The Center for Nano Science and Technology at the University of Notre Dame recently announced the finalists for the fourth annual NDConnect undergraduate nanotechnology research competition. The 16 finalists are:
- Christian Bottenfield, a junior in engineering physics at the University of Pittsburgh. Christian’s research with Prof. Guangyong Li is “Simulation of graded bulk-heterojunction solar cells.”
- Michael Chatzidakis, a senior in materials science and engineering at McMaster University. His faculty advisers are Prof. Jeffrey Hoyt and Prof. Gianluigi Botton, and his project is “Phase separation in immiscible bimetallic nanoparticles.”
- Kezi Cheng, a senior in materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kezi’s research with Prof. Patrick Grant (Oxford University) is “Processing approaches for thin-film energy storage devices: Increase energy density of high power density graphene-based supercapacitors through C60 fullerenes.”
- Rose Doerfler, a senior studying chemical engineering and Chinese at the University of Notre Dame. Rose’s research on “Thermal stability of DNA origami” is directed by Prof. Marya Lieberman.
- David Heydari, a junior in physics and electrical engineering at Northwestern University, is conducting research on “Quantum cascade lasers with parallelogram-shaped resonators” with Prof. Manijeh Razeghi.
- Ibrahim Iskender Kushan, a junior majoring in electrical engineering at Stanford University. Iskender’s research with Prof. H.-S. Philip Wong is “Six-terminal carbon nanotube nano-electro-mechanical relays.”
- Robin Lawler, a junior in chemical/biomolecular engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Her research, “Low-cost, portable platform for pathogen detection,” is directed by Prof. Hsueh-Chia Chang.
- Irving Martinez, a senior in applied mathematics and physics at the Univeristy of Texas at El Paso. Prof. Xiaoqin (Elaine) Li (University of Texas at Austin) directs Irving’s research on “Shaping electromagnetic response far below the optical diffraction limit.”
- Connor McClellan, a senior studying electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His research with Prof. Sanjay Banerjee is “Semiconducting behavior in ultrathin rhenium disulfide.”
- Alexander Munoz, a senior in physics at Arizona State University. Alex’s work on “Metrology for nanoscale manufacturing” is directed by Prof. Steven Brueck (University of New Mexico).
- Monica Ohnsorg, a junior majoring in chemistry at Hope College. Monica’s project is “Fundamental layer-by-layer formation of surface anchored metal-organic frameworks.” Prof. Mary Anderson is her faculty adviser.
- Nanetta Pon, a junior in chemistry-materials science at UCLA. Nanetta’s research on “Growth and transfer of multilayer graphene for use as a nanoporous membrane” is directed by Prof. Richard Kaner.
- Peter Santos, a senior in materials science at Northwestern University. Peter’s project with Prof. Samuel Stupp is “Self-assembly of a DPP tripod donor for organic photovoltaics.”
- Leila Sloman, a junior studying math and physics at McGill University. Leila’s research on “Graphene nanopores for protein sequencing” is directed by Prof. Aleksei Aksimentiev (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
- Dixiong Wang, a senior in materials science at Pennsylvania State University. Dixiong’s project, “CVD graphene: Growth and transfer,” is directed by Prof. Joshua Robinson.
- Hansheng Ye, a senior in materials science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Her work with Prof. Roman Engel-Herbert is “Growth of vanadium dioxide on sapphire by hybrid molecular beam epitaxy.”
The finalists were selected from applicants who submitted research proposals in the spring, then followed up with a report in August documenting their research findings.
Finalists will be provided travel support to Notre Dame for the event on October 17 and compete for first-, second-, and third-place prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.
“This year the contestants and topics look stronger and better than ever,” said event organizer Alan Seabaugh, professor of electrical engineering at Notre Dame and director of the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology. “With the high quality of the applicants, we have expanded the number of finalists to sixteen.”
The winners will be selected by industry judges from Thorlabs, IBM, Texas Instruments, Seagate, Raytheon, RFMD, General Electric Global Research, and BP.
