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,...
Rebecca Vincent
CEI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow Rebecca Vincent is co-advised by CEI director and chemical engineering professor Dan Schwartz and chemical engineering professor Lilo Pozzo as she develops non-destructive Li-ion battery diagnostics for evaluation of the health of electric vehicles and grid storage systems. She also collaborates with CEI Affiliate Faculty Dr. Jie Xiao, the leader of the Advanced Battery Fabrication facility at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and a major contributor to the US DOE Battery500 consortium. Vincent earned her Ph.D. in Materials at the University of California-Santa Barbara as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Her work with UCSB professor Ram Seshadri as a member...
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...
Mahdokht (Maddie) Soltani
I am a second-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, where I work in the Rorrer lab on heterogeneous catalysis. In the Rorrer lab, my research is focused on developing inexpensive earth abundant catalysts that depolymerize and upcycle polyolefins that represent plastic waste in milder conditions while minimizing methane formation, which is an incentive for plastic waste recycling, reducing the severe burden of plastic waste globally. Along with research, I enjoy engaging in outreach activities. Recently, I was one of the directors for the Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar (DYSS), where I organized an NSF-style panel for speaker selection and prepared...
Joelle Scott
I am a second-year Chemical Engineering PhD student in the Bergsman Lab. My research focuses on using molecular layer deposition to upgrade the synthesis of thin-film composite membranes for water treatment. I am a passionate advocate for sustainability and equity in STEM. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time outdoors hiking with friends, traveling, going to concerts, and watching movies with my cat Yoshi....
Spencer Cira
I am a 3rd-year Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering at the UW where I work under Professor Hugh W. Hillhouse. My research focuses on understanding the light-stability of commercially relevant perovskite semiconductors for application in next generation, low cost photovoltaics. I aim to elucidate fundamental stability weaknesses in these materials and pioneer methods for increasing perovskite solar cell longevity. Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time in the mountains trail running and skiing. ...
Julie Rorrer
Julie Rorrer is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington. She joined the UW in January 2023 after completing postdoctoral research as an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Arizona State University. The Rorrer Lab leverages tunable heterogeneous catalytic systems to enable sustainable chemical transformations including the chemical upcycling of waste plastics, and catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived platform molecules. By developing targeted active catalytic sites to enable new chemical transformations and leveraging advanced characterization techniques, we...
Zachery Wylie
My research focuses on the solution-based synthesis and characterization of colloidal nanostructures for applications in energy storage. I work specifically with colloidal metal chalcogenides developing synthesis methods to control their composition, morphology, crystal structure, and electrochemical performance. Using highly reactive sulfur precursors, these chemical systems allow me to explore scalable, high-throughput methods that are necessary for producing electrodes in future cationic energy storage systems. Advisor: Vince Holmberg - Chemical Engineering...
Sage Scheiwiller
Blends of conjugated and commodity polymers provide a way to balance desirable electronic properties and physical properties of both components. This balance plays a critical role in the development and performance of organic electronic devices such as photovoltaics (OPVs), field-effect transistors (OFETs), bioelectronics, and wearable sensors. Understanding the fundamental interactions between the conjugated polymers and matrix polymers at all stages of processing is essential for designing and optimizing organic electronic devices. My research focuses on understanding the structure property relationship in solid and solution states in order to track how the pressures of processing and composition change the morphology and the film properties. Advisor: Lilo...
Rose Lee
With the role of lithium-based batteries escalating in an increasingly electrified economy, it is critical to fully understand the factors that affect battery performance and limit battery longevity. However, the complexities of battery chemistries often lead to fundamental half-cell studies that do not fully capture the complicated interactions within the full-cell batteries powering society. This project aims to develop a non-destructive method of monitoring the performance of individual electrodes in the full-cell through experimentally-validated battery modelling. This full-cell model connects two physics-based half-cell models that disaggregates its respective electrode response into the individual solid-state reactions occurring in the electrode, which are each described by...
Nisarg Joshi
The ultimate goal of my research is to develop new simulation tools to study electrolyte degradation in condensed phases at interfaces. Unfortunately, current methods are either too expensive (ab initio MD) or inaccurate (semi empirical). Therefore, I have been working on developing machine learning potentials (MLP) for molecules which offer greater accuracy while also being able to simulate larger, more relevant systems. Furthermore, I am also working on improving the large training data bottleneck faced in developing MLP by using enhanced sampling methods to speed the generation of training data and improve the reconstruction accuracy of the potentials while also limiting the total amount...