![Mkari McDougall in a laboratory](https://www.boisestate.edu/coen-aml/wp-content/uploads/sites/674/2023/06/Mkari_REU.jpg)
Mkari McDougall joins the Advanced Materials Laboratory this summer as part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. The REU program is funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF), in an effort to engage undergraduate students in research in meaningful & impactful ways.
Mkari is spending her summer at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), with Dr. Brian Jaques as her faculty mentor. She is originally from Seattle, WA and is currently studying chemical engineering at Colorado School of Mines. She chose Colorado because she loves the mountains and skiing. She loves to read, cook, ski, and wakeboard!
This summer Mkari is researching how to develop high entropy alloys for nuclear applications. These alloys show promise as they have high strength and hardness, and are resistant to wear, radiation, and corrosion. High entropy alloys consist of at least 5 principal elements with the composition of each between 5 and 35%. Elemental powders will be mixed to create the alloy which will then go through a process of ball milling and spark plasma sintering before being characterized through XRD and SEM. Her goal is to successfully create a new alloy from this process. Welcome Mkari!