Javier E. Garay is the Kazuo Iwama Chair in Materials Science and a professor in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program the University of California San Diego. He is founding director of the Fusion Engineering Institute at UC San Diego and was Associate Dean for Research in the Jacobs School at the Jacobs School of Engineering from 2020-2025. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. and Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on materials processing, property measurements and the integration of materials in devices. The application spaces are in optics, magnetism, thermal management and fusion energy. Prof. Garay is on the editorial advisory board for Applied Physics Letters and is a Deputy Editor for AIP Advances.