Outreach/Education - Fellowship Archive

Past NCMN Graduate Research Fellows
Mahdieh Khedmati
Mahdieh Khedmati

Mahdieh Khedmati

Civil Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Yong-Rak Kim

research on multiscale characterization of cementitious materials and mixtures based on integrated microstructural-mechanical-chemical approach.

Yang Hong
Yang Hong

Yang Hong

Chemistry, Advisor: Prof. Xiao Cheng Zeng

multidisciplinary research interests in mechanical engineering, physical chemistry and materials science covering the atomistic study of thermal transport in nanoscale and nanostructured materials, machine learning accelerated thermophysical property characterization, fundamental mechanisms/physics investigation of laser-material interaction, and water/solid interface design for water desalination.

Taylor Stockdale
Taylor Stockdale

Taylor Stockdale

Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Yuris Dzenis

interest in developing manufacturing techniques to improve the mechanical properties of structural materials by means of introducing nanoscale reinforcements.

Jay Taylor
Jay Taylor

Jay Taylor

Chemistry, Advisor: Dr. Stephen Morin

research using elastic surfaces to control chemical/physical reactions/processes, surface chemical derivatization of elastic surfaces (primarily silicones), studying the formation/adhesion of nucleated liquids/solids on the surface of silicones under or after tension/compression, and chemical lamination methods between silicones and thermoplastics.

Mikhail Shekhirev
Mikhail Shekhirev

Mikhail Shekhirev

Department of Chemistry, Advisor: Prof. Alexander Sinitskii

The focus of his research project is the synthesis and processing of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) for the fabrication of functional devices, such as thin films, based on solution-synthesized GNRs for various electronic applications. Mikhail has studied aggregation modes of GNRs in liquids and on surfaces and most recently, developed an original approach for controllable self-assembly of thin films of GNRs on liquid-air interfaces. He is using this approach to fabricate GNR-based thin films and study their properties for field-effect transistors and gas sensors. Mikhail has co-authored several publications in Nature Communications, Nano Letters, and Nanoscale and made multiple presentations at American Chemical Society (APS) meetings. Eventually he would like to achieve a faculty position at a tier-one research university.

Qi Wang
Qi Wang

Qi Wang

Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Jinsong Huang

has a strong motivation to work in the photovoltaic industry or an academic area to provide people with clean and cheap energy resources. As a Ph.D. research assistant in UNL, he has worked on improving the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells. His background includes semiconductor physics, material chemistry and engineering, which involves materials processing, measurement, synthesis and characterization. His current academic interest is developing a simple structure to encapsulate the device or develop other moisture-tolerant perovskite materials for better long-term stable solar cells. Qi has published, as a result of his work, seven papers as first or co-first author in Advanced Materials, Nano Energy, Energy and Environmental Science (250 citations) and Applied Physics Letters to name a few. He has also collaborated with others and has more than 10 papers published in high quality journals such as Nature Materials and Nature Communication. In the future, Qi’s goals involve further improving the performance of solar cells to provide everyone access to cheap and clean energy.

Cheng Bi
Cheng Bi

Cheng Bi

Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Jinsong Huang

is focused on perovskite solar cell research. He has helped develop: a novel two-step interdiffusion process to fabricate high quality perovskite film, a method to tune the band gap of perovskite film, and a method to manipulate the grain growth of perovskite for highly efficient solar cells. Several papers have been published in high impact journals, with Cheng as first or co-first author including Nature Communications, Advanced Functional Materials, Energy and Environmental Science, Journal of Materials Chemistry A and Small. His career aspirations are to work in the semi-conductor or chemical industry or stay in academia researching thin film solar cell development.

Ivan Zhuravlev
Ivan Zhuravlev

Ivan Zhuravlev

Physics & Astronomy, Advisor: Prof. Kirill Belashchenko

His research has consisted of phase transformations in confined nanosystems, investigation of anomalous temperature dependence of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy in magnetic materials, and electronic structure calculations of the concentration dependence of intrinsic magnetic properties in certain alloys. Ivan has had two research papers published, both as first author, one in Physical Review B and the other in Physical Review Letters. The results of some of his work were presented at the 2014 APS Meeting. After graduation he would like to continue research in computational materials science.

Alexey Lipatov
Alexey Lipatovr

Alexey Lipatov

Chemistry, Advisor: Prof. Alexander Sinitskii

works in the development of novel materials by exploring combinations of materials to achieve functional heterostructures for application in electronics, sensors and data storage. His achievements include the development of a highly selective and sensitive graphene-based sensor, enhancement of on-off ratios in ferroelectric tunnel junctions, and the fabrication of novel hybrid structures. His papers in these areas have appeared in Nature Communication 2014, Applied Physics Letters 2014, Nanoscale 2013, and other peer-reviewed journals. Lipatov has made presentations at international conferences and American Physical Society (APS) national meetings, and has been a visiting researcher at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw, Poland.

Yuchuan Shao
Yuchuan Shao

Yuchuan Shao

Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Jeff Shield

Yuchuan’s interests center on ferroelectric polymers with solar cell thermal energy applications. His research has also focused on electronic characterization and hybrid organo-metal halide perovskite material for solar energy harvesting. The results of Shao’s work have been included in a recently filed patent and reported in high-profile journals such as Nature Materials, Nature Communication, Advanced Materials and Energy Environ. Sci. In 2012 he received UNL’s Outstanding Graduate Award and has been the recipient of various prestigious scholarships.

Timothy Martin
Timothy Martin

Timothy Martin

Biomedical Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Angela Pannier

served as a Combat Engineer in the United States Marine Corps from 2002-2008. His B.S. Mechanical Engineering and B.S. Biomedical Engineering degrees serve as a strong foundation for his career aspirations in research and development of gene/drug biotechnologies. Martin’s graduate work has involved transferring DNA from one form of life to another and his interests focus on biotech applications in materials (e.g. biomaterials/tissue engineering) and nanomedicine (e.g. gene therapy, cancer research). His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including The Journal of Gene Medicine published in 2013.

Chieu Van Nguyen
Chieu Van Nguyen

Chieu Van Nguyen

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Ravi Saraf

Nguyen’s interests center on material science, especially those that leverage unique phenomena of nanoparticles and polymers to solving challenges in life such as renewable energy and cancer treatment. His research involves designing an artificial tactile sensor on par with the human finger both in resolution and sensitivity. The device has shown to be a good tactile sensor and it’s performance is currently being assessed. He has made numerous presentations at the Materials Research Society and American Physical Society national conferences as well as published articles in the ACS Nano Letters and Nano.

Dimitry Papkov
Dimitry Papkov

Dimitry Papkov

Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Advisor: Prof. Yuris Dzenis

Papkov studies the control of nanofiber structure and properties on the individual fiber level. His dissertation research examines the size effects in mechanical properties of individual nanofibers and systematically addresses structure-property relations. His paper on polymer nanofibers was featured on the cover of ACS Nano and was chosen as a feature article in Nature, Nano Today, Materials Today and several other publications. Papkov has also received UNL’s 2013-2014 Milton E. Mohr Graduate Fellowship and the 2013 Wolford outstanding research assistant award.