Careers in Advanced Materials Research and Innovation
Monday, February 16th, 2026; 5:30 – 6:30 PM CST
(Virtual)
This panel features professionals from industry and national laboratories who develop, test, and translate advanced materials into impactful applications. Panelists will share how they collaborate across disciplines, work with cutting-edge technologies, and navigate the fast-moving landscape of materials innovation. You will gain insight into career paths in materials research, product development, and applied engineering, and learn which technical and communication skills help STEM PhDs thrive in these evolving fields.
Margaret Panetta, Ph.D.
CTO at Qubic Technologies
Dr. Margaret (Meg) Panetta received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 2023. She used experimental tools from circuit quantum electrodynamics for projects in analog quantum simulation. After graduation, Meg moved to Canada to work as Lead Quantum Scientist at Qubic Inc., a quantum hardware startup company that builds platforms for RF quantum sensing and superconducting parametric amplifiers for qubit readout. In her current role as CTO of Qubic, she manages a team of scientists and engineers to scope and realize the company’s technical goals.
Elizabeth C. Miller, Ph.D.
Principal Engineer at Pratt & Whitney
Elizabeth (Beth) Miller grew up in suburban Philadelphia and earned a B.S. with honors from Penn State and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Her graduate work in materials science and engineering focused on the electrochemical and microstructural characterization of solid oxide fuel cells. After graduate school, she completed a postdoctoral scholarship at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park, CA where she used X-ray techniques to study Li-S battery chemistry. In her current role at Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, CT, Beth leads research and development tasks that progress new materials for aerospace applications. When not in the lab, Beth loves exploring New England with her husband and two boys.
J. Matthew Kurley, Ph.D.
R&D Staff Associate at Oak Ridge National Lab
Dr. J. Matthew Kurley received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2016. He specialized in developing functionalized nano-based for scalable printing of light absorbers for solar applications. Following his defense, he was hired as a postdoc at Oak Ridge National Lab to work on molten salt chemistry, thermophysical properties, and corrosion. Dr. Kurley was hired to the Fuel Development Section at Oak Ridge as R&D Staff in 2020. He started working on materials synthesis and fabrication for nuclear applications. In particular, he utilizes sol-gel chemistry to produce U-bearing fuel kernel ceramics for the development of tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel forms. These fuels can be used in both terrestrial and space applications in a variety of architectures.
