Graduate Students

ChBE PhD student awarded Quad Fellowship

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:45:51 +0000

ChBE PhD student awarded Quad Fellowship Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/01/2024 - 09:45

Todd Whittaker, a Chemical and Biological Engineering PhD student in the Holewinski and Musgrave research groups, has been awarded the Quad Fellowship, a prestigious fellowship for citizens of the "Quad countries" (USA, Japan, India and Australia). Whittaker, a citizen of Australia, was one of 50 students selected as a 2024 Quad Fellow. The fellowship is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a global not-for-profit organization managing prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs.

The Quad Fellowship aims to build connections among the next generation of scientists and technologists by fostering academic excellence and promoting cross-cultural understanding. The award will support Whittaker's research on catalytic phenomena in electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, electrolyzers and batteries. With the expected rapid increase in renewable electricity, Whittaker's research aims to develop rigorous experimental and theoretical frameworks to understand what drives reactivity at electrochemical interfaces and leverage those insights to design superior catalysts for a more sustainable future.

"I am extremely proud to represent Australia as a scientist at this scale," Whittaker said. "I come from a small town in rural Australia, where this career path is relatively uncommon. It excites me to know that my research, which is mostly directed at engineering renewable energy systems, will contribute to the long-term protection of vulnerable rural communities like mine."

Now in its second year, the Quad Fellowship supports exceptional master's and doctoral students pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the United States. Initially supporting students from the four Quad countries, the program has expanded this year to include students from various ASEAN countries.

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Hebner named finalist for the Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science

Anonymous — Tue, 03 May 2022 15:36:10 +0000

Hebner named finalist for the Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/03/2022 - 09:36

Jonathan Raab

Tayler Hebner

Tayler Hebner, a PhD candidate in the White and Bowman groups, is a 2022 finalist for the Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science.

Hebner will present “Tuning Fundamental Properties in Liquid Crystalline Elastomers for Design of Complex and Reprogrammable Actuation” at the Eastman Chemical Award Symposium at the Fall 2022 American Chemical Society Meeting in Chicago and be recognized at the PMSE/POLY Plenary Lecture and Awards Reception on August 24.

“This research is about understanding fundamental properties of liquid crystalline elastomers and using these properties to develop materials that exhibit complex shape changes in response to heat and light,” Hebner said. “These responsive polymers are designed for applications such as soft robotics, since the shape changes exhibited by the elastomers mimic the contraction of muscles.”

Hebner has pursued this line of research because of her interest in functional applications of responsive polymers, and her desire to understand what drives the functional aspects at a fundamental level.

“This research has allowed me to explore topics that span from the design of polymers at a molecular level to designing macroscopic actuators,” she said.

Hebner thanked her advisors, Distinguished Professor Christopher Bowman and Gallogly Professor Timothy White, who encouraged her to apply for this opportunity.

“This recognition is well-deserved,” White said. “Her work generally is focused on liquid crystalline elastomers, and her research has spanned synthetic chemistry, polymer physics and mechanics. Her studies have both answered fundamental questions about these materials as well as advanced their performance to enable functional use in applications such as soft robotics.”

Hebner will complete her PhD in chemical engineering in August. She plans on pursuing a postdoctoral position as a first step toward a career in academia.

Tayler Hebner, a PhD candidate in the White and Bowman groups, is a 2022 finalist for the Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science.

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Four ChBE students join NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 18:14:27 +0000

Four ChBE students join NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/27/2022 - 12:14

Jonathan Raab

Four graduate students from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering accepted offers to join the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP), which provides recognition and financial support for outstanding students working in STEM fields.

“Our department proactively supports our students' pursuit of national fellowships such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship," said Gallogly Professor of Engineering and graduate chair Timothy White. "We are proud of the collective talents of our graduate students and work to support them to secure recognition such as this to enable their professional development as they progress towards their independent research careers.”

Davis R. Conklin, Weimer Group

Davis Conklin’s research focuses on particle atomic layer deposition (ALD), an ultra-precise technique for modifying the surfaces of particles.

“This is an incredibly useful tool that has a wide range of applications, such as increasing the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries, tailoring catalysts to help close the carbon cycle and creating robust nuclear fuel elements to propel the next generation of crewed spacecraft,” Conklin said. “The performance advantages of ALD are well-documented, but there is a disconnect between academic research and widespread commercial implementation due to challenges in scaling up the particle ALD process.”

The money from the fellowship will allow Conklin to develop a new type of reactor for ALD experiments, one that will significantly increase scalability through continuous operation.

"Converting particle ALD to a continuous process will require new insight into ALD surface reaction kinetics, modeling and verification of a new reactor design, and collaboration with industry partners to ensure commercial viability,” he said. “If successful, my research will make high-precision, solvent-free ALD coatings more accessible to manufacturers and accelerate the deployment of advanced energy technologies.”

Melvin E. and Virginia M. Clark Professor Alan Weimer is Conklin’s advisor.

“Davis is particularly interested in computational modeling with experimental validation, doing both theory and experiments for fine metals deposition by atomic layer deposition,” Weimer said. “He has three years of research experience with both NIST and NREL. He has published nine peer-reviewed papers and made three presentations at professional meetings. Davis has been a very strong mentor with undergraduates and supporting fellow graduate research assistants. He contributes enthusiastically to scientific discussions, is a strong team player and has an excellent curiosity for research."

Jessica Hauck, Weimer Group

Jessica Hauck utilizes ALD to study and develop catalysts for sustainable energy applications.

“Specifically, I am investigating a one-step catalytic-chemical vapor deposition process to produce carbon nanofibers, carbon nanoparticles and hydrogen from methane with the ultimate application of repurposing flared natural gas,” Hauck said. “In partnership with the Hubler group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, we are researching the carbon product to reduce cracking and improve the durability of ultra-high purity concrete.”

Hauck is also advised by Professor Alan Weimer.

“Jess has a strong interest in catalysis, coming to ��ƷSM��ӰƬ after three years in industry working for a small startup catalyst company in California,” Weimer said. “As an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara, Jess served as president of the Engineers Without Borders chapter for three years and carried out remote projects in Kenya and Rwanda. She is empathetic, smart and mature, is a team player, has a positive attitude and is perseverant when challenges arise. She is a great addition to my research group.”

Trisha Nickerson, Toney Group

Trisha Nickerson’s research goal is to better understand the molecular-level processes that determine the performance of polymeric water filtration membranes.

“We will be probing the local, nanoscale environment of ions within hydrated commercial membrane polymers to understand their hydration state and bonding environment using advanced X-ray characterization techniques,” Nickerson said. “Knowledge of an ion's local bonding environment will help elucidate transport pathways and rejection mechanisms that determine membrane performance and hopefully allow for the development of improved computational models and membrane materials.”

Nickerson is co-advised by Professor Michael Toney and Professor Anthony Straub.

“Trisha’s research involves developing better ways to purify water through innovative approaches to understand molecular-level interactions responsible for purification,” Toney said. “In addition, Trisha is very passionate about energy justice and the social justice aspects of clean water. This, along with her research, led to her receiving this award. Professor Straub and I are proud of her accomplishments."

Lacey Roberts, Toney Group

Lacey Roberts researches zinc metal batteries (ZMBs) with various aqueous electrolytes, including highly concentrated electrolytes, through collaboration with researchers from the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research.

“ZMBs offer a safer and lower cost battery compared to lithium ion but suffer from degradation associated with recharging,” Roberts said. “I am studying these degradation processes by utilizing characterization techniques such as x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The research produced with my collaborators at the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research will be used to design optimal electrolytes for ZMBs.”

Professor Toney lauded Roberts’ research achievements and STEM outreach efforts.

“I am very proud of Lacey for receiving an NSF fellowship related to her research on aqueous Zn-batteries and for her outreach activities in the Boulder Valley School District and now for Denver public schools,” Toney said. “She brings a lot of enthusiasm to both the broader impacts of her work and outreach as well as her Zn battery science as part of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research. I look forward to seeing the impact of her electrochemical energy storage research on grid-level storage.”

The NSF GRFP provides three years of financial support with annual stipends of $34,000 for the students, with an additional $12,000 provided as a cost of education allowance to their respective institutions.

Alexis Phillips of the White Group was also selected but accepted another fellowship. Talaial Alina of the Cha and Goodwin Group received an Honorable Mention from NSF.

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Grad students earn David T. Spalding Graduate Teaching Fund Fellowship for going above and beyond in remote instruction and mentorship

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 17:30:54 +0000

Grad students earn David T. Spalding Graduate Teaching Fund Fellowship for going above and beyond in remote instruction and mentorship Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/14/2022 - 11:30

Jonathan Raab

Teaching undergraduate-level engineering courses is always a challenge. Teaching advanced concepts via remote instruction during a historic pandemic is even harder.

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering recognized nine teaching assistants with the David T. Spalding Graduate Teaching Fund Fellowship for their support of undergraduate education over the past two years of remote instruction.

The following students earned this recognition by going above and beyond the normal responsibilities and contributions of teaching assistants:

Ezra Baghdady (Medlin and Schwartz Groups)
Davis Conklin (Weimer Group)
Daisy Fuchs (Sprenger Group)
Maria Kelly (Smith Group)
Brandon Oliphant (Medlin Group)
Hunter Simonson (Smith Group)
Justin Tran (Weimer Group)
Andrew Yeang (McGehee and Smith Groups)
Xinpei Zhou (Medlin Group)

“These students were absolutely instrumental to the success of several of our undergraduate courses over the last couple of years, especially during the switch to remote learning,” said Teaching Associate Professor Wendy Young. “Our department is grateful for the contributions to undergraduate student learning outcomes from our graduate teaching assistants.”

The graduate students frequently volunteered to spend additional time to help administer their courses and mentor the undergraduates during an unprecedented period of personal and professional challenges. They often worked additional hours, took on additional responsibilities, proctored make-up exams, managed email communications and more.

“I tried to support undergraduates by being flexible and responsive,” said Davis Conklin, one of the recipients of the fellowship. "Some individuals and groups that were uncomfortable asking questions during office hours, particularly within the virtual format, produced incredible discussion during one-on-one meetings with me. The extra time I spent in these meetings was well worth the growth and learning I witnessed in the students as a result.”

Maria Kelly was a teaching assistant for the fluid mechanics course who provided individualized support and mentoring to a student who requested additional help.

“While it was challenging that my first TA role was for an entirely online class, I had fun interacting with students and seeing their progress week after week,” Kelly said. “I found it very rewarding to see students who struggled at the beginning of the course become really confident with the material by the end of the semester.”

Justin Tran provided one-on-one Zoom meetings with students who requested additional instruction and support.

“My philosophy was to provide the undergraduates with as much support as possible through this difficult time because that is what I would have wanted as an undergraduate,” Tran said. “This meant responding to emails as soon as possible, especially when it was a last-minute question right before the homework was due. The students seem to have been very appreciative of this and ended up doing well in the course overall."

Andrew Yeang developed new ways to best serve the undergraduates in his course.

“As the advanced TA, I helped organize the office hours in a structured way by ensuring each Zoom room was dedicated to a specific homework problem, streamlining the experience for students to know which office hours to attend if they wanted help with a specific problem,” Yeang said. “Students always expressed gratitude for the availability of office hours.”

The fellowship provided a one-time stipend of $1,000 to each student nominated for the award.

Teaching undergraduate-level engineering courses is always a challenge. Teaching advanced concepts via remote instruction during a historic pandemic is even harder.

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Shields earns NSF CAREER Award for biomarkers research tied to high school outreach

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 18:18:58 +0000

Shields earns NSF CAREER Award for biomarkers research tied to high school outreach Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/01/2022 - 11:18

Jonathan Raab

Assistant Professor C. Wyatt Shields IV

Assistant Professor C. Wyatt Shields IV is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for his proposal “Shape-Encoded Electrokinetic Particles for Multiplexed Biosensing.” This project seeks to develop a new method of early identification of disease biomarkers, while also facilitating outreach and education to students at Northglenn High School.

Early disease detection with active, particle-based biosensors

“Our current reliance upon a narrow set of biomarkers can greatly limit the accuracy of initial diagnoses, especially for complex diseases like cancer,” Shields said. “Additionally, with pathologies that progress rapidly — mere hours for some diseases — slow readouts can impair outcomes and increase the cost of medical intervention.”

Shields hopes to address this issue by developing an active, particle-based biosensor wherein particle speed is associated with the amount of biomarkers captured. Particles will be made to have different shapes, each of which will encode for different biomarkers, allowing for the detection of multiple types simultaneously.

“The outcome of this work will be a method to capture and quantify heterogeneous biomarkers such as proteins, nucleic acids and exosomes in a single test,” Shields said.

Science and engineering outreach at Northglenn High School

Shields believes the field of biosensing naturally lends itself to STEM education and outreach efforts. The graduate students in the Shields Lab will put on a “reverse science fair” to share their work with students at Northglenn High School.

“One of the big challenges in science and engineering is being able to communicate your work to diverse audiences,” Shields said. “Our college does a great job training graduate students to communicate their work to audiences with technical backgrounds. What can be paradoxically more challenging is explaining your work to a high schooler who has never taken an engineering course. Part of this CAREER award is designed to provide our students with an opportunity to hone those skills.”

Left: High school students from Northglenn visit the Shields Lab. Photo courtesy Cooper Thome of the Shields Lab.
Right: A magnetic particle separator designed by four students from Northglenn. The device is adjustable to fit a variety of tube types to isolate magnetic particles that are created in the Shields Lab for drug delivery applications. Photo courtesy Nicole Day of the Shields Lab.

Shields and his group want to share their findings beyond the usual channels of research papers and conferences — they want to help educate and inform the public on this important topic. The graduate students will present their research to a panel of Northglenn students who will serve as judges of both the material and the graduate students’ ability to present complex information.

“We talk about feedback mechanisms in our research,” Shields said. “This will give autonomy to students who may not be used to being in that position. They will be able to tell us if they didn’t understand something, or if they found the demonstration to be enlightening and interesting.”

The concept of the reverse science fair will build off the Shields Lab’s previous mentorship program with Northglenn. Three engineering graduate students and four undergraduates have served as mentors to students taking senior design capstone classes.

“The partnership between the Northglenn High School students and the Shields group has been invaluable to our students,” said Bill Thielke, a teacher at Northglenn. “Our senior design capstone classes have been working with the Shields group to design and build prototypes for problems that have been provided by the researchers.”

The Shields Lab researchers introduced advanced concepts and problems to the high school students, “including a demonstration of the delivery of drugs, developing an enclosure for culturing dinoflagellates and the development of a magnetic particle separator,” Thielke said. These authentic engineering challenges have given the students valuable real-world design and application experience.

“The most critical component of this is the mentorship program that the Shields group provides,” Thielke said. “The expertise of these mentors has allowed our students to receive critical feedback as they work through the engineering design process.”

Cooper Thome, a third year PhD candidate in the Shields Lab, is one of the student mentors.

“This project has given students experience in solving real-world problems through a number of approaches,” Thorne said. “The students have been able to use a variety of skills learned in their high school program, like 3D CAD and printing, along with other new skills to come up with a really nice prototype for a large culture tank in which we will be able to easily culture cells that require certain periods of light and dark.”

While Thome appreciates the research opportunities provided by collaborating with the students, inspiring and educating high schoolers is one of the main draws of the collaboration.

"I was lucky enough to have a number of figures like that when I was younger — some of whom are the reason I am in graduate school today — so it’s rewarding to try to do the same for others, even in small ways,” Thome said.

Nicole Day is a third-year bioengineering PhD candidate and mentor.

“It's so much fun to see younger students excited about science and engineering, and I always feel more enthusiastic about my own work after seeing it through the lens of others,” Day said. “The opportunity for students to work on these design projects gives them exposure to having their work valued by people in the field they may be interested in, instead of just having another assignment to turn in to their teacher.”

Day hopes that her participation will help encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to consider careers in STEM fields.

“Science and engineering research can be hard and discouraging, and it's not easy to pursue if you don't have external support when you are struggling internally,” Day said. “I love seeing the pride students take in their hard work on these projects, and while I've done outreach events for elementary kids in the past, my new goal is to continue engaging with high school students in particular and helping them see their potential in STEM.”

First year graduate student Taylor Ausec, department junior Sarah Adzema, seniors Julia Bendorf and John Fowle, and biomedical engineering sophomore Chris Orear also participate in the Shields Group mentorship program.

Shields is excited about integrating his NSF CAREER research with high school outreach.

“High schoolers are on the cusp of making critical decisions about their future,” Shields said. “If they see some of these emerging technologies and have opportunities to get involved, they may be more likely to consider a career in STEM.”

Six faculty members within the College of Engineering and Applied Science received CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation in 2022.

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Wu receives CEAS Outstanding Dissertation Award

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:49:37 +0000

Wu receives CEAS Outstanding Dissertation Award Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/08/2021 - 10:49

Jonathan Raab

Haichao Wu (right) with Daniel Schwartz. Photo provided by Wu.

Haichao Wu of the Dan Schwartz Group is the winner of the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s 2021 Outstanding Dissertation Award for “Nanoparticle Tracking to Probe Transport in Porous Media.” This award is a recognition of the quality and excellence of Wu’s research as well as his presentation of the dissertation.

Porous media — materials containing pores — are used in processes such as food processing, water treatment, pharmaceutical production and more. There are currently no universal models that can predict mass transport due to the complexity of porous media and the coupled dynamic mechanisms at work during the process.

“To address this issue, I have developed refractive index matching imaging systems, combined with single-particle tracking methods to directly visualize the single-particle motion within a variety of porous materials,” Wu said. “I have elucidated the fundamental particle transport mechanisms in porous media, which provided important insights for various application scenarios, including reducing membrane fouling and deploying nanomotors for biomedical applications.”

Wu’s experience as a graduate student in the Dan Schwartz Group helped prepare him for a research career in a number of significant ways.

“The research training in the Schwartz group helped me develop critical thinking and problem solving abilities, which ultimately helped me to evolve as an independent researcher,” Wu said. “The inspiring discussions with my advisor Dan and other labmates have motivated me to think bigger, smarter and bolder, and made me more dedicated to address urgent and important problems in the chemical engineering field.”

Glenn L. Murphy Endowed Professor Daniel Schwartz mentored Wu through his PhD candidacy.

“It was a great pleasure to have a student like Haichao, who is such a creative, curious and fearless researcher,” Schwartz said. “His dissertation was notable for including both fundamental and applied research, and he was required to develop a wide range of abilities, from the synthesis of nanomaterials to super-resolution imaging to computational simulations.”

Schwartz said that Wu was a positive presence in the group and department, as he often provided advice, support and mentorship to his fellow students and researchers, and frequently volunteered for student activities.

“He was a joy to mentor because he is sincerely eager for feedback and constructive criticism,” Schwartz said. “If I didn’t provide it spontaneously, he actively sought it out. I feel very lucky to have served as his advisor.”

Wu earned his PhD earlier this year and has since joined the Aizenberg Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he is working on machine learning-aided materials design and investigating transport phenomena in various materials.

“In the future, I hope to work in academia as I enjoy doing research and teaching, and hope to motivate future generations to tackle difficult but important research problems as my advisor Dan taught me,” Wu said.

As a researcher, he is particularly interested in membrane fouling, as that is one of the primary barriers to maintain high performance in separation processes.

“I am interested in understanding the fundamental fouling mechanisms, developing anti-fouling membrane materials and optimizing the separation processes,” Wu said. “Eventually, I hope to combine these three perspectives to develop next generation, high performance and energy efficient separation processes."

Wu credited several people with helping him achieve this recognition during his time at ��ƷSM��ӰƬ.

“Firstly, I want to thank my advisor, Dan Schwartz,” Wu said. “He is always extremely supportive, and his unwavering and inspirational guidance will have a long-lasting impact on me. Secondly, I want to thank my friends who accompanied me through my graduate studies, which made my time in Boulder enjoyable and memorable. Lastly, I want to thank my parents for their tremendous encouragement and support throughout my life. Their role in making this happen cannot be emphasized enough.”

Wu will be honored at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Recognition Ceremony on Thursday, December 16.

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Day awarded Teets Family Endowed Doctoral Fellowship for work in nanotechnology

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 21:23:53 +0000

Day awarded Teets Family Endowed Doctoral Fellowship for work in nanotechnology Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/16/2021 - 14:23

Jonathan Raab

Nicole Day

Nicole Day, a third-year graduate student in the Shields Lab, is the 2021-2022 recipient of the Teets Family Endowed Doctoral Fellowship. The fellowship provides $15,000 a year for two years to support deserving students working in the nanotechnology field.

Day’s research under Assistant Professor C. Wyatt Shields is focused on shape-changing nanoparticles that regulate the delivery of cancer immunotherapies. Such treatments often result in adverse side effects because cancer-fighting drugs are toxic and may end up off-target, further complicating the medical condition of the patient.

“We want to control where immunotherapies go within the body and be able to turn off their delivery in off-target locations or when toxicity arises,” Day said. “The particles we’re designing have a specific geometry that allows them to attach to immune cells, such as macrophages, and exploit cell movement around the body so the drug contained within will be delivered preferentially to tumors.”

Day said these particles are made of a polymer containing special magnetic nanoparticles.

“Exposure to an alternating magnetic field causes these particles to generate heat, melting the polymer into a sphere and allowing the attached immune cells to internalize them and digest the drug,” Day said. “This allows us to selectively ‘turn off’ the drug everywhere except the tumor site, or if a patient experiences a negative reaction to the treatment.”

This technology may one day make immunotherapy treatment safer and more efficient than current methods without the need to design new drugs.

"This award is a testament to Nicole's creativity and hard work,” Shields, her advisor, said. “I am excited to see her project progress as she tackles new challenges in immunotherapy."

Peter Teets, an alumnus of the Applied Mathematics program, established the fellowship in 2002 to support graduate students working in micro- and nanosystems. Teets worked for 37 years in the aerospace industry and ultimately served as the president and chief operating officer of the Lockheed Martin Corporation before going on to serve as the under-secretary of the Air Force. Teets established the fellowship as a memorial to his son, David, who was also an alumnus of the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

“I’d like to thank the Teets family for their generous support of my research, my advisor for his mentorship and guidance, and my lab mates for their encouragement through the ups and downs of research,” Day said. “Additionally, I have had several fantastic undergraduate students working on this project with me.”

Day plans on working in industry after earning her PhD, where she hopes to pursue further research in the field of cancer immunotherapy.

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Henrique earns Ryland Graduate Fellowship for supercapacitor research

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 16:29:51 +0000

Henrique earns Ryland Graduate Fellowship for supercapacitor research Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/04/2021 - 10:29

Jonathan Raab

Filipe Henrique

Filipe Henrique is this year’s recipient of the Dwight E. and Jessie D. Ryland Endowed Graduate Fellowship from the College of Engineering and Applied Science. This fellowship provides $25,000 to a deserving first-year PhD student working in alternative energy or improved energy utilization and efficiency.

Henrique’s research is focused on improving the energy and power densities of supercapacitors.

“These devices are instrumental in making renewable energy sources feasible because renewable sources are often intermittent, and large-scale energy storage is required to match supply and demand,” Henrique said. “Supercapacitors are currently used for storage in micro power grids, and optimizing their properties will expand their range of applications.”

Henrique is a student in the Laboratory of Interfaces, Flow and Electrokinetics (LIFE) group led by Assistant Professor Ankur Gupta. Gupta has been impressed with Henrique’s research abilities, ability to work independently and the speed with which he was able to internalize the current literature on supercapacitors.

“Because Filipe had no prior background in ion transport modeling, I was truly amazed by the fast pace at which he was able to reproduce the results,” Gupta said. “During our meetings, he comes prepared with a list of questions he wants to discuss and meticulously follows through on everything.”

Gupta said that Henrique developed a novel approach to quantitatively predict the effects of pore-size distribution and electrolyte asymmetry on the performance of supercapacitors, the results of which will soon be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The Ryland Graduate Fellowship will facilitate the promotion of Henrique’s work, allow him to attend conferences and expand his network of potential collaborators to expand the scope of his research.

“The LIFE Lab has been a great learning environment, as I've had prolific scientific discussions with my colleagues and my advisor,” Henrique said. “Professor Gupta has also provided continuous assistance and mentoring. I would also like to thank my family for all the support.”

The Dwight E. and Jessie D. Ryland Endowed Graduate Fellowship is sponsored by Dwight Ryland, an alumnus of ��ƷSM��ӰƬ. Dwight graduated from the School of Education. Dwight and his wife, Jessie—who passed away in 2015—had a strong interest in alternative and improved efficiency energy research, culminating in their funding of the Dwight E. and Jessie D. Ryland Endowed Graduate Fellowship.

Filipe Henrique is this year’s recipient of the Dwight E. and Jessie D. Ryland Endowed Graduate Fellowship from the College of Engineering and Applied Science. This fellowship provides $10,000 over two years to a deserving first-year PhD student working in alternative energy or improved energy utilization and efficiency.

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New technology can create treatment against drug-resistant bacteria in under a week and adapt to antibiotic resistance

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 16:04:03 +0000

New technology can create treatment against drug-resistant bacteria in under a week and adapt to antibiotic resistance Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/10/2021 - 10:04

Kristen Eller

A new technique my colleagues and I developed that can kill deadly, multidrug-resistant bacteria in real time could be used to generate targeted therapies that replace traditional, increasingly ineffective antibiotics.

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Whittaker receives Australia to USA AAA Northrop Grumman Corporation Scholarship

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 15:57:59 +0000

Whittaker receives Australia to USA AAA Northrop Grumman Corporation Scholarship Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/13/2021 - 09:57

Jonathan Raab

Todd Whittaker

Todd Whittaker, a first year graduate student in the Holewinski and Musgrave groups, is the recipient of the 2021 Australia to USA AAA – Northrop Grumman Corporation Scholarship. The scholarship provides financial assistance and networking resources for Australian students studying in STEM fields in the U.S.

“I hope that through this scholarship, I can show all of the aspiring young scientists in Australia that if you apply yourself and focus on your goals, you can achieve great success,” Whittaker said.

The scholarship provides a one-year membership in the American Australian Association, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening ties between the United States and Australia, as well as $40,000 to support research and academic and professional growth.

“My research aims to decarbonize the chemical industry by using renewable electricity and non-fossil carbon sources, such as biomass or waste carbon dioxide,” Whittaker said. “One of the specific applications I'm working on is replacing single-use plastics like PET—polyethylene terephthalate—with PEF—polyethylene furoate.”

Whittaker says that PEF plastics possess improved mechanical and chemical properties over current-use PET plastics, and will lead to reducing the financial cost, carbon emissions and energy needed to produce them.

The scholarship also provides Whittaker with access to a vast network of program alumni to build professional connections. Whittaker will review future applications to the scholarship, giving him the opportunity to remain engaged with the next generation of Australian and American researchers.

Whittaker thanked the American Australian Association for the honor, his advisors Adam Holewinski and Charles Musgrave, and his former advisor Bert Chandler.

“I would also like to thank all of the wonderful scientists with whom I’ve had the opportunity to work and learn, my girlfriend Meagan for being incredibly supportive of my endeavors, and my wonderful parents, who continue to support and encourage me to do my best. Without them, none of this would be possible, and I hope I can make them proud.”

Whittaker earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was an All-American soccer player. He also received a Kokes Award from the North American Catalysis Society while studying there. After graduating, he worked as a research associate in Bert Chandler’s lab, where he led his own research projects and managed undergraduate researchers.

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