Born in Beijing, Sidney Yip lived in China until 1950 when he immigrated to the U.S. with his parents and two brothers. He attended high schools in San Francisco and New Jersey, graduating in 1953. All his college degrees were awarded by the University of Michigan, a B.S.(1958) in Mechanical Enigneering, and M.S.(1959) and Ph.D.(1962) in Nuclear Engineering. After a postdoctoral year at Michigan, and two years as a Research Associate in the Department of Applied Physics at Cornell University, he joined the Nuclear Engineering Faculty at MIT, becoming a Professor in 1973. Since 2000 he holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

In the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department his recent teaching duties have been in nuclear physics at the graduate and undergraduate levels, graduate subjects in neutron physics and in nuclear and atomic collision phenomena, and an advanced subject on statistical processes and atomistic simulations. Every fall term he co-leads a Freshman Advisor Seminar on career options in biomedical research. In Spring 2002 he introduced an Institute-wide undergraduate subject on introduction to modeling and simulation along with 9 other faculty colleagues spread over 6 departments. Current departmental duties include serving as the Financial Aid Officer, Undergraduate Registration Officer, and the Coordinator of the Nuclear Science and Technology Program.

As his academic disciplines he lists particle and radiation transport theory, molecular modeling of materials, and computational statistical physics. His research on transport phenomena and liquid-state dynamics spanned about 15 years during which he co-authored the monographs Foundations of Neutron Transport Theory (1967), Neutron Molecular Spectropscopy (1968), and Molecular Hydrodynamics (1980). Since 1975 he has focused on the theory and atomistic simulation of fundamental materials properties and behavior, specializing in developing molecular models to elucidate the atomic-level mechanisms governing such phenomena as melting, elastic instabilities, crack-tip plasticity, solid-state amorphization, and grain-boundary structure and dynamics. Currently his interests are in mechanical and thermal behavior of structural and functional materials, specifically problems of strength, deformation and toughness of metals and ceramics, dislocation core structure, interactions and mobility, environmental effects of hydrolytic weakening, and studies of electronic and thermal conductivities in nanostructures.

Among professional activities he has been active in organizing a series of workshops on multiscale materials modeling. He is the Principal Editor of Journal of Computer-Aided Materials Design, and an editorial board member of Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering. His honors include a Guggenheim fellowship, fellowship in the American Physical Society, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior Scientist Award, and University of Michigan Alumni Merit Award.

Selected Recent Publications

1. T. Zhu, J. Li, S. Yip, “Stress-dependent molecular pathways of silica-water reaction”, Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids 53, 1597 (2005).
2. S. Yip, ed., Handbook of Materials Modeling (Springer, Dordrecht, 2005).
3. X. Lin, J. Li, S. Yip, “Controlling bending and twisting of conjugated polymers via solitons’, Physical Review Letters 95, 198303 (2005).
4. C. J. Foerst, J. Slycke, K. J. Van Vliet, S. Yip, “Point Defect Concentrations in Metastable Fe-C Alloys”, Physical Review Letters 96, 175501 (2006).
5. A.  Bongiorno, C. J. Foerst, R. K. Kalia, J. Li, J. Marschall, A. Nakano, M. M. Opeka, I. G. Talmy, P. Vashishta, S. Yip, “A Perspective on Modeling Materials in Extreme Environments:  Oxidation of Ultrahigh-Temperature Ceramics”, MRS Bulletin, 31, 410 (2006).
6. X. Lin, J. Li, C. Foerst, S. Yip, “Multiple Self-Localized Soliton States in Trans-Polyacetylene”, Proceedings of National Academy of Science 103, 8943 (2006).
7. T. Zhu, J. Li, S. Yip, “Atomistic Characterization of 3D Lattice Trapping Barriers to Brittle Fracture”, Proceedings of the Royal Society A 462, 1741 (2006).
8. S. Yip, “Soft-Mode Scenario of Shear Localization:  Atomic-Level Landscapes”, Journal of Statistical Physics 125, 1113 (2006).
9. A. S. Argon and S. Yip, “The Strongest Size”, Philos. Mag. Lett. 86, 713 (2006).
10. J. Eapen, J. Li, S. Yip, “ Mechanism of Thermal Transport in Dilute Nanocolloids”, Physical Review Letters 98, 028302 (2007).
11. T. T. Lau, C. J. Först, J. D. Gale, S. Yip, K. J. Van Vliet, “A Many-Body Potential for Point Defect Clusters in Fe-C Alloys”, Physical Review Letters 98, 215501 (2007).
12. J. Eapen, W. C. Williams, J. Buongiono, L. Hu, S. Yip, R. Rusconi, R. Piazza, “Mean-Field Versus Mico-Convection Effects in Nanofluid Thermal Conduction, :Physical Review Letters 99, 095901 (2007).
13. J. Li, T. J. Lenosky, C. J. Först, S. Yip, “Thermochemical and Mechanical Stabilities of the Oxide Scale of ZrB₂+SiC and Oxygen Transport Mechanisms”, Journal of American Ceramics Society 91, 1475 (2008).
14. A. Kushima, X. Lin, J. Li, J. Eapen, X. Qian, J. C. Mauro, P. Diep, S. Yip, “Computing the Viscosity of Supercooled Liquids”, Journal of Chemical Physics 130, 224505 (2009).
15. T. Zhu, J. Li, S. Ogata, S. Yip, “Mechanics of Ultra-Strength Materials“, MRS Bulletin 34, 167 (2009).
16. P. R. Monasterio, T. T. Lau, S. Yip, K. J. Van Vliet, “Hydrogen-Vacancy Interactions in Fe-C Alloys”, Phys. Rev. Letters, 103, 085501 (2009).
17. R. J.-M. Pellenq, A. Kushima, R. Shasavari, K. J. Van Vliet, M. J. Buehler, S. Yip, F-J Ulm, “A Realistic Molecular Model of Cement Hydrate”, Proceedings of National Academy of Science (2009), in press.