Rachel Pearson
Rachel Pearson is a doctoral student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prior to her doctoral studies, Rachel received her B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and worked as a civil engineer for a land development firm. Her research centers on equitable and resilient water and renewable energy infrastructure systems. Rachel is passionate about understanding climate change’s impacts on vulnerable communities and finding infrastructure solutions to these complex challenges. Her research project uses HOMER software to integrate renewable energy systems into water treatment technology in rural Alaskan communities....
Matthew Motoki
I am a second-year Ph.D. student in Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, advised by Professor Baosen Zhang. My research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning and distributed energy resources. Outside of my academic pursuits, I enjoy participating in machine learning competitions on Kaggle where I am a Competitions Grandmaster. ...
Abdul Moeez
Moeez is a PhD Student in Molecular Engineering program. He is advised by Prof. Lilo Pozzo. In Pozzo Research Group, he is currently working on developing workflows for autonomous experimentation by integrating techniques like Small Angle X-Ray Scattering, Photo-spectroscopy and Microfluidics along with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. He has also worked with Prof. Jun Liu for his Masters in Materials Science and Engineering thesis on developing electrochemically stable cathodes for Sodium Ion Batteries. He is a Fulbright and Global UGRAD Alumnus....
Robert Love
I am a third-year graduate student in the Velian lab, were my research focuses on utilizing atomically-precise inorganic clusters, M3Co6Se8L6 (M = transition metal, L = Ph2PN(-)Tol) for the synthesis of site-differentiated clusters with different edge metals and as superatomic building blocks for the self-assembly of materials. The different edge metal identities on the site-differentiated cluster, M3-xM’xCo6Se8L6, will be leveraged for differential reactivity, such as for cascading catalysis. The self-assembly of materials using these clusters can be achieved by using polytopic organic and inorganic linkers to link the clusters together, and by utilizing two different clusters to form binary charge-transfer solids....
Meng-Yen Lin
Construction materials account for more than 10% of CO2 global emissions, highlighting the surging need for low-carbon building materials. Introducing carbon-sequestrating fillers in building materials with low-emission processes increases the possibility of decreasing the environmental impact of building materials. Deconvoluting the effects of chemical compositions of fillers and microstructure on the mechanical performance, insulation properties, and carbon sequestration ability of composites is crucial to the application. My research focuses on developing manufacturing methods using carbon-storing biobased materials to improve the mechanical properties and energy efficiency of green construction materials. Advisor: Eleftheria Roumeli — Materials Science & Engineering...
Kuotian Liao
I am a third year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. I work with professor Eleftheria Roumeli in developing novel bio-based polymeric materials that are both lower in life-cycle emission than traditional polymers and are biodegradable from fully-renewable biomass feedstocks. My research aims to understand the interactions and bonding between different constituents of biopolymer and biocomposite systems and to unlock the underlying correlations between raw materials, processing conditions and the properties of the final product....
Can Liao
I am a 4th year chemistry Ph.D. student at the University of Washington working under Xiaosong Li. My research focuses on developing fast and accurate computational models to study molecular systems using quantum mechanics and special relativity. I use these models to aid the design of solar cells by improving conversion efficiency. Outside of academic life, I am a US Army Reserve Civil Affairs Officer acting as a liaison between civilian and military authorities in the Asia-Pacific region....
Helen Larson
Precise synthesis of quantum dots, rods, and wires with tunable light emission enables energy efficient optoelectronic technologies, and indium phosphide (InP) is a promising replacement for highly toxic cadmium- or lead-containing semiconductors. My research as a fourth year graduate student in the Cossairt Lab focuses on mechanistic understanding of InP nanocrystal synthesis with less toxic precursors and lower energy input. I am investigating my recent discovery of a new synthesis for InP nanorods requiring lower energy input and fewer precursors than existing syntheses. I aim to establish design rules to grow nanorods with diameters around 5 and 500 nanometers to study their exciting photoluminescence...
Jessica Kline
I graduated from Michigan State University in 2021 with a BS in Chemistry. I am currently a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry working in David Ginger's lab. My research focuses on studying the surface chemistry of perovskite quantum dots using single-particle microscopy. In my spare time I enjoy reading, biking and hiking....
Kyle Johnson
I am a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington (UW) where I work in the SSOL Lab with professor Vikram Iyer. I also work with Sawyer Fuller in the Autonomous Insect Robotics Lab and Shyam Gollakota in the Networks & Mobile Systems lab. My research is focused on leveraging combinations of low-power actuators and the structural properties in systems, like the bistability demonstrated in leaf-out origami, to create insect-scale and battery-free autonomous robots optimized for resource constrained applications. I am a co-founder and the current executive Director of the nonprofit AVELA- A Vision for Engineering Literacy...
Sarah Edwards
Magnetism and ordered phases in quantum materials have many applications, from energy-efficient data storage to superconductors that can transport electricity perfectly with no losses. In my work as a PhD student under Dr. Jiun-Haw Chu, I synthesize and study single crystals of quantum materials in order to figure how what makes their electronic and magnetic properties tick. In particular, my research focuses on strain as an axis of control- by manually altering the symmetry of a crystal, we can induce changes in the magnetic ordering, manipulate the population of spin domains, and investigate underlying behavior that couples to strain, such as nematicity, a phase...
Elizabeth Echavarria
Elizabeth Echavarria is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science, interested in Comparative and Environmental Politics. She is advised by Professor Aseem Prakash, who is the founding director of the UW Center for Environmental Politics. Her research explores non-state market-driven governance initiatives, particularly in the mining and minerals industry, concerning its fundamental role in the development of renewable sources of energy and enabling a just energy transition. Before her doctoral studies, Elizabeth worked as a program and project manager at various NGOs. She holds a BA in Political Science from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and an MSc in Public Policy from University...