Ph.D. student, Qiaoling Fan, is a member of Professor J. Nathan Hohman’s group
by Linda Costa IMS Written Communications Assistant
Qiaoling Fan, a member of IMS resident faculty member and Professor of Chemistry, Nathan Hohman’s research group, has been published in JACS (the Journal of the American Chemical Society). Fan is currently a third-year graduate student in inorganic chemistry here at the University of Connecticut.
JACS is a weekly scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society. Published research undergoes a rigorous peer-review process.
Fan’s research, entitled Nucleophilic Displacement Reactions of Silver-Based Metal-Organic Chalcogenolates (MOChas), provides a new synthetic route for the preparation of more elaborate MOChas and heterostructures. Her research has also enabled the preparation of unreachable oligophenyl MOChas which lead to an applicable platform to create complex 2D inorganic phases.
The Hohman Research Group currently includes eight graduate students and one undergraduate student. The group’s research focuses on the design and synthesis of nanomaterials and nanointerfaces for applications, understanding origins of how different structure leads to function in complex materials, and solving synthetic problems. Their work has earned a Department of Energy (DoE) grant to help further their research.
“Working with Dr. Hohman’s group has been fulfilling, both intellectually and creatively,” Fan says. “Collaborating with talented peers in Dr. Hohman’s lab has been a constant learning experience, fostering interdisciplinary thinking and dynamic idea exchanges. What excites me most about our research is its potential real-world impact, particularly in display technology.
Fan earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu, China followed by a master’s in chemistry at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China. She also spent time as a high school chemistry teacher in China.
“Teaching at this level was a unique experience that helped me grow both professionally and personally,” fan recalled. “One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching was watching my students grow and develop a curiosity for chemistry. What I hoped my students would take away from my teaching was not just a set of chemical facts but an appreciation for the scientific process and the world around them.”
from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
A robotic welding arms in operation.
UConn recently received $10.5 million from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for research on high-temperature materials and manufacturing processes. The funding will allow a team of seven faculty members from Materials Science and Engineering (Professors Aindow, Alpay, Frame, and Hebert), Civil and Environmental Engineering (Professor Kim), Mechanical Engineering (Professor Bilal), and Chemistry (Professor Suib) along with post-doctoral associates and graduate assistants to address challenges in the manufacturing of aerial systems intended to fly at high speed. Much of the four-year research project will focus on welding-related challenges for high-temperature metallic materials that are used for structures exposed to high speeds. The UConn team will combine experimental and theoretical approaches to help their collaborator, RTX, advance their manufacturing solutions. Additional project tasks address the behavior of non-metallic high-temperature materials under different processing and service conditions, additive manufacturing of high-temperature refractory metals, and the design and processing of metamaterials. These metamaterials are designed to change heat- and electro-magnetic fields in and around structures and are considered to advance the thermal management of high-temperature structures.
The new AFRL project comes at the heels of previous and ongoing AFRL projects for UConn approaching $30 million that involve over 15 faculty members from the Colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences with dozens of graduate students and post-doctoral associates. Covering research from functional materials and photonics to casting, welding, and additive manufacturing, the UConn team has established itself as a valuable partner for the AFRL and key industry partners, for example, Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace.
Professor Rainer Hebert says of the contract, “The AFRL funding enables the UConn team to pursue materials processing research with a strong focus on industry and government relevance. Students and post-doctoral associates working on the project see firsthand how their research translates to industry. This insight will help in preparing a workforce that can pursue research excellence with a keen sense of the needs and constraints of industrial applications.”
Ph.D. student Luis Ortiz’s passion for materials science was ignited during his undergraduate years at the Universidad de Puerto Rico – Humacao, where he was involved in research focused on physics applied to electronics. He revealed, “In my Applied Physics department in Puerto Rico, we have a program mainly focused on materials research. Based on my experience there, I fell in love with the material science field and decided to pursue my graduate studies in this area.”
Ortiz became exposed to the UConn MSE program through various fellowships he applied to throughout his undergraduate years. He revealed, “We didn’t have much information about UConn in Puerto Rico. As a minority student, I decided to apply for fellowship opportunities that could help me succeed in graduate school at universities in the USA. I also applied to this specific program called the Bridge to the Doctorate Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation while I was an undergraduate student. This is a two-year fellowship that helps you bridge between undergraduate and graduate school, and they supported me through the start of my Ph.D. They have a network of universities inside the program, and UConn was one of the listed colleges.”
During the two-year fellowship, Ortiz was introduced to Professor Bryan Huey, who currently heads the MSE department and serves as his advisor. Luis admits feeling supported by Professor Huey and the other department faculty members. He remarked, “Many people here are willing to mentor students and see us become better professionals. My advisor has been one of them.” Ortiz acknowledged the support he receives from MSE faculty members to pursue his dreams and their confidence in his ability to achieve them. “I feel supported and validated in terms of how we pursue our path and work to achieve our goals,” he said.
Dr. Steven L. Suib, Director of UConn’s Institute of Materials Science (IMS), is working to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gasses caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through carbon capture and conversion. His work was recently highlighted in a UConn video. IMS News reached out to Dr. Suib to discuss the impacts of the his research.
Dr. Suib’s research is highlighted in this video produced for UConn Today
How does carbon dioxide (CO2) negatively impact the environment and why is the research you are conducting critical to mitigating the impacts of CO2?
CO2 is a product of combustion from gas burning vehicles, industrial plants, and other sources. Enhanced levels of CO2 are believed to be responsible for global warming and the unusual patterns of weather throughout the world in recent years. We are trying to find ways to trap and gather carbon dioxide and also to transform this into materials that are less hazardous and with practical uses.
You state that CO2 must be trapped (or captured) in order to be converted. What methodology or methodologies are used to capture CO2 emissions?
There have been many different methods suggested to capture CO2 including physical methods of trapping in porous materials as well as chemical reactions for storage.
Discovering methods of converting CO2 to harmless but useful products requires the introduction of a catalyst to convert the gas. You have conducted extensive and often-cited research in catalysis. How does this expertise aid in your research?
The bonds in CO2 are strong and this gas is quite stable. There are many different types of catalysts that we have made. Different reactions are often catalyzed by different catalysts. To find better catalysts they need to be synthesized. The heart of our research programs centers around synthesis of new materials. Unique new materials including catalysts may have different and beneficial properties that commercially available materials do not have.
When you use the term “harmless but useful” in describing products that can be derived from the conversion of CO2, what types of products are possible?
The objective of activating CO2 is to make products that are safe and that can be used in different applications such as new fuels, new chemical feedstocks, and others. These in turn can be used in applications involving sustainable energy, medicines and pharmaceuticals, and new conducting systems (semiconductors, superconductors, batteries, supercapacitors).
It seems we have reached a critical stage in the climate crisis with calls for more research and, above all, action to reduce greenhouse gases and their negative effects. How urgent is the research you and your students and colleagues are conducting to the mitigation of the climate crisis? How close is the research to producing measurable outcomes?
The field of capturing and activating CO2 is very active right now, with numerous groups around the world trying to solve problems that would allow CO2 to be eventually used in many different commercial processes. Our work involves a small set of potential materials for capture and activation of CO2. There are measurable improvements in capture and activation. The key will be to push this to the limit so practical processes can be used.
Thanh Nguyen, center, is pictured here with members of his 2022-23 lab.
In rural areas, especially in developing countries, the long distance to a medical facility may hinder a population from getting vaccinations, and especially booster doses.
Vaccines—for everything from influenza to COVID-19 to pneumococcal diseases—are stored at a low temperature for stability and are typically administrated through a hypodermic needle and syringe from a health care professional.
“What if we were able to mail people vaccines that don’t need refrigeration and they could apply them to their own skin like a bandage?” asked Thanh Nguyen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Connecticut. “And what if we could easily vaccinate people—once—where they wouldn’t need a booster? We could potentially eradicate polio, measles, rubella, and COVID-19.”
The answer, Nguyen believes, is administrating vaccines through a programmable microneedle array patch with a novel process he is developing at his lab at UConn.
By adhering a nearly painless, 1-centimeter-square biodegradable patch to the skin, a person can receive a preprogrammed delivery of highly-concentrated vaccines in powder form—over months—and eliminate the need for boosters. “The primary argument is that getting vaccines and boosters is a pain,” Nguyen said. “You have to go back two or three times to get these shots. With the microneedle platform, you put it on once, and it’s done. You have your vaccine and you have your boosters. You don’t have to go back to the doctor or hospital.”
This month, UConn’s Institute of Materials Science received a three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support Nguyen’s research on “Single-Administration Self-boosting Microneedle Platform for Vaccines and Therapeutics.” The project’s goal is to develop a low-cost manufacturing process.
The Nguyen Research Group has already been working to thermally-stabilize vaccines and other therapeutics so they can stay inside the skin for a long period. In 2020, Nature Biomedical Engineeringpublished a study by Nguyen and his colleagues reporting that, in rats, microneedles loaded with a clinically available vaccine (Prevnar-13) against a bacterium provided similar immune protection as multiple bolus injections.
“We’ve been able to show this technology is safe and effective in the small animal model, but now the question is, how do we translate it into the commercialized stage and make it useful to the end user, which is the human,” he said.
With support from the Gates Foundation, Nguyen will be able to test his microneedle platform on a larger animal—a pig, which has skin similar to humans. And if the results are similar, Nguyen predicts this technology could be manufactured, at an affordable cost, enabling both domestic and global health impact.
Nguyen’s microneedle platform also caught the attention of the United States Department of Agriculture. In September, the USDA: Research, Education, and Economics division awarded Nguyen with a two-year grant for a study titled “Delivery of FMDV Protein Antigens Using a Programmable Transdermal Microneedle System.”
The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) is a highly contagious disease that affects the health of livestock such as cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. When an outbreak occurs, the disease leaves affected animals weakened and unable to produce meat and milk. FMDV causes production losses and hardships for farmers and ranchers, and has serious impacts on livestock trade.
And while vaccines exist, like with humans, boosters are required to keep the vaccine effective.
“USDA is interested in the technology because the patch will be able to deliver the initial dose and subsequent doses, or boosters, to animals without the need for rounding up and handling multiple animals at once,” Nguyen explained. “This decreases stress on the animals and increases safety for the animals and their handlers.”
The microneedle platform is among the latest applications the Nguyen Research Group is exploring in the arena of vaccine/drug delivery, tissue regenerative engineering, “smart” piezoelectric materials, electronic implants, and bioelectronics. Since joining the College of Engineering in 2016, Nguyen has discovered a method of sending electric pulses through a biodegradable polymer to assist with cartilage regeneration; he’s designed a powerful biodegradable ultrasound device that could make brain cancers more treatable; and he used microneedle patches to deliver antibody therapies, which have been proven successful in treating HIV, autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, and certain types of cancer.
Christina Tamburro, post-award grants and contracts specialist for UConn’s Institute of Materials Science said IMS is grateful to both the Gates Foundation and USDA for supporting Professor Nguyen’s drug delivery research.
“This is a wonderful application of material science and this is what we’re all about. Ultimately, this is going to save lives and it can’t get better than that,” she said.
Xueju “Sophie” Wang has been awarded an Office of Naval Research (ONR) 2024 Young Investigator Award in the category Ocean Battlespace Sensing. The Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department of ONR explores science and technology in the areas of oceanographic and meteorological observations, modeling, and prediction in the battlespace environment; submarine detection and classification (anti-submarine warfare); and mine warfare applications for detecting and neutralizing mines in both the ocean and littoral environment.
One of 24 recipients in various categories, Dr. Wang’s research, entitled A Soft Intelligent Robot for Self-digging, Multi-modal Sensing, and In Situ Marine Sediment Analysis, was recognized by the Littoral Geosciences and subcategory. The Littoral Geosciences and Optics program supports basic and applied research for expeditionary warfare, naval special warfare, mine warfare and antisubmarine warfare in shelf, near-shore, estuarine, riverine, and riparian environments, with a particular emphasis on robust 4D prediction of environmental characteristics in denied, distant or remote environments.
Dr. Wang earned a Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2016. She joined the faculty of the Materials Science and Engineering Department (MSE) in 2020 with an appointment in the Institute of Materials Science (IMS). Since then, she has earned extensive recognition for her research including the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award in 2022; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trailblazer Award, also in 2022; and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Orr Early Career Award in 2021 among others.
Wang’s research focuses on soft, stimuli-responsive materials and multifunctional structures; multistability of reconfigurable, magnetically responsive structures, flexible/pressure-tolerant/bio-integrated electronics, soft robotics and intelligent systems; and in-situ/environmental operando experimental techniques. Her research has been published extensively.
We are excited to welcome our newest faculty member, Alexander Dupuy, who joins our department as an assistant professor this fall with an appointment to the Institute of Materials Science (IMS).
Having received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Riverside in 2016, Dupuy went on to work for the University of California, Irvine as a postdoctoral scholar and then as assistant project scientist before joining us here at UConn.
With 16 years of research experience in ceramic processing and synthesis, particularly using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS), Dupuy makes for an exciting addition to the department. His research interests include materials related to electrifications (such as energy generation, storage/batteries, delivery, and conversion), materials for high temperature and extreme environments, and the processing, properties, and behavior of high entropy ceramics.
Dupuy previously authored 23 scientific publications. He also has significant mentorship experience, guiding 7 Ph.D. students, 11 undergraduate researchers, and 5 senior design students in their work over the past 13 years.
“I am thrilled to become a Husky,” Dupuy tells us. “The MSE department, School of Engineering, and Institute of Materials Science have made UConn a world-renowned institution for materials science scholarship and innovation. I am so pleased to be joining UConn and contributing to its important teaching and research missions.”
In a letter to the UConn community, President Radenka Maric recently announced the appointment of Dr. S. Pamir Alpay as Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship:
Dr. S. Pamir Alpay has been named Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Pamir has very successfully served in this role on an interim basis since February 2022, overseeing the University’s $320 million research enterprise at Storrs, UConn Health, the School of Law, and our regional campuses.
He previously served as executive director of the Innovation Partnership Building at UConn Tech Park beginning in 2017, where he was the university’s chief advocate for industry-informed research and primary liaison between the research community and government partners.
Those of us who have been fortunate enough to work closely with Pamir have been continually impressed by his visionary nature, tenacity, and exceptional effectiveness as a leader and researcher. Among his greatest strengths is his ability to successfully build highly productive relationships not only with colleagues but also numerous critical partners who are external to UConn.
Pamir arrived at UConn in 2001 as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and physics and rose through the ranks, ultimately being named Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in 2020. He served as head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 2013-17 and as associate dean for research and industrial partnerships for the UConn School of Engineering from 2019 to 2022.
Pamir’s research is at the intersection of materials science, condensed matter physics, and surface chemistry. He has over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, five invited book chapters, and a book on the physics of functionally graded smart materials. On the strength of his scholarship and service, he was elected fellow of the American Physical Society, ASM International, and the American Ceramic Society. He is also an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering (CASE).
He has raised more than $30 million for research and development from federal and state agencies and industry. He is the PI of an $18 million interdisciplinary Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) contract dedicated to optimization of high value-added manufacturing technologies for aerospace components. Working with Yale University, he recently led a statewide coalition to secure an NSF Regional Innovations Engine Development Award, “Advancing Quantum Technologies (CT),” allowing Connecticut to participate in NSF’s new flagship program promoting equitable economic development through technology innovation.
As executive director of the UConn Tech Park, Pamir established partnerships with industry, state government, and federal agencies and built several interdisciplinary research teams that successfully competed for large-scale funding. Since 2017, industry partners have invested more than $285 million for applied research at the Tech Park, corresponding to over $50 million per year in research and development funding. Pamir also established partnerships with small to medium-sized regional businesses as part of core outreach efforts, critical to UConn’s mission of supporting economic growth in the state.
He earned his B.S. and M.S. from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.
I am grateful to the strong pool of internal candidates who applied for this position. I also want to thank the deans, members of the University Senate, and others who met with the candidates. I have tremendous confidence in the ability of our faculty to bring the university to the next level. Aiding that effort is the fact that after many years the state’s unpaid legacy costs have been removed from our budget, allowing our faculty to be even more competitive.
Pamir has a strong, proven record of fostering an atmosphere of creativity and discovery that advances knowledge and innovation. His support for campus-wide research operations, deep understanding of national research funding infrastructure and processes, collaboration with industry, and commitment to building UConn’s academic and research enterprise will serve the university very well as we strive to become a top 20 public research institution. In order to reach that goal, Pamir and his team will work closely with our deans and faculty to support the development of complex proposals and nurture critical research partnerships and alliances.
Finally, I would also like to thank the members of the search committee:
Sandra Chafouleas, Search Chair, BOT Distinguished Professor
Inge-Marie Eigsti, Professor, Psychological Sciences
David Embrick, Director and Associate Professor, Sociology and Africana Studies
Xiuchun (Cindy) Tian, Department Head and Professor, Animal Science
Annemarie Seifert, Director, Avery Point Campus
Ali Tamayol, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Justin Radolf, Director and Professor, Department of Medicine
Maryann Markowski, Executive Assistant to Chief of Staff, Office of President
Pamir is a vital leader at UConn and is playing an extremely important role in charting the future course of our university, not only in his senior administrative and research roles, but also as the co-chair of the university’s 2023 Strategic Planning Committee, which will guide the continued growth and success of this institution in the years ahead.
As the national awardee, Laurencin is recognized for his use of the transforming power of chemistry to improve people’s lives. The hallmark of this contribution is impact: positive impact on people’s lives and positive impact on the economy by creating jobs that produce a significant economic benefit.
Laurencin’s innovations in regenerative engineering and his impact on the fields of biomaterials, nanotechnology, and stem cell science have had an immeasurable impact. As the leading international figure in polymeric biomaterials chemistry and engineering, he has made not only extraordinary scientific contributions, but has contributed through innovation and invention.
In Connecticut, Laurencin was the lead faculty architect for Bioscience Connecticut. Start-up companies he has founded have led to products now on the market. He received the Connecticut Medal of Technology in recognition of his work in the state.
Nationally, Laurencin is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and the first surgeon elected to all 4 of the U.S. National Academies. He serves on the board of directors of the National Academy of Inventors and on the National Academy of Inventors Selection Committee.
He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’ highest recognition for technological achievement, from the President of the United States. In service to our nation, he serves as Vice-Chair of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination and Evaluation Committee, appointed by both the Trump and Biden administrations.
Most recently, he received the Inventor of the Year Award presented to the world’s most outstanding recent inventors from the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPOEF). The IPOEF’s board of directors voted unanimously for him, recognizing his impact on biomaterials, nanotechnology, stem cell science, and the field of regenerative engineering.
Barrett Wells, professor and former department head of physics, joins the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as the new Associate Dean for Life and Physical Sciences. (Bri Diaz/UConn Photo)
When Barrett Wells became head of the Department of Physics in 2018, he says his opinion of the department changed.
“It was such an interesting thing, to learn more about what all my colleagues were doing,” the condensed matter physicist says. “I always felt we had a good department but as I learned more details [on colleagues’ research], I thought, ‘Wow, we’re better than I thought we were.’”
Now as Wells, who goes by Barry, joins the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as the new Associate Dean for Life and Physical Sciences, he expects he’ll experience that all over again.
“Of course, this will be different – broader, and much larger,” he notes. “But I’m looking forward to learning more broadly about all our science departments.”
Wells joined UConn in 1998, following positions at Boeing and Brookhaven National Laboratory. He became department head in 2018, where he met and worked with department heads across the CLAS Division of Life and Physical Sciences.
“Everybody’s grumbling about the same things, or they’re happy about the same things,” he jokes. “I’m hoping that sitting where I am, I can help keep the voices of the people in the departments centered in where we are going and what decisions we make.
“I want to get a clear understanding of what each unit believes their problems and strengths are, and the people involved.”
Wells will oversee the Division of Life and Physical Sciences, which comprises the Departments of Chemistry; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Geography; Marine Sciences; Molecular and Cell Biology; Mathematics; Physics; Physiology and Neurobiology; Psychological Sciences; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; and Statistics.
“Barry is a thoughtful and experienced scientist and leader, and I’m very happy to have him,” says Ofer Harel, interim dean of the College. “His track record shows that he asks the right questions and really advocates for his faculty and staff.”
Among the unique challenges of the position, Wells says, is ensuring adequate space for laboratory research. He will work closely on these and other issues with Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs Andrew Moiseff, who previously served in Wells’ role.
“Andy is a major part of the reason I decided to apply for this role,” says Wells. “He’s been wonderful to work with. It’s a little scary to try to live up to him.”
Wells says he wants to ensure people have access to resources for both interdisciplinary and disciplinary research. Research and teaching in the disciplines needs to be strong, he says, for interdisciplinary research to be successful.
As the University moves toward replacing its general education requirements – most of which are offered in CLAS – with a common curriculum, Wells anticipates that he and the other CLAS associate deans will work to ensure that the College continues to provide a diverse, liberal education to all UConn students.
“We all know we are trying to create and disseminate knowledge, and I’m looking forward to working with people who keep the core mission of the University in mind,” he says.
Inclusion is also very important to Wells, whose own home field of physics has traditionally lacked representation of women. Data also shows, he notes, that most women scientists have partners who are also scientists, which factors into where they end up making their academic home.
“People come from all over the world to work at UConn, and we have to make that a great choice,” he says. “We want to create situations that are really good for them.”
Although Wells says he has a steep learning curve to surmount, he has found the CLAS offices among the best to work with at the University. He hopes to contribute to the overall success of not just his division, but the College.
“My definition of success is that CLAS departments feel that they are running smoothly and that people are able to do their best work.”
The American Chemical Society (ACS) has selected University of Connecticut’s 