The design and characterization of new materials — from nanomaterials to biomaterials — with applications across engineering, medicine, and technology.

Materials science operates at the intersection of innovation and unknown risk. Novel materials often enter widespread use before their long-term toxicological, environmental, and social implications are understood.

The Sufi tradition's ethics of mastery (itqan) — doing work with excellence and precision — applies with particular force to materials design, where the consequences of professional decisions accumulate quietly across supply chains and ecosystems.