Dr. James Hogan

Dr. James Hogan is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He holds the George Ford Chair in Materials Engineering and the Engineering Research Chair in Development and Advanced Manufacturing of Next-Generation Materials. He is also the founding Director of the Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-Use Technologies (CARDD-Tech), where he leads national initiatives to advance sovereign innovation in defence, space, aerospace, and energy. Through CARDD-Tech, he has partnered with more than 30 Alberta-based businesses to drive technology development and commercialization.

Dr. Hogan’s research focuses on advanced manufacturing of materials designed for high-temperature and oxidation-resistant environments. His work emphasizes laser–material interactions, sintering processes, and microstructural control to link processing pathways with performance. He also develops generative AI approaches for multi-functional materials and structural design, and studies how materials behave in extreme conditions such as high-velocity impact, thermal shock, and aero-ablation. Since 2015, he has trained more than 100 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and published over 100 peer-reviewed papers.

His leadership is positioning Alberta as a national hub for sovereign innovation and future-ready talent development while strengthening collaborations across industry, government, and academia.