controlling the component elements in the film, his group has been able to create extremely pure films with perfect crystal structures. He also received the AVS Peter Mark Memorial Award in 2014 for outstanding early-career work.

Zide and Teplyakov were named 2021 AVS Fellows alongside about a dozen other scientists. Fellows of the society must be longstanding members and are recognized for their contributions of at least 10 years of professional impact in research, engineering, technical advancement, academic education or managerial leadership.

“It is a great honor to be a part of a very respected and celebrated group of experts in a long-standing international professional society,” said Teplyakov, who joined AVS shortly after graduate school in the mid-1990s. Teplyakov, who joined the College of Arts and Sciences in 1998, has been working with his group for many years to modify the topmost layer of surfaces with molecules that control chemical reactivity as well as the chemical and physical properties of surfaces.