USF College of Arts and Sciences’ Dr. Ioannis (Yannis) Spanopoulos, assistant professor of the Department of Chemistry and principal investigator of The Spanopoulos Group at USF, has been named a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials.
(Photo courtesy of Ioannis Spanopoulos)
The title of ‘Fellow of IAAM’ is awarded to researchers who have made significant contributions to the advancement of material science, engineering, and technology, according to IAAM.
“It can be viewed as a badge, showcasing that you are externally recognized by your community as having achieved something,” he said.
Upon joining USF in 2021, he formed the Spanopoulos Group consisting of post-doctoral fellows, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students.
“Our goal is to utilize our synthetic skills to develop next-generation, multifunctional materials for energy and environmental-related applications,” he said. “Our success will allow us to address current material deficiencies for terrestrial and space applications.”
During their brief time together, the group has created two new families of materials: the porous metal halide semiconductors (PMHS) and the crystalline fullerene-based metal halide semiconductors (FMHS), both of which set new paradigms in advanced materials discovery and innovation.
And now they’re just getting started.
“This [fellowship] stands out as an additional motivation to work harder in pursuit of research excellence,” Spanopoulos said.
He recently presented the group’s work at the North American Solid-State Chemistry Conference (NASSCC) in August, while in November he gave a talk at the Advanced Materials World Congress.
Beyond research, the Spanopoulos Group performs regular outreach activities to schools in the broader Tampa Bay area. Corresponding activities are designed to introduce and educate students about the world of chemistry, allowing them to gain valuable insights into the field and foster a passion for scientific learning.
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