Research Highlights

BDI Professor Wins UNT Decker Award: The Feelable Magic of Materials Science Solutions

Dr. Diana Berman, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, has had a busy year and a busy career. Most recently, Berman received the UNT Division of Research and Innovation’s Decker Scholar Endowment Fund award, which recognizes a full-time tenured (or tenure-track) faculty member who demonstrated research excellence in science and technology. Berman will be recognized at the Salute to Faculty Excellence award reception on April 16.

This recognition is no surprise, as Berman has established herself as one of the leading scholars in STEM research at UNT. Berman made the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List—which identifies the world’s leading researchers based on citation impact—in every year since 2020. Berman also has licensed a number of patents, an indication of how seamlessly her academic research informs real-world solutions to problems in US industry.

An expert in tribology—the study of “design, friction, wear, and lubrication of interacting surfaces in relative motion”— Berman specializes in the subfield of superlubricity (achieving near-zero friction). Her specialization not only evolved from her interest in the practical problem of how to combat friction (“one of the major reasons for the failure of engines”) but also informs her work in the BioDiscovery Institute, which enabled her to move beyond “traditional tribology” to the novel properties of “plant-based oils.”  As Berman explains, “Plant-based lubricants come from renewable sources and tend to be biodegradable. Many plant oils already have excellent lubrication properties, meanwhile traditional synthetic oils usually require a large number of additives to reach reasonable performance.” Berman’s achievements extend from an early inspiration:

I became interested in materials science because I wanted to work on problems that have a feelable impact on the world around us. Tribology affects almost every mechanical system, from engines and manufacturing equipment to medical devices. Even if you are not in science and engineering, seeing the impacts of friction and wear is inevitable.  Superlubricity caught my attention because it felt almost magical: the idea that friction could be completely eliminated and systems can move almost without any efforts.

Berman’s inspiration and achievements provide an important touchstone for UNT’s next generation of STEM professionals in the Dallas-Fort Worth biotech hub. She urges new and prospective members of the STEM workforce: “don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone, to explore new opportunities and directions.  Before joining BDI I never worked with plant-based oils. But this new opportunity brough me to completely new discoveries.”

Berman continues to bring those new discoveries to fruition at UNT. She is currently developing a new Tribology Center at UNT to become “a strong base for connections with industry” since many problems in tribology research “come directly from real-world applications.” Berman is committed to achieving real-world solutions through academic research and industry-university partnerships. As she sees it, “working with industry partners helps ensure that research outcomes can move beyond the lab.”

Congratulations to Dr. Berman and to the future of STEM research at UNT!