-
Press Release
September 20, 2022
UL Research Institutes Creates Materials Discovery Research Institute; Names Dr. Stuart R. Miller MDRI’s Inaugural Vice President and Executive Director
"Through our new Materials Discovery Research Institute, we aim to identify and address new material technology risks and meet emerging human health needs as we support the safe, just, and equitable deployment of novel materials around the world,” said Terrence R. Brady, president and CEO of UL Research Institutes. “Dr. Miller is the right leader for these ambitious plans. He brings extensive scientific experience and large team leadership to MDRI, supporting our ongoing efforts to increase the scale and scope of UL Research Institutes.”
MDRI will pursue research to understand how modifications to the chemical composition and structure of materials can help resolve today’s global safety challenges. As part of its broader safety science efforts, the institute aims to address environmental resilience and sustainability through the development and deployment of novel materials and devices based upon those materials. MDRI’s mission calls for reducing or eliminating the adverse impacts of humanity’s reliance upon fossil fuel resources and enabling an energy transition to renewable, sustainable sources by advancing materials technology and performance. MDRI is the fifth research institute within the UL enterprise, joining the Chemical Insights, Digital Intelligence Safety, Electrochemical Safety and Fire Safety research institutes.
As inaugural executive director, Miller will steer the MDRI vision, oversee the institute’s in-house research and expand collaboration with leading academic and other institutional research partners. His team will also be responsible for furthering education and engagement on the topic of materials safety with policymakers, manufacturers and consumers, helping to ensure that they make informed decisions on the adoption and implementation of specific technologies.
“Through MDRI, we are working to create and more thoroughly understand advanced materials that will help resolve today’s complex public safety risks — including the urgent challenge of producing energy resilience for a sustainable future,” said Dr. Christopher J. Cramer, UL Research Institutes’ chief research officer. “Dr. Miller’s considerable expertise in materials science innovation and problem solving will help us accelerate foundational materials discovery.”
A demonstrated leader of interdisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers, Miller worked in various capacities at Honeywell UOP for more than 10 years before joining UL Research Institutes. Most recently, Miller worked as a senior manager and principal scientist, leading Honeywell UOP’s Energy Storage Group. In his time at Honeywell, he established several labs that enabled all aspects of battery development. Earlier in his career, he worked in research at UVSQ in France, where he also served as a postdoctoral research fellow.
“Each research institute within the UL enterprise is known across the scientific community as a research center of excellence, and I’m honored to serve as the inaugural VP and executive director for the Materials Discovery Research Institute,” Miller said. “I look forward to joining the UL Research Institutes leadership team as we further the ways we support our mission of working for a safer world.”
An inventor or co-inventor on more than 30 U.S. and foreign patents, Miller is co-author of 24 peer-reviewed journal articles and a book chapter. Miller holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Dundee in the U.K., where he graduated with honors, and a doctorate in materials chemistry from the University of St. Andrews, also in the U.K. He is a native of Scotland.
About UL Research Institutes
UL Research Institutes is a leading independent safety science organization with global reach. Dedicated to exploring vital questions related to public safety, we sense and act on risks to humanity and our planet.
Since 1894, our trusted research has engaged the ingenuity of top minds across scientific disciplines to engineer a safer and more sustainable world. Science builds the knowledge required to mitigate increasingly urgent safety problems like environmental and chemical pollution or artificial intelligence inequities — and our rigorous, objective investigations uncover that knowledge.
In collaboration with a global network of scientists and safety professionals, we define the safe and sustainable use of things ranging from legacy materials to new and emerging technologies. Our discoveries support the development of practical standards and policies by UL Standards & Engagement. Together, we are advancing safety science for the greater good.
Contact
Mimi Bhattacharyya
Director of Strategic Communications
mimi.bhattacharyya@ul.org