Young Shang Han
Department: Mechanical Engineering Faculty Advisor: Mohammad H. Malakooti Research: Sustainable and Stretchable Thermoelectric Generator with Multifunctional Elastomer Composites...
Wenqin Chen
Department: Physics Advisor: Di Xiao Research statement: The dynamical creation and control of novel phases of materials promises applications in next-generation energy conversion and information processing technologies. Under the Fellowship, I’ll perform a comprehensive research to demonstrate that phonons, the collective crystal vibrations, are nano-scale analog of electric motors generating magnetism in quantum materials. Through theoretical analysis and computational techniques, my research aims to provide innovative and practical guidance towards future magnetic devices contributing to energy efficiency and sustainability....
Yiwen Zheng
Department: Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Aniruddh Vashisth I am a third year PhD student in Mechanical engineering at UW advised by Dr. Aniruddh Vashisth. My research focuses on designing and understanding recyclable polymers (also known as vitrimers) by molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning models. By gaining insights into the structure-property relationships and self-healing mechanisms of vitrimers, we hope to widen the potential applications of these sustainable polymers and reduce the energy cost in plastics production and recycling....
Toby Chu
Department: Physics Advisor: Matthew Yankowitz I am a 3rd year PhD student in physics working in the Yankowitz Lab. I am interested in the novel phenomena hosted in 2D materials and their heterostructures, and I study these systems from a microscopic point of view using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). My current research focus is on systems exhibiting spontaneous electron fractionalization and crystallization, including twisted bilayer MoTe2 and rhombohedral few-layer graphene. I believe that the study of fundamental physics will inevitably lead to technological advancements that can benefit the human kind as a whole, as is the case throughout history....
Jane Keth
Department: Chemical Engineering Faculty Advisor: David S. Bergsman The high demand for faster, more computationally powerful computers drives the semiconductor industry to develop new processing chips with greater memory capacity. To address the need for higher-performing electronic devices, research technologies have focused on developing photoresists with a higher density of transistors that can potentially reduce electricity costs, lower carbon emissions, and mitigate the climate crisis. My research focuses on using bottom-up synthesis approaches to discover new ultrathin film photoresists capable of absorbing extreme ultraviolet light to enable next-generation materials....
Anna Okounkova
Department: Physics Adivsor: Matthew Yankowitz My research in condensed matter physics under Prof. Matt Yankowitz is on the electronic transport of 2D materials. During my time under the CEI Fellowship, I will be investigating the properties and applications of rhombohedral pentalayer graphene aligned to hexagonal boron nitride. Combining these structural criteria in one nanoscale device is predicted to lead to remarkable phenomenons observable in graphene, most excitingly fractional Chern insulators (FCI). In FCIs, the fractionalized excitations are conducted by composite fermions, such as anyons. Due to their intrinsic topological properties, these anyons can be non-abelian, which is of significant interest in topological quantum computation. Compared to...
Hareesh Iyer
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Eleftheria Roumeli Of the 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste generated since the 1950s, less than 10% has been recycled, while almost 80% has accumulated in landfills. These plastics often end up in the environment, causing acute trauma to animals that ingest them, and concentrating organic pollutants that can be harmful to animals and humans alike. My research in Dr. Eletheria Roumeli's lab focuses on the development of plastics that are sustainably sourced and biodegradable. I work with algae and plant biomatter, as well as bacteria and bacterially-produced biomatter, to create materials that are lower in environmental impact over their...
Xinqi Li
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Supervisor: Miqin Zhang/ Jim de Yoreo/ Shuai Zhang My research focuses on developing novel methods for recycling metal ions using bio-structure induced crystallization. We explore two mechanisms: coordination-based positioning of metal ions and indirect positioning via water molecules. Using Peptoid, a stable peptide mimic with diverse side-chain chemistry, we aim to efficiently capture metal ions like zinc, common in battery industry waste, to form functional nanocrystals. This work bridges fundamental science with practical applications in clean energy technologies like photocatalysis and solar cells, advancing sustainable environmental solutions....
Jay Lee
Department: Chemistry PI: Douglas Reed I am a third-year graduate student in the Reed lab. My research is centered around making porous materials which are normally electronically insulating into highly conductive materials for applications in energy technology. Porous material of my choice is a class of molecules called metal-organic cages. These cage molecules are often solution processible and are amenable to traditional solution chemistry which are often difficult for similar heterogeneous materials. Using cage molecules as a platform we are investigating both non-covalent and covalent functionalization of cage molecules to enable electronic conductivity to these otherwise insulating materials....
Zachary Sherman
Zach Sherman is an assistant professor of chemical engineering. The Z Lab leverages a unique computational tool set to investigate the self-assembly, transport, and effective properties of colloidal materials, particularly those driven by or responsive to electromagnetic fields. Broadly, we are interested in (1) developing new computational methods that are both fast and accurate, (2) elucidating fundamental relationships among electromagnetic fields, colloid structure, colloid dynamics, and effective properties, and (3) applying this fundamental understanding for application-specific design of colloidal material technologies. Our specific interests include designing new optical metamaterials incorporated in optoelectronic devices, understanding field-driven transport of magnetic colloids within porous media for biomedical applications,...
Di Xiao
Di Xiao is Department Chair of Materials Science & Engineering, the Robert J. Campbell Chair in the College of Engineering, and Professor of Physics at the UW. Xiao develops novel ways to probe and control magnetism in van der Waals materials. He investigates novel phenomena, including transport and optical signatures of topological phases and heterostructure engineering of novel quantum states. Xiao is a renowned theorist in the field of quantum materials, having been named a Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher every year since 2017, with his work cited over 46,000 times and holding an h-index of 71....
Chris Torres
CEI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Chris Torres works with chemical engineering assistant professor Julie Rorrer to develop self-sustainable community outreach programs to advance under-represented Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous (BHI) populations, while also researching sustainable chemical catalysis. Rorrer is the founder of the ColorMePhD program, which uses art to foster engagement, participation, and belonging in science and engineering programs for underrepresented and at-risk youth. Alongside Rorrer and CEI’s Education & Workforce Engagement staff, Torres engages BHI communities by leveraging relationships with undergraduate institutions such as Northwest Indian College; and by aligning with the missions of established Seattle-area educational programs like Rainier Scholars, Daybreak Star, and...