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Dr. Cheryl Xu Research Group

research

Research

Designing performance across scales.

R / 01

From atomic bonding and microstructure to manufacturing systems and real-time control, AI-M3 connects the scales that determine whether advanced technology succeeds in the field.

 

Integrated research model

Function is designed into the material, enabled by the process, and understood through sensing and intelligence.

01

Materials

Multifunctional materials for extreme environments

We engineer composition, microstructure, and interfaces so one material system can deliver multiple functions—thermal protection, structural integrity, electromagnetic response, sensing, or communication—under severe operating conditions.

Metasurface-patterned ceramic sensor developed by the AI-M3 group
Metasurface-patterned ceramic sensor · Photo: NC State University

Representative directions

  • Polymer-derived SiC, SiOC, SiCN, and SiCNO ceramics
  • Ultra-high-temperature ceramic systems, including ZrB₂-based composites and HfC
  • Boron nitride nanotube-reinforced ceramic composites
  • Flexible ceramic films and hybrid ceramic–polymer systems
  • Electromagnetic absorbing, shielding, and radiofrequency-transparent ceramics
  • Metamaterials and metasurfaces designed for extreme conditions

Questions we pursue

  1. How do process conditions govern electrical, dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties?
  2. How can reinforcing phases improve toughness without sacrificing functional performance?
  3. How can material architectures be tuned across multiple frequency and temperature regimes?
02

Manufacturing

Processes that turn discoveries into engineering systems

Novel materials matter when they can be shaped, joined, coated, integrated, and reproduced. We study the process physics and manufacturing pathways needed to move advanced ceramics from formulation to useful components and devices.

Doctoral researcher Luke Joyce operating an electron beam melting system at NC State
Electron-beam manufacturing at NC State · Photo: NC State University

Representative directions

  • Additive manufacturing of ceramic and composite architectures
  • Electron-beam powder bed fusion of ultra-high-temperature ceramics
  • Selective laser reaction pyrolysis from liquid polymer precursors
  • Coatings, thin films, lay-up, co-curing, and hybrid integration
  • Process–structure–property modeling and experimental validation
  • Manufacturability, repeatability, scale-up, and qualification

Questions we pursue

  1. Which process windows preserve material functionality while enabling complex geometry?
  2. How can heat and mass transfer be controlled during rapid transformation?
  3. What measurements are needed to make a process repeatable and standards-ready?
03

Intelligence

Sensing, AI, and adaptive process control

We combine sensors, physics-based insight, and data-driven models to understand manufacturing processes and monitor engineered systems—especially where wires and conventional electronics cannot survive.

Conceptual ceramic sensing specimen near a high-temperature furnace
Conceptual illustration · extreme-environment sensing

Representative directions

  • Passive wireless radiofrequency sensors for temperature, pressure, and strain
  • Metasurface and metamaterial sensing architectures
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning for process modeling
  • Real-time monitoring, diagnostics, optimization, and closed-loop control
  • Nondestructive health monitoring and data integrity
  • Performance metrics, repeatability, drift, cross-sensitivity, and survivability

Questions we pursue

  1. How can a sensor remain interrogable beyond 1,500°C?
  2. How should physics and machine learning be combined when data are scarce?
  3. How can trustworthy decisions be made from manufacturing and operational data?

Application domains

Engineered for consequential environments

The group’s platform technologies address common materials, sensing, and manufacturing barriers across multiple mission areas.

Aerospace & hypersonics

Thermal protection, radar management, high-speed propulsion, and structurally integrated sensing.

Energy & nuclear systems

Materials and wireless monitoring for heat, radiation, corrosion, and limited-access environments.

Space exploration

Lightweight multifunctional systems, in-space manufacturing, and sensing where maintenance is difficult.

Defense & national security

Extreme-environment materials, electromagnetic functionality, survivability, and trusted manufacturing.

Industrial manufacturing

Process modeling, monitoring, optimization, automation, and repeatable scale-up.

Advanced transportation

Data-driven systems, health monitoring, and resilient materials for future mobility.

Research collaboration

Bring us the environments where ordinary systems fail.

AI-M3 collaborates with academic, government, national-laboratory, and industry teams on fundamental research, technology maturation, and validation.

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