Houston Science CenterBuilding 593 – (713) 743-8200

A Message from The Director

Welcome to the TcSUH website that describes our current organization, research programs, collaborations with industry and activities in education and outreach. The website also provides links to our publications and recent news and events.

About TcSUH

TcSUH is a large multidisciplinary university-based superconductivity and advanced materials research center, with over 200 faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, housed in the Houston Science Center and several other buildings on the University of Houston campus. The Center has personnel from the departments of chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering that create and develop high temperature superconducting (HTS) and advanced materials and further their fundamental understanding, and applications.

Research Divisions

The Center encompasses three major research divisions. Superconductivity and Related Materials explore the fundamental aspects of HTS and related materials, and has applied programs in the development of HTS wire, biomedical technologies, and devices for communications, transportation, space, and defense.

Energy Materials and Applications conducts collaborative research in HTS energy transmission and storage for energy production, distribution and utilization and in the area of fuel cells, and ion transport membranes. Nanoscale Materials and Applications has programs in nanomagnetics, inorganic nanomaterials, binano materials, and organic nanocomposite films.

The newly established Applied Research Hub provides infrastructure and capabilities for applied research to attract companies to engage in collaborative research and development, targeting HTS-based products and processes for energy and medicine.

The Next Generation of Scientists

Training the next generation of scientists and engineers is central to TcSUH’s mission. The Center’s extensive education and outreach activities support science education at the graduate, undergraduate, elementary, and secondary school levels through programs that provide opportunities for student research, disseminate current superconductivity and complex materials research and applications, encourage students to pursue science and engineering careers, and enhance elementary and secondary science and teacher professional development.

The TcSUH Heritage

The high temperature superconductivity heritage of TcSUH stems from the breakthrough discovery of superconductivity above liquid nitrogen temperature by Paul Chu and co-workers. This work continues in TcSUH in the search for new high temperature superconductors, the theoretical understanding of high temperature superconductivity, and the application of high temperature superconductivity to the nation’s electrical, medical, transportation, and communications needs.

Allan J. Jacobson, Director
Robert A. Welch Chair of Science and
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

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