Dr. Abdullah Alamri
Degree:
Ph.D., Polymer Science
Thesis:
Enhancing Energy Density and Energy Efficiency of Poletherimide for High Temperature Capacitor Application
Major Advisor:
Dr. Gregory Sotzing
Dr. Uchenna Anene
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Computational Studies of the Interfacial and Surface Chemistry of Materials Using First-Principles Calculations
Major Advisor:
Dr. S. Pamir Alpay
Current Position:
Chemical Mechanical Planarization Development Engineer at Intel Corp.
Ms. Natalia Clarke
Degree:
Graduate Certificate in Advanced Materials Characterization
Major Advisor:
Dr. Steven L. Suib
Current Position:
Supplier Quality Engineer at Kongsberg Automotive
Dr. Kevin Co
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Multi-scale Modeling of Ferroelectric Perovskite Thin-Films and Nanostructures
Major Advisor:
Dr. S. Pamir Alpay
Current Position:
Post-doctoral Research Scientist, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Mr. Daniel Cramer
Degree:
M.S., Chemical Engineering
Thesis:
Effects of Oil and Thickener on Lotion Stability
Major Advisor:
Dr. Anson Ma
Dr. Ajinkya Deshmukh
Degree:
Ph.D., Polymer Science
Thesis:
Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of All-Organic Polymer Dielectrics for High Temperature Energy Storage Applications
Major Advisor:
Dr. Gregory Sotzing
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
Service as President (2018-2019) and Vice President (2017-2018) of Society of Plastics Engineers (UConn Chapter)
Current Position:
R&D Scientist - Advanced Packaging (Adhesives), Arkema-Bostik, Milwaukee, WI
Dr. Alexis Ernst
Degree:
Ph.D, Materials Science
Thesis:
Effect of Atomization and Processing Gases on Microstructures in Additively Manufactured 17-4PH Stainless Steel
Major Advisor:
Dr. Mark Aindow
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
Named as a "Woman of Innovation" by the Connecticut Technology Council
Current Position:
Associate Scientist at Johnson Matthey
Dr. Cain Hung
Degree:
Ph.D. - Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Al-Co and Al-Ce Based Alloys for As-built Additively Manufactured Parts
Major Advisor:
Dr. Rainer Hebert
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
Significantly contributed to new Al alloys for additive manufacturing and was hired by the project sponsor
Current Position:
R&D Engineer at Collins Aerospace
Dr. Joel Kearns
Degree:
Graduate Certificate in Advanced Materials Characterization
Major Advisor:
Dr. Steven L. Suib
Current Position:
Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
Dr. Anna Marie LaChance
Degree:
Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Thesis:
One-Step Coassembly of Nacre-like Polymer Nanocomposites and Effects of Processing
Major Advisor:
Dr. Luyi Sun
Notable Activities/
Achievements:
- Served as a TA seven times for UConn ChemE classes
- Mentored 14 young women in STEM through undergraduate research assistantships
- Publishes 14 peer-reviewed articles and 1 patent
- Launched the Inclusive Excellence for Justice, Equity, & Transformation program and SoE Reads to engage School of Engineering faculty/staff in discussions about anti-racism
- Served as a leader and/or member for multiple graduate student orgs, including: the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Graduate Student Association (ChEGSA), the John Lof Leadership Academy (JLLA), Rainbow Grads & Young Professionals (RGYP), and the Student Association of Graduate Engineers (SAGE)
- Received the Women of Innovation® Inspiring STEM Equitability award, the first transgender or non-binary person to win in any category in its 17-year history
- Received the 2020-2021 Stephanie H. Shaw Scholarship Award
Current Position:
Lecturer, UMass Amherst Dept of Chemical Engineering (starting Fall 2022)
Dr. Hannah Leonard
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
The Morphological Development and Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Powder-Processed Icosahedral-Phase-Strengthened Aluminum Alloys
Major Advisor:
Dr. Mark Aindow
Current Position:
Materials and Processing Engineer - Metallurgist at Danbury Mission Technologies
Dr. Chinthani Liyanage
Degree:
Ph.D., Chemistry
Thesis:
Investigation of Graphene Stabilized Interfaces: Thin Film Composite Membranes to Microspheres
Major Advisor:
Dr. Douglas Adamson
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
- Masterton-Hurley Teaching Award (Issued by Department of Chemistry) Aug 2020
- Recognition for Teaching Excellence ( Issued by UConn Provost) Jan 2019
- Distinguished Poster Nominee, Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division (Issued by 256th ACS National Meeting & Exposition) Jan 2018
Current Position:
Process Engineer at Intel Corp.
Dr. Jessica Maita
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Micromechanical Characterization of Nanocrystalline and Medium-range Ordered Materials
Major Advisor:
Dr. Seok-Woo Lee
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
- President of MRS Chapter
- Founder and President of Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
- GE Fellowship
Current Position
Advanced Materials, Engineering & Technology Development Program at Eaton
Dr. Thomas Moran
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Nanoscale Thickness-Dependent Charge Dynamics and Domains Structure Properties in Dielectric and Ferroelectric Materials
Major Advisor:
Dr. Bryan Huey
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
2nd Place - Graduate Student Speaking Contest - UConn IMS
Selected from peers to present ongoing research at UConn to a panel of judges and the members of UConn IMS
Current Position:
Sr. Design Engineer - Mechatronics at ASML
Dr. Lakshmi Ravi Narayan
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Experimental Determination of the Material Properties for Solidification Cracking
Major Advisor:
Dr. Rainer Hebert
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
Groundbreaking development of new experimental techniques
Current Position:
Graduate Research Assistant at UConn
Ms. Kiersytn Raines
Degree:
Graduate Certificate in Advanced Materials Characterization
Major Advisor:
Dr. Steven L. Suib
Current Position:
Materials Engineer II at General Dynamics Electric Boat
Dr. Joel Rinebold
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science
Thesis:
Renewable Energy Storage with Hydrogen Blending in Natural Gas Distribution Systems
Major Advisor:
Dr. Steven L. Suib
Current Position:
Director at CT Center for Advanced Technology
Ms. Holly Schipper
Degree:
M.S., Materials Science
Major Advisor:
Dr. Luyi Sun
Current Position:
Scientist, Loureiro Engineering
Dr. Jianhang Shi
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Investigations on Magnetocaloric and Multiferroic Properties of Perovskite-type Rare Earth Chromites
Major Advisor:
Dr. Menka Jain
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
- 9 co-authored publications during the Ph.D. study + one under review.
- Oral presentations in 62nd, 65th Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials,
- Poster presentations in 2017, 2019 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit,
- University of Connecticut Doctoral Student Travel Fellowship, 2021
- University of Connecticut Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, 2020
- MSE Department Pre-doctoral Graduate Fellowship, 2016
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Researcher at The Ohio State University
Dr. Andrew Smith
Degree:
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering
Thesis:
Synthesizing Semiconductor Photocatalysts with Vacancy Defects for Enhanced Color Switching
Major Advisor:
Dr. Luyi Sun
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
- Recipient of The GAANN Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education
- Recipient of the Samuel Huang Research award from the University of Connecticut Polymer Program
- Recipient of the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the University of Connecticut
- Co-author of several peer-reviewed journal publications
Current Position:
Senior Research Engineer at Saint-Gobain Research North America
Dr. Sumit Suresh
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Mesoscale Modeling of Cold Spray Deposition of Metal Powders
Major Advisor:
Dr. Avinash M. Dongare
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Dr. Yonglei Sun
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science
Thesis:
Temporal Fluctuations in the Fluorescence of Single Quantum Dots
Major Advisor:
Dr. Jing Zhao
Dr. Dennis Trujillo
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Machine Learning as Applied to Solving Complex Problems in Materials Science
Major Advisor:
Dr. S. Pamir Alpay
Current Position:
Post-doctoral Research Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Samiksha Vaidya
Degree:
Ph.D., Polymer Chemistry
Thesis:
Molecular Engineering of Rhodamine Dye Installed Polymers and Rhodamine Dye Installed Liquid Crystalline Polymers for Multi-Stimuli Responsive Properties
Major Advisor:
Dr. Rajeswari Kasi
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
Nominated for Best Poster at ACS Fall Meeting 2019
Current Position:
Senior Scientist at Evonik
Dr. Junfei Weng
Degree:
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Thesis:
Multifunctional ZSM-5 Nanoarray based Monolithic Catalysts for Low Temperature Emission Control and Utilization
Major Advisor:
Dr. Pu-Xian Gao
Notable Achievements/
Activities:
-
Finalist, Graduate Student Speaking Contest issued by Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut · Feb 2020
-
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship issued by Graduate School, University of Connecticut · Jan 2020
-
Doctoral Student Travel Fellowship issued by Graduate School, University of Connecticut · Feb 2019
Current Position:
Manager, Product Application - Diesel North America at Umicore