Material Science and Engineering

Biography

Since January 2002, Dr. Matthew E. Edwards has held the position of Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics at Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL and served as Dean, of the School of Arts and Sciences, from 2007 to 2011, a period of 4.5 years. Previous academic positions held by Dr. Edwards prior to 2002 include associate professorships at Spelman College, in Atlanta, GA and Fayetteville State University, in Fayetteville, NC, and he was a visiting associate professor and adjunct faculty member for ten years at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA, and an assistant professor of physics at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, in Pine Bluff, AR. Three summer faculty research positions that he held were at the ROME Air Force Research Lab, ROME NY, in 1996, NASA Langley Research Laboratories, Hampton, VA, in 1983, and the Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC, in 1982. Dr. Edwards is a Condensed Matter Physicist with research expertise in (1) materials of electrooptics, (2) pyroelectric/resistivity/dielectric properties of crystals and nano-particles doped organic thin films, (3) the production of large organic thin films, (4) solitons wave theory, and (5) STEM Education research and problem solving. Dr. Edwards has more than 40 publications* (please see the below message). Also, he has guided four students to advanced degrees: three to the Ph.D., and one to the master’s degree, and has served on more than 12 other dissertations and theses committees. Presently, he is guiding two Ph.D. and two master’s degree students. Also, he sits on the Board of Directors of one science journal publication and one for science education. Dr. Edwards (a scholar/researcher in the physical sciences) holds the Ph.D. and Master’s degree in physics from Howard University, received in 1977 and 1975, respectively, and a B.S degree in engineering physics from North Carolina A&T State University, in 1969. His additional formal studies include: (1) physics courses at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1987, (2) certificate course of the American Chemical Society on Surfactants, Micelles, Liposomes, Liquid Crystals, Emulsions and Microemulsions, at Clarkson College, Potsdam, NY, in 1998. (3) Faculty summer certificate course in materials science at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL, in 2000, and (4) certificate course in “managing technical professionals and organizations at MIT, Boston, MA, in 2009. Dr. Edwards as principal investigator (PI) has also received several minorities-targeted grants from NIH, and one minorities-targeted grant each from NASA and two from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the one summer faculty-targeted grant from the Air Force Office Of Scientific Research. As PI or Co-PI, Dr. Edwards has had several other grants as well. At AAMU, Dr. Edwards founded the Annual STEM Day, in 2006. Also, he founded in 2009 the IDC-HSHD&M (the Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Health Disparities, and Materials), which, as a center, has assisted more than 16 young faculty members and others to develop their research programs.

Research Interest

Dr. Edwards is a Condensed Matter Physicist with research expertise in (1) materials of electrooptics, (2) pyroelectric/resistivity/dielectric properties of crystals and nano-particles doped organic thin films, (3) the production of large organic thin films, (4) solitons wave theory, and (5) STEM Education research and problem solving.