Michele Manuel is the Department Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida.  She received her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University in 2007 and her BS in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida.  She is and ASM Fellow and the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NSF CAREER, NASA Early Career Faculty, ASM Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers, AVS Recognition for Excellence in Leadership, TMS Early Career Faculty, TMS Young Leaders Professional Development, and TMS/JIM International Scholar Awards.  Her research lies in the basic understanding of the relationship between processing, structure, properties and performance. She uses a systems-based materials design approach that couples experimental research with theory and mechanistic modeling for the accelerated development of materials. Her current research is focused on the use of systems-level design methods to advance the development of new materials through microstructure optimization.  Of specific interest are lightweight alloys, self-healing metals, computational thermodynamics and kinetics, shape memory alloys, and materials in extreme environments – specifically under high magnetic fields or under irradiation.