Brown, Jonathan

Biography

Professor Jon Brown joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in 2020. He is the Assistant Professor of Practice for the undergraduate materials science and engineering program in addition to being the MSE ABET Coordinator. 

In his role as a professor of practice, Brown focuses on the area of computational materials science and undergraduate curriculum development, including online instruction and innovative methods to enhance learning and assessment. Dr. Brown develops and helps execute state-of-the-art courses in materials science and engineering, including coordinating and developing various core classes in the undergraduate curriculum.

He also teaches courses on computational materials science sequence and oversees the maintenance of scholarships in engineering education and its associated outreach activities. 

Education

  • B.S. in Applied Mathematics (minor in Physics), New Mexico Tech
  • M.S. in Applied Mathematics with an Industrial Math specialization, New Mexico Tech
  • Ph.D. in Materials Engineering (minor in Physics), New Mexico Tech

 

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Article on classroom use of VR featured on homepage of osu.edu, August 2018
  • Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) user project Jan. 2018- June 2019, grant of time to work with Amalie Frischknecht at Sandia National Laboratory
  • STEAM Powered Projects funding through the STEAM Factory at Ohio State
    • Buckeye Virtual Reality (as collaborator), April 2016
    • Enhanced Interactivity for BuckeyeVR (as collaborator), May 2018
  • Junior Investigator Award, 2013 MRS Fall Meeting, from the organizers of Symposium A: Modeling and Theory-Driven Design of Soft Materials
  • Graduate Research Fellowship through Sandia National Laboratory, 2008-2011 with Douglas Adolf (2008-10) and Amalie Frischknecht (2010-11)
  • Ashman Award Materials Engineering Departmental Award, 2010
  • Tech Scholar New Mexico Tech Undergraduate Award, 2006

 

Service and Outreach

Reviewer
  • Macromolecules
  • ASEE Computers in Education (CoED) Journal
  • ASEE First Year Engineering Experience (FYEE) Conference
  • Journal of Chemical Physics
  • Journal of Physical Chemistry
  • Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics
  • Polymer
COSI 2017–2018
  • Presented research and outreach demonstrations at COSI’s “Interview with an Engineer” program
Outreach at Ohio State University Summer 2013–Spring 2018
  • Advised an undergraduate researcher in creating a demonstration using interactive molecular dynamics simulations of simple polymers and presented this demo to the public at multiple outreach events
Project GUTS 2009–2011
  • Facilitator – taught basic programming in StarLogo TNG to a class of middle schoolers
New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge 2008–present
  • Judge
  • Mentor
  • Provided feedback for student proposals and interim reports
  • Kickoff Presenter – co-taught a class on optimization
Faculty mentor

Dr. Brown is a member of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering's Climate and Inclusivity Committee, which is committed to fostering a community of inclusive excellence that promotes everybody's potential without bias.

Expertise

Area of interest

  • General materials science and engineering
  • Polymeric materials
  • Computational/modeling of materials

Research background

The focus of Dr. Brown's research at New Mexico Tech was the use of statistical mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations to study polymer glasses.After earning his Ph.D., Brown moved to Ohio in 2012 for a post-doctoral research position in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Department of Chemical Engineering   |   2015-2019
As a research scientist with the Department of Chemical Engineering (2015-2019), Dr. Brown advised undergraduate researchers and studied:
  • Fluids density functional theory of salt doped microphase separating copolymers and block ionomers
  • Self-consistent field theory of microphase separating polymers
  • Advising undergraduate researchers
Department of Engineering Education   |   2015-2020

Beginning in 2015, he split his time between computational polymer research and teaching in the Department of Engineering Education (section 118X).

Nationwide Children's Hospital   |   2018-2019
Jon was a research scientist studying agent-based modeling of bacterial biofilms at Nationwide Children's Hospital from 2018-2019
 
Department of Chemical Engineering   |   2015-2019
As a research scientist with the Department of Chemical Engineering (2015-2019), Dr. Brown advised undergraduate researchers and studied:
  • Fluids density functional theory of salt doped microphase separating copolymers and block ionomers
  • Self-consistent field theory of microphase separating polymers
  • Advising undergraduate researchers

In 2020, he joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering full time.