Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar Series Opens January 30 with Alumnus Dr. Erik Huemiller from General Motors

The Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar series opens on Friday, January 30 with a talk by alumnus Dr. Erik Huemiller from General Motors Corporation, who will talk about "Exploring a Career in Applied Research at General Motors R&D" at 12:00 noon in 204 Loomis (Interaction Room). Details of his seminar are given below.

Time: 12:00 noon on Friday, January 30, 2026

Location: 204 Loomis (Interaction Room). A Zoom link will also be forwarded to the Illinois Physics Grad Student email list. For a copy of the link, please contact Lance Cooper (slcooper@illinois.edu).

Title: Exploring a Career in Applied Research at General Motors R&D

Speakers: Dr. Erik Huemiller, Senior Researcher, General Motors Corporation

Abstract: Each year many more PhDs are earned than available faculty positions. Aside from national labs, industrial research at remains a compelling career option for those interested in continuing research in the private sector outside of academia. I will share some personal background before diving into General Motors, what an industrial research career looks like, and how we track technology development. An example project from my work on quality in battery cell manufacturing for electric vehicles will serve as an example before some time for questions.

Bio: Dr. Erik Huemiller is a senior researcher at General Motors D&D. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign in 2019 studying superconductivity in topological insulators with Dale Van Harlingen. After graduate school his research pivoted to opto-mechanical machines for the manufacture of x-ray diffraction gratings at Inprentus Inc. At General Motors, Dr. Huemiller has worked in Manufacturing Research focusing on quality system and methodology development with applications to battery cells, electric motors, transmission manufacturing, and plasma treatments. Dr. Huemiller was one of the 2025 Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer of the Year. 

You can see the rest of the Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar series here: https://physics.illinois.edu/calendar/careers-seminar