Smart Materials for Smarter Machines

Phase change materials can switch between different states, much like water turning into steam or ice, but at the atomic level. Their unique and controllable properties make them suitable for brain-inspired computers that process information more efficiently and quickly than traditional systems. Murthy Ganapathy, PhD, shares his group’s research that studies and controls the behavior of these materials at the nanoscale. 

About Sambandamurthy Ganapathy
Sambandamurthy Ganapathy is a professor in the Department of Physics at UB. His research explores how complex materials behave under extreme conditions and how their properties can be utilized to make them behave like neurons and synapses, opening new pathways for future computing technologies. His work spans quantum materials, resistive switching, and noise spectroscopy, with a focus on how electronic and atomic rearrangements create emergent macroscopic behaviors. Ganapathy has led several funded research efforts and collaborates widely across physics, materials science, and engineering to advance the understanding, manipulation, and utilization of complex materials. 

Ganapathy earned his PhD in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science in India, where he specialized in the study of low-dimensional, superconducting quantum materials. He currently serves as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Arts and Sciences at UB, helping guide the college’s research strategy, support faculty success, and advance interdisciplinary scholarship across UB. He also plays a leadership role in UB’s Quantum Institute, fostering collaborative research and education in quantum information science, and next-generation quantum technologies.