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Dr. Benji Maruyama, principal materials research engineer based in the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL’s, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, displays a model of a carbon nanotube structure in his research lab in 2016. Carbon nanotubes are of great interest to materials scientists due to their strong, lightweight structure, ability to conduct heat and electricity better than many other materials, and promising implications for reducing the effects of climate change. In the spring of 2023, Maruyama was named a Materials Research Society, or MRS, fellow largely due to his extensive efforts to promote and develop carbon nanotube research. The MRS, currently 13,000 strong, has named less than 2% of its current members as fellows. “Carbon nanotubes are these wonderful materials that are super stiff, super strong, lightweight, electrically and thermally conductive,” Maruyama explained. “They have all these great properties that we can harness to make all kinds of things that we need, more sustainably — but, we don’t have the science yet to make them at scale, meaning at millions of tons per year. If we can do it at scale, we might just be able to reduce global CO2 emissions by, say, 20% to 40%, which allows us to meet 2050 goals.” (U.S. Air Force photo / Marisa Novobilski)