Harley T. Johnson is the Associate Dean for Research in the Grainger College of Engineering, and a Founder Professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. He also holds a courtesy appointment as Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and affiliate appointments in the Materials Research Lab (MRL) and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Professor Johnson is Director and PI of the Illinois NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC), based at MRL.

Professor Johnson studies the mechanics of electronic and photonic materials, the mechanics of nanostructures, and optical properties of materials.  His group works on applications in many areas, including solar energy, microelectronics, sensing and detection, and materials processing.  Their work relies on atomistic and continuum modeling methods to simulate multiphysics phenomena, with the goal of helping to design and interpret experiments. Professor Johnson and his research group study such topics as: mechanics of quantum dots, including the effects of stress on their formation and properties; the development of stress in MEMS devices and microelectronic materials due to ion-bombardment processing; dislocations in electronic materials; the electrical properties of deformed carbon nanotubes; nanoscale surface instabilities; and nanophotonic design of surfaces, coatings, and microstructures.