Research Scientists

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Graduate Students

Group Alumni

Post-doctoral scholars

Dr. Michael Waters

1. • Project: Optical Properties of Ag Metal Nanoparticles

   • Current Position: Rondinelli Group, Northwestern University

Dr. Suvadip Das

1. • Project: Electronic and Optical Properties of Two-Dimensional α‑PbO

   • Current Position: Mazin Group, George Mason University

PhD  Students

Dr. Yujie Liu, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing, 2026

• Thesis: Defect Engineering, Ferroelectric Functionality, and Computational Discovery of Wide-Bandgap Nitrides and High-Entropy Semiconductors

•  MICDE Fellow

• Current Position: Meta Inc.

Dr. Emily Oliphant, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing, 2025, Co-advised with Wenhao Sun, MSE

• Thesis: Bridging Bonds and Bands: A Toolkit for Interpreting the Crystal Chemistry of Electronic Structure

•  NSF Graduate Research Fellow & Rackham Merit Fellow

• Current Position: Tayebati Postdoctoral Associate at MIT

Dr. Kyle Bushick, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing, 2023

• Thesis: Development and Application of First-Principles Methods for Phonon-Assisted Quantum Processes

•  U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow

• Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

      Dr. Nick Pant, Ph.D. Applied Physics and Scientific Computing, 2023

• Thesis: From Atoms to Devices: Performance Bottlenecks of Nitride Semiconductors using Multi-Scale Quantum Methods

•  Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholar 

• Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Giustino Group, University of Texas at Austin

      Dr. Woncheol Lee, Ph.D. Electrical & Computer Engineering, 2023,  Co-advised by Mackillo Kira, ECE

• Thesis: Electronic, Optical, and Excitonic Properties of Atomically Thin Semiconductors

• Kwanjeong Educational Foundation Scholar

• Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Van de Walle Group, University of Santa Barbara

Dr. Sieun Chae, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2022

1. 1. • Thesis: Theoretical Discovery and Experimental Synthesis of Ultra-Wide-Band-Gap Semiconductors for Power Electronics

      • Barbour Centennial Scholar & Rackham International Student Fellow

      • Current Position: Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University.

Dr. Zihao Deng, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2022

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculations on the Thermodynamic and Electronic Properties of Defective Semiconductors and Semiconductor Alloys

      • Current Position: Software Engineer at TuSimple

Dr. Nocona Sanders, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2021

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculations on the Electronic and Optical Properties of Polar Functional Materials

      • Current Position: Senior Associate at Gladstein, Neandross & Associates

Dr. Kelsey Mengle, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2019 

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculations on the Electronic, Optical, and Vibrational Properties of Ultrawide-Band-Gap Semiconductor Materials

      • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

      • Current Position: Engineer at Apple

Dr. Andrew McAllister, Ph.D. Applied Physics and Scientific Computing , 2019

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculation of Auger Recombination in Optoelectronic Materials 

      • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

      • Current Position: Policy Analyst at the New Jersey Assembly Democratic Office

Dr. Logan Williams, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2019

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculations of the Thermodynamic, Structural, Electronic, and Optical Properties of Compositionally Disordered Semiconductor Materials

      • Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher at Sandia National Laboratories

       Dr. Jihang Lee, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2018

1. 1. • Thesis: Controlling Ionic Transport in RRAM for Memory and Neuromorphic Computing Applications

      • Kwanjeong Educational Foundation Scholarship

      • Co-advisor: Wei Lu, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

      • Current Position: Engineer at Lam Research

Dr. Christina Jones, Ph.D. Applied Physics, 2017

1. 1. • Thesis:  Compound Semiconductor Quantum Wells and Dots for Lighting-Emitting Diode Applications: Insights on Structural and Optoelectronic Properties

      • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

      • Co-advisor: Roy Clarke,  Physics

      • Current Position: Senior Materials Scientist at 3M

Dr. Guangha Shi, Ph.D.  Materials Science & Engineering and Scientific Computing, 2017

1. 1. • Thesis:  First Principles Calculations of Electronic, Optical, and Transport Properties of Materials for Energy Applications

      • Current Position: Software Engineer at Google

Dr. Dylan Bayerl, Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, 2015

1. 1. • Thesis: First-Principles Calculations of Optoelectronic and Transport Properties of Materials for Energy Applications

      • Current Position: Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh

Masters students

Olivia Liebman, M.S. Materials Science & Engineering, 2019

1. • Thesis: First Principles Calculations on the Optical and Electronic Properties of Bulk Silver

   • Current Position: PhD student at UCLA

  Tiernan Baucom, M.S. Materials Science & Engineering, 2023

1. • Thesis: First Principles Calculations of Electronic, Thermodynamic, and Optical Properties of GeSnO2 Alloys

   • Current Position: Materials Engineer at Rolls Royce

Undergraduate Students

Zekun Wu, Materials Science & Engineering (2023)

Ilhan Onder, Electrical Engineering and Engineering/Physics

Sayan Raychaudhuri, Materials Science & Engineering

Malhar Kute, Materials Science & Engineering

Kori Maxie, Materials Science & Engineering (2019)

Sahil Dagli, Materials Science & Engineering (2017-2019)

Kevin Greenman, Chemical Engineering (2017-2019)

Keyi Cai, Materials Science & Engineering (2016-2017)

Annika Fash-White, Materials Science & Engineering (2015)

Ian Nilsen, Materials Science & Engineering (2014-2015)

Xiaofan Ji, Materials Science & Engineering (2014-2015)

Dillon Kipke, Materials Science & Engineering (2012)