Sanskriti Joshi
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisor: Sajjad Moazeni Energy consumption of computing is becoming one of the major challenges for environmental sustainability over the next two decades. Optical interconnects will play a vital role in this domain to enable new compute paradigms as well as scaling out datacenters. During the period of this fellowship, I will be working on designing optical interconnects that allow ultra-low power (sub-100fJ/b) and high data rate (Tb/s) communications using micro-ring modulators (MRM) photonic transceivers in silicon photonics. More specifically, I will be leveraging these links for various applications in cryogenic temperatures (sub 70K) for quantum and cryogenic computing, superconducting electronics, and high-energy...
Sankhya Hirani
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Peter Pauzauskie Anion battery systems have the potential of comparable performance and lower cost than other leading battery materials. The lower cost is possible with more earth-abundant material options. There is a gap in our understanding of the solid-state electronic and ionic transport in some of these battery systems. I will be investigating this behavior to better understand key mechanisms in battery performance....
Ren S Pumulo
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisors: Xiaodong Xu and Arka Majumdar Photonic crystal cavities and other periodic dielectric devices enable unique light-matter phenomena when coupled with emitters. Developments in 2D Van der Waals materials, particularly transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and magnetic semiconductors such as Chromium Bromide Sulfide (CrSBr), have shown a large potential for diverse light-matter phenomena, such as exciton-polaritons, enhanced photoluminescence, and single photon emission. The research I will conduct as a 3rd year graduate student in Professors Xiaodong Xu and Arka Majumdar’s groups, will primarily involve coupling photonic devices with 2D materials to enhance lasing and nonlinearity, to obtain more efficient energy. These devices...
Greg Guymon
Department: Mechanical Engineering Advisor: Devin MacKenzie Greg Guymon is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student under the advisement of Prof. Devin J. MacKenzie. Based at the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, Greg’s research focuses on advancing synthesis and nanomanufacturing strategies for fabricating heterointegrated photonic-based quantum computing and networking platforms. His work specifically explores how electrohydrodynamic inkjet printing can be optimized to reduce the field’s dependence on environmentally toxic and wasteful photolithography techniques while pushing the boundaries of conventional nanomanufacturing technologies. While his efforts are primarily aimed at quantum information science applications, the developed methods also hold promise for classical devices such as high-resolution, energy-efficient QLED displays, temperature-stable quantum dot...
Reagan Beers
Department: Molecular Engineering Advisor: Jessica Ray I am a 3rd year Molecular Engineering Ph.D. student working in the Aquatic Innovation for Materials Science (AIMS) lab with Professor Jessica Ray. My current research focuses on vanadium carbide MXene electrode synthesis and characterization. In the future, I plan to integrate the electrode into an electrochemical water treatment system for persistent organic contaminants. With urbanization and adverse effects of climate change disturbing the water-energy nexus, developing scalable and effective water treatment systems is imperative to accelerating clean energy adoption. ...
Aurelia Meiqi Brook
Department: Physics Advisor: Arka Majumdar My research under Professor Arka Majumdar concerns the study of light-matter interactions, semiconductor-based photonics, and meta-optics. Meta-optics are optical lenses formed by collections of nanometer-scale pillars, which allow for selective transmission and reflection of light at desired wavelengths. They provide a lightweight, compact solution to any application where this kind of tunability confers an advantage. This is especially the case for clean energy applications. For example, in imaging, hot objects emit thermal radiation in the infrared wavelength range; analyzing the spectrum of light emanating from an object provides a precise measurement of its temperature. Therefore, meta-optics which absorb infrared photons can...
Nick Adams
Department: Chemistry Advisor: Daniel Gamelin I am investigating the electrochemical, magnetic, and optical properties of 2D layered materials, including chromium thiophosphate (CrPS4). CrPS4 was originally investigated as a potential battery material but was subsequently found to possess interesting magnetic, optical, and semiconducting properties. Using light as an exploratory tool, I will deepen the field's fundamental understanding of this material, which is still limited. This research will open the door to a new family of tunable layered electronic materials with many uses such as improving battery technology. The magneto-optical properties of CrPS4 also make it a good candidate for atomically thin magnetic semiconductors in spintronic devices, which...
Ahana Mukherjee
Department: Electrical Engineering Advisor: June Lukuyu Paragraph: Ahana Mukherjee is a second-year PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society (IDEAS) lab and is advised by Dr. June Lukuyu. Her current research focuses on investigating the feasibility of off-grid, distributed and spatially equitable charging infrastructure for electric three wheelers (E3W) in developing countries and emerging electricity markets. Her research interests are in developing socially conscious renewable energy-based designs to foster the clean energy transition with a focus on energy equity and justice. She received her master's degree in Energy, Civil Infrastructure, and Climate from UC Berkeley and her bachelor's degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from UCLA....
Renyu Zheng
Department: Chemical Engineering Advisor: Chun-long Chen Research: In my research, I use peptoid, a peptidomimetic sequence-defined polymer, as the building block for hierarchical assembly. The highly programmable peptoids allow precise control over the morphology of the assembled nanostructures into 1D, 2D, and 3D platforms and versatile conjugation of functional motifs like photo-active groups and electron transfer groups to create hybrid nanostructured materials in bio-inspired energy devices. ...
Jay Dua
Department: Materials Science & Engineering Advisor: Dr. James De Yoreo My proposed research addresses these challenges by using AFM-based nanolithography to create novel versatile nanopatterned organothiol SAMs on muscovite mica—an unexplored system offering significantly improved reproducibility, reusability, reliability, and cost affordability for templating the biosensing molecular assembly. I will focus on developing a protocol for creating these SAMs and analyzing their efficacy in anchoring protein-based bio-receptors....
Khoa Ngo
Department of Chemistry Advisor: David Ginger My project is studying the kinetics of oxidation in organic mixed ionic electronic conductors (OMIECs), a class of polymers with the unique ability to conduct ions and electrons simultaneously. This dual conductivity makes OMIECs desirable for a range of applications including neuromorphic computing, bioelectronics, sensor technology, and battery storage. Understanding the kinetics and the underlying conditions that control them in these materials will be vital for rationally designing future materials....
Ruoyu Zhang
Department: Physics Advisor: Mark Rudner My current research is on theoretical studies of Floquet engineering, which utilize periodic drive to modify properties of matters and induce non-equilibrium phenomena that do not exist in equilibrium. Specifically, I focus on electronic and thermal transport in Floquet topological insulators as well as chiral plasmon oscillations in driven dirac materials....