Her research pertains to fabrication, processing, and characterization of electronic materials, with recent focus on gallium oxide as a promising new wide bandgap semiconductor. In addition to her research, she holds leadership positions in a number of professional organizations and is heavily involved in professional service. She was the 2018 President of the American Vacuum Society (AVS), an international society pertaining to the Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing. She recently served as the Program Chair for the AVS 63rd International Symposium and is Program Chair of the Electronic Materials Conference. She is also an ABET Program Evaluator for materials engineering programs. Her awards include the Philbrook Prize in Engineering from CMU (2012), “Women Driving the Material World” Award from the Women & Girls Foundation (2006), a National Science Foundation Career Award (1999-2004), National Swedish Foundation Visiting Professorship (2000-2002) and she is a member of the NC State MSE Alumni Hall of Fame (2018).