On October 18, 2026, Prof. Hans-Rudolf Wenk delivered a lecture on crystallographic texture and anisotropy in Room 3-6011 at the Innovation Harbour campus of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU).

Wenk is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He was elected a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America in 1980 and of the American Geophysical Union in 2001, and received the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Senior U.S. Scientist Award in 1987 and the German Mineralogical Society’s Abraham Gottlob Werner Medal in 2010.

Before the lecture began, Prof. Kai Chen gave a brief introduction to Prof. Wenk, covering his research interests and accomplishments. To help the audience, most of whom were first-year undergraduates, follow the lecture, Prof. Chen also provided a concise overview of the fundamental materials science concepts involved.

In the lecture, titled “From Crystals to Aggregates: Texture and Anisotropy Measured with X-rays, Neutrons and EBSD,” Prof. Wenk drew on examples from metals, rocks and biological materials to explain how preferred crystal orientations develop and affect material properties. Prof. Wenk discussed texture analysis using X-ray and neutron diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), alongside the BEARTEX and MAUD software packages. Synchrotron X-ray studies of residual lattice strain, including research conducted with Prof. Chen, illustrated applications of these methods. The lecture also covered high-pressure deformation experiments and the links between mineral texture and seismic anisotropy in the deep Earth.

The lecture ended with a question-and-answer session, during which Prof. Wenk answered students’ questions and clarified key concepts and methods covered in the talk, drawing on his research experience.

Informative and thought-provoking, the lecture deepened students’ understanding of crystals and minerals and encouraged further study in the field.