Ph.D., 1985, Stanford University
Research interests: Synthesis of thin-film electronic materials and devices using metal organic chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy.
University of Tennessee, Bachelor of Science, Materials Science & Engineering
University of Florida, Masters of Science, Materials Science & Engineering
University of Florida, Ph.D., Materials Science & Engineering
Thad M. Adams is the Savannah River National Laboratory Director of Strategic Development and Innovation. Dr. Adams is developing the advanced manufacturing competency at SRNL, with specific emphasis on process intensification, smart manufacturing, and enterprise modeling in support of programmatic initiatives.…
Ph.D., 2009, Northwestern University
Research Interests: Stem Cell Engineering; Directed Stem Cell differentiation, Cell Materials Interactions; Tissue Engineering; Regenerative Medicine
Lab Website: Allen Research Group
Ph.D., 2008, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Interests: nanomaterials, nanocomposites for electronic and biomedical applications, magnetic materials, multiferroics, polymers
Lab Website: Andrew Research Group
Ph.D., 2005, University of Illinois
Research Interests: Collective cell motion, mechanical instabilities in tissue cell assemblies, bacterial biofilm physics, soft matter physics, biomolecular self-assembly, and tribology of soft matter interfaces
Jess Atkins, MBA, has been working in nuclear power plants for the last decade. While in nuclear power, Jess has worked as a corporate systems engineer, plant systems engineer, plant design engineer, auxiliary operator, responsible engineer (lead project engineer) and assistant project manager. From Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) training to designing and implementing new systems at the plant to replacing legacy systems like the turbine generator and the automatic voltage regulator, Jess has a wealth of knowledge of nuclear power plant life.…
Research Interests: Applied aspects of cargo monitoring, detector testing and characterization for gamma-ray spectroscopy, as well as development and analysis of techniques for environmental sampling and surveys related to on-site inspections.
Ph.D., 1974, Rutgers University
Research Interests: Delivery methods for stem cells, Antimicrobial surface modifications, Nanoparticles for gene delivery, Polymeric drug delivery
Lab Website: Batich Research Group
Steven Biegalski is the Chair of the Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Program at Georgia Institute of Technology. He has three degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland, University of Florida, and the University of Illinois, respectively. Early in his career, Dr. Biegalski was the Director of Radionuclide Operations at the Center for Monitoring Research.…
Ph. D., 1990, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Research Interests: Biointerfaces, antifouling, polymer surfaces/modification, polymer networks, microtopographies, tissue engineering
Ph.D., 2017, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Interests: Energy Storage Materials, Lithium-ion Batteries, Structure-Property Relationships, X-ray Diffraction, Pair Distribution Function Analysis
Lab Website: Butala Research Group
Ph.D., 2019, University of Florida
Research Interests: Engineering Education; Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Church is the Director of Development for the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida, where she fundraises for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She comes to the University of Florida with non-profit experience having worked at the American Cancer Society where she was instrumental in making the largest nationwide gain in the Good to Great pilot for Making Strides events.…
Heather currently works at X-energy as Lead, Microreactor Module, in the Government R&D Division. In this role, she coordinates the multidisciplinary engineering team performing reactor design for X-energy’s transportable microreactor technology. Prior to joining X-energy, she spent a decade at Argonne National Laboratory, where she was the manager of multimillion-dollar programs related to reactor design, software development, and fuel development and testing.…
Ph.D., 2019, University of Minnesota
Research Interests: Dynamic Networks, Polyesters, and Biodegradation
Ph.D., 1999, University of Florida
Interests: materials characterization and analysis; analytical instrumentation, particularly electron microscopy and microanalysis
Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry and has served in a lead technical capacity for more than $10 billion of transactions and financings. She was previously Vice President – Reserves & Corporate Development and Vice President – Strategic Analytics at California Resources Corporation. Prior to CRC, she had progressive technical and commercial roles with Occidental Petroleum, Raymond James, Ryder Scott, ExxonMobil and General Electric.…
Ph. D. Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden
Research Interests: Nuclear safeguards, detection statistics of radiation from fissile materials, and the physics behind particle-detector interactions. Neutron physics & detectors. Neutron noise signals. Radiation signal analysis
Lab Website: Enqvist Research Group
Ph.D., Northwestern University, 2020
Research Interests: Polymeric Materials, Semiconductors and Energy Storage Materials.
Dr. Michael Lorne Fensin is a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Michael’s areas of research include Monte Carlo code and methods development, radiation signature and detector characterization for homeland security and nonproliferation, space and terrestrial reactor design, reactor burnup, and radiation effects and shielding design. Michael was an MCNP code developer and class instructor for over a decade.…
Darren Gale, Vice President, Commercial Operations and ARDP Program Manager for X-energy ($2.5B Advanced Reactor Demonstration program at Energy Northwest), has been actively involved in the Nuclear Power industry for over 37 years, including Executive Management for the past 20 years. His significant profit/loss responsibilities span Fuels, Services, Engineering and Maintenance businesses.…
Ph.D., 2000, University of Florida
Research Interests: Semiconductor and dielectric growth and characterization, graphene, solid-state sensors, focused ion beam processing, molecular beam epitaxy of materials, wide bandgap semiconductor materials, materials characterization, gate dielectrics, high-power/high-temperature device fabrication and testing
Ph. D., 1997, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Research Interests: Biomimetic synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid composite materials; biomineralization- processes and structure; biomimetic bone graft substitutes; kidney stone formation; phage display for bioelectronic materials interfaces
Lab Website: Gower Biomimetics Laboratory
Ph.D., 1996, Utsunomiya University, Japan
Research Interests: magnetic field-assisted finishing, surface functionalization and characterization, ultra-precision surface finishing of optics, surface and edge finishing of capillary tubes, catheter shafts and stents, medical device development (such as polymeric heart valve prostheses and biopsy needles)
Ahmad Robert “Bob” Hadba, Ph.D., MBA is a Senior Director of R&D Projects at Alcon Laboratories, Inc. Fort Worth, Texas. In this role, Bob is leading a cross-functional multi-site team charged with developing and clinically validating the performance of a new Modular Intraocular Lens Platform designed to optimize the refractive outcomes of post-cataract surgery patients.…
Ph.D., 2018, University of Florida
Research Interests: Monte Carlo methods; neutron transport; nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Research Interests: Remote Sensing, Nuclear Nonproliferation/counterproliferation, Nuclear Security, and Nuclear Policy
Lab Website: Hartig Research Group
Ph.D., 2006, University of Florida
Research Interests: Growth and Characterization of Wide and Ultra-wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials
Ph.D., 2002, Georgia Institute of Technology
Research Interests: design and fabrication of microphysiological systems; manufacture of substance-encapsulated polymeric microgels/microspheres/microcapsules; 3D printing of biological and engineering structures from difficult-to-print materials using ink jetting, extrusion and laser-induced forward transfer
Ph.D., 1963 Max-Planck Institute Stuttgart/Germany
Research Interests: Electrical Properties of Materials, Optical Properties of Materials, Semiconductors, Energetic Materials Detection, Spark-processing of Luminescent Materials, Differential Reflectometry, Electromigration and other failure mechanisms in thin film interconnects, Radiation Damage of Nuclear Materials, Ion Implantation.
Dr. Kostadin Ivanov is currently Professor and Department Head of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Ivanov received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the Moscow Institute of Power Engineering, Russia. He received his Ph.D. in reactor physics from the Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He was senior research scientist at INRNE and an assistant professor at the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.…
Ph. D., 1987, University of California, Berkeley
Research Interests: Semiconductor Processing and electron microscopy characterization; Ion implantation of Si, Ge and compound semiconductors; Li ion battery anode and cathode development
Lab Website: Swamp Group
Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS) is on Instagram!
Dr.…
As the senior manager for Sandia’s Advanced and Exploratory (A&E) teams, Marie Kane provides leadership for her management team and strategy development and execution for the Advanced and Exploratory Systems Departments that support technology development and maturation for the Nuclear Deterrence (ND) mission. The A&E program at Sandia is responsible for developing next-generation weapon architectures that support anticipated adversarial threats and defend against technology surprises.…
Margaret has over 20 years of medical product experience in combination medical devices, medical devices and pharmaceutical products. She currently runs a consulting business focusing on Scientific Affairs and Regulatory Affairs in the Combination Device, Medical Device, and Pharmaceutical industries.
Margaret holds an MBA from the University of California-Irvine, where she focused on strategy, and BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the University of Florida Materials Sciences and Engineering Department, with her dissertation research centered on drug delivery from and surface modification of implantable biomaterials.
Ph.D., 2015, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: Advanced electron microscopy techniques, Quantitative analysis of electron microscopy data, Digital image processing, Understanding materials properties at the atomic scale, Functional oxides and semiconductors
Lab Website: Kim Electron Microscopy Group
Tyler Lenzi received a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from Washington State University (Pullman, Washington USA) in 1995 and finished his M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida, USA) in 1997.
Mr. Lenzi has over 23 years of semiconductor manufacturing experience. He currently manages the Yield Enhancement, Data Science, Process Control, Corporate TEM Lab, and Wafer Level Testing teams for technology development at Micron Technology Inc.…
B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering, University of Florida, 1980
M.S. in Material Science & Engineering, WPI, 1994
Director of Technology Programs for Wyman Gordon (a PCC company)
Began her career in 1980 at Wyman Gordon and has held various technical roles. Works in Superalloy and Titanium Forging development with a focus on Nickle-based Superalloy powder metallurgy, production, forging and heat treatment for Aviation Markets.…
Dr. Azaree Lintereur joined the Nuclear Engineering Department at Penn State University as an Assistant Professor in August 2017 and is developing a radiation detection based research program. Prior to joining Penn State University Dr. Lintereur was at the University of Utah, where she established a radiation detection laboratory. Prior to becoming a faculty member, Dr.…
Currently Senior Director of IOL Projects at Alcon Research, LLC., James Marotta has also held research and medical affairs positions at Novartis, Medtronic and Smith & Nephew. Recipient of the Novartis 2018 VIVA Leading Science Award. More than 20 years of technical development knowledge and research experience with both medical devices and drug/device combination products.…
Steve McDanels received his degree in Materials Science and Engineering, with a specialization in metallurgical engineering, from the University of Florida. His professional career began as a materials engineer performing failure analysis and crash investigations of navy and marine rotor-wing and fixed-wing aircraft. He also served as an adjunct professor of metallurgy at Pensacola Junior College.…
Ph.D., 2008, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: Computational and Theoretical Plasma Physics, Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Fusion, Plasma Turbulence, Momentum Transport, Runaway Electrons, Monte Carlo Methods
Lab Website: McDevitt Lab
Ph. D., 1973, Catholic University of America
Research Interests: Fracture of Brittle Materials; Fractal Geometry applied to fracture; Failure Analysis; Dental Ceramics; Biomedical Applications
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Our group focuses on designing advanced polymer materials for clean energy, clean water, and environmental sustainability. We combine modular polymer synthesis with experimental tools that probe both molecular-scale and macroscopic transport in polymers with the goal of informing predictive design of the next generation of materials for membrane-driven separations.
A few areas of interest to our group are:
Predicting gas separation membrane performance in realistic environments
Polymer membranes offer a competitive option for energy-efficient carbon capture and hydrocarbon purification; however, many promising materials developed in the lab fail to perform as well in the field. …
Eng. Sc. D. 1981, Columbia University
Research Interests: Engineered particulate systems for enhanced performance in nano and bio technologies, micro-electronics, advanced materials and minerals, photocatalytic degradation of hazardous microbes, nanotoxicity, and greener reagents and particle technologies
Ph.D., 2019, University of Akron
Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis and Characterization, Biomaterials, Enzyme Catalysis, High-Throughput Data-Driven Techniques, Machine Learning
Ananth Naman has served as our Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Cabot Microelectronics since January 2015. Previously, Dr. Naman was our Vice President of Research and Development since January 2011. Prior to that, Dr. Naman was our Director of Product Development starting in April 2009 and Director of Pads Technology from January 2006 through March 2009.…
Mr. Nazar is an Operating Partner at AE Industrial, bringing over 35 years of extensive nuclear industry experience. Mr. Nazar currently serves as Chairman of the Board of BHI, an AE Industrial portfolio company.
Prior to joining AE Industrial in 2020, Mr. Nazar was president of the nuclear business unit at NextEra Energy, Inc., and currently serves as a consultant.…
Ph.D., 2017, University of Minnesota
Research Interests: polymer synthesis; structure and phase behavior of charged polymer blends and solutions; small angle scattering; rheology and additive manufacturing
Ph.D., 2015, Idaho State University
Research Interests: Reactor Physics Experiments, Non-destructive radiation imaging, Monte-Carlo Methods, Pre and Post Irradiation Analysis, Medical Imaging, Radiation Detection
Ph. D., 2002, The Pennsylvania State University
Research Interests: Multifunctional ceramics; energy materials; dielectrics and ionic conductors in bulk and thin film; single crystal growth; nuclear materials and detectors; bioceramics
Lab Website: Nino Research Group (NRG)
Ph. D., 1989, Louisiana State University
Research Interests: Electronic, photonic, and magnetic thin film materials; electronic oxide materials; thin film deposition
Mr. Pierre Paul Oneid is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at EnergySolutions, a premier leader in nuclear waste management, decommissioning, and project services. He was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer of Holtec International. Mr. Oneid earned an Executive Master of Business Administration from Queens University in Canada in 1998 and a B.A.…
Ph.D., 2003, Arizona State University
Research Interests: Neural engineering, device-tissue interfaces and neurostimulation
Ph. D., 1983, University of Tasmania
Research Interests: Semiconductor processing, devices, thin film transistors, solid state sensors
Ric is an accomplished executive leader with a successful career in electricity markets, engineering businesses, and critical infrastructure management in both the private and public sectors. He was with Westinghouse for 32 years rising to the position of President and COO where his duties spanned every facet of the energy cycle from fuel, manufacturing, plant design, construction, maintenance, and decommissioning.…
Ph. D., 1985, University of Florida
Research Interests: Computational materials science; heat transport; nuclear materials; ferroelectrics and dielectrics; mechanical properties of metals; simulation methodologies
Lab Website: Phillpot Research Group
WALDEN C. RHINES is President and CEO Emeritus of Cornami, Inc., a fabless software/semiconductor company focused on intelligent computing for fully homomorphic encryption and machine learning. He was previously CEO of Mentor Graphics for 25 years and Chairman of the Board for 17 years. During his tenure at Mentor, revenue nearly quadrupled and the market value of the company increased 10X.…
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002
Research Interests: Biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticles; fundamental fluid physics of suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles; magnetic nanoparticle synthesis and functionalization; suspension hydrodynamics and rheology.
Ph.D., 2008, University of Florida
Interests: transmission electron microscopy of complex oxides and semiconductors, electrochemical studies of elemental semiconductors for Li-ion battery applications; joined the Research Service Centers in August of 2012 as service/teaching faculty, where he primarily oversees the transmission electron microscopes and dual-beam scanning electron microscope/focused ion beams
Ph. D., 2003, Tulane University
Research Interests: Engineering education, characterization techniques, surface physics, solid-state devices, dye-sensitized solar cells.
Ph.D., 1995, University of Illinois
Research Interests: biomaterials for neural tissue regeneration and neural interfacing
Ph.D., 2009, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Interests: Two-phase flow, nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, quantitative visualization, nuclear reactor safety, computational and numerical methods including coupled codes, advanced nuclear power systems
Dr. Iris V. Schumacher is the R&D Manager for Global Product Development at Kimberly-Clark Professional. She is responsible for the leadership of a global team that drives end-to-end innovation for the critical hygiene categories of skincare, wipers, and towel/bath tissue supporting the Kleenex®, Cottonelle®, Scott®, and WypAll® brands. Iris has an incredible passion for building exceptional teams by fostering a team culture that enables people to bring their best selves to their work and cultivates excitement to drive results. …
Ph.D., 1992, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany
Research Interests: Semiconductor oxides for energy harvesting and storage, photocatalysis and photolysis, electrodes for secondary batteries, barrier coatings, nanostructures in surface science and, biomedical applications of nanoparticles
Lab Website: Sigmund’s Group
Deepika Singh is the Founder and former CEO of Sinmat- a company specializing in novel planarization processes for the semiconductor chip industry. These processes are currently being used by leading global companies in some of the fastest-growing markets involving the manufacturing of smartwatches, smartphones advanced silicon carbide and gallium nitride electronics for electric vehicles, 5G communications infrastructure and advanced defense electronics.…
Ph. D., 1989, North Carolina State University
Research Interests: Semiconductor Processing; Oxide thin films; III-V Semiconductors; Ultra-hard materials; Emerging advanced materials; laser processing
Ph.D., 2005, Georgia Institute of Technology
Research Interests: Mechanics of Materials, Dislocations, Grain Boundaries, Diffraction, Modeling and Simulation, High Performance Computing
Ph.D., 1991, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: multiaxial deformation behavior and microstructural characterization of advanced structural ceramics, ultrahard materials, biomaterials, gels, transparent materials, ultra-high temperature materials, nuclear materials, metallic glasses, 3D woven composites, structural foams, nanostructured materials, plastically graded materials (case hardened steels), and refractory metals, processing-structure-property relationships in ultrahard ceramics, transitional metal diborides, and enhanced accident-tolerant high thermal conductivity nuclear ceramic fuels
James D. Talton, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Alchem Laboratories Corporation. Prior to joining Alchem, Dr. Talton served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nanotherapeutics, Inc. for seventeen years. He also is President of Nanopharmaceutics, Inc., President of Discovery Cure Institute, Inc., a Florida non-profit Corporation and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for the University of Florida Department of Materials Science & Engineering.…
M. E., 1963, Mass. Inst. of Technology M.E.A. 1980, Geo. Washington Univ.
Research Interests: nuclear fuel cycle, focusing on the processing, fabrication and in core and excore performance of nuclear fuel, multi-scale simulation of nuclear Fuel, economic and environmental evaluation of all forms of electrical energy generation
Ph.D., 1999, North Carolina State University
Research Interests: Phenolic compound biochemistry, lignin formation in plants, nanomaterials for the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids, sweet sorghum for the biofuel industry
Ph.D. 2001, Florida State University
Ph.D., 1993, University of Paris, XI
Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Wastes, Nuclear Forensics, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Environmental Behavior of Radionuclides
Lab Website: Wall Research
Ph.D., 2010, Penn State University
Research Interests: Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics, Neutronics, Thermal Hydraulics, Multiphysics Simulation, Advanced Numerical Methods, Applied Mathematics, Advanced Code Coupling Techniques, Scientific Software Development, High Performance Computing
Lab Website: Florida Advanced Multiphysics Modeling and Simulation (FAMMoS) Lab
Chris Widenhouse, Ph.D., was a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering from 1990 through 2001.
Dr. Widenhouse graduated from the University of Florida with an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering in 1996. He also holds a B.S. in MSE from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.…
Ph. D., 2005, Princeton University
Research Interests: Nanostructured electronic materials, organic-inorganic hybrid materials, surfaces and interfaces, energy materials, photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes and other optoelectronic devices
Lab Website: Xue Research Group
Ph.D., 2020, Michigan Technological University
Research Interests: Mechanical Behavior, Kinetics, Crystallographic Properties, Materials Processing and Characterization
Ph. D., 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Interests: structural and fuel materials for nuclear energy systems; LWRs sustainability and aging management; advanced fabrication and joining technologies; used fuel dry storage and disposition.
Lab Website: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group
Ph.D., 1991, University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana
Interests: advanced material science, manufacturing process development, and high-temperature materials testing & characterization
Mike P. Zamora is Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company, located in Houston, Texas. In this position, he is responsible for the company’s future growth, integration with other parts of the corporation and oversees the Basic Chemicals and Catalyst & Licensing global business units.
Prior to his current position, Mike was Manufacturing Director, Americas, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, located in Houston.…