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. W. Cai, V. Bulatov, J. Justo, A. Argon, and S. Yip, "Dislocation Mobility in Si: Bridging Atomistic Theory and Experiments," Physical Review Letters 84, 3346 (2000).
2. S. Yip, M. F. Sylvester, and A. S. Argon, "Atomistic Investigation of Segmental Mobility in Atactic Poly(propylene)," Computational and Theoretical Polymer Science 10, 235 (2000).
3. M. de Koning, W. Cai, A. Antonelli, and S. Yip, "Efficient Free-Energy Calculations by the Simulation of Nonequilibrium Processes," Computing in Science and Engineering 2, 88 (2000).
4. W. Cai, M. de Koning, V. V. Bulatov, and S. Yip, "Minimizing Boundary Reflections in Coupled-Domain Simulations," Physical Review Letters 85, 3213 (2000).
5. W. Cai, V. V. Bulatov, J. Chang, J. Li, and S. Yip, "Anisotropic Elastic Interactions of a Periodic Dislocation Arragy," Physical Review Letters 86, 5727 (2001).
6. V. V. Bulatov, J. F. Justo, W. Cai, S. Yip, A. S. Argon, T. Lenosky, M. de Koning, and T. Diaz de la Rubia, "Parameter-Free Modeling of Dislocation Motion: The Case of Silicon," Philosophical Magazine 81, 1257 (2001).
7. J. Chang, W. Cai, V. V. Bulatov, and S. Yip, "Dislocation Motion in BCC Metals by Molecular Dynamics," Materials Science and Engineering A, 309-310,160-163 (2001).
8. W. Cai, V. V. Bulatov, S. Yip, and A. S. Argon, "Kinetic Monte Carlo Modeling of Dislocation Motion in BCC Metals," Materials Science and Engineering A, 309-310, 270-273 (2001).
9. S. Yip, J. Li, M. Tang, and J. Wang, "Mechanistic Aspects and Atomic-Level Consequences of Elastic Instabilities in Homogeneous Crystals," Materials Science and Engineering A371, 236 (2001).
10. J. Li, W. Cai, J. Chang, and S. Yip, "Commentary on Atomistic Simulations of Materials Strength and Deformation: Prospects for Mechanistic Insights," Materials Science for the 21st Century, Society of Materials Science, Japan, 2001, vol. A, p. 220-233.
11. A. George and S. Yip, "Preface to the Viewpoint Set on: Dislocation Mobility in Silicon," Scripta Materialia 45, 1233 (2001).
12. M. de Koning, A. Antonelli, and S. Yip, "Single-Simulation Determination of Phase Boundaries: A Dynamic Clausius-Clapeyron Integration Method," J. Chem. Phys. 115, 11025 (2001).
13. S. Yip and J.-P. Boon, "Molecular Hydrodynamics," Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, 3rd ed. vol. 10 (Academic Press, New York, 2002), p. 141.
14. A. Romano, J. Li, and S. Yip, "Atomistic Simulation of Matter Under Stress: Crossover from Hard to Soft Materials," Physica A 304, 11 (2002).