Monthly Archives August 2018

We are pleased to announce that three of our current and former lab members have published their paper “Silane functionalization effects on dispersion of alumina nanoparticles in hybrid carbon fiber composites” in the journal of Applied Optics.

Current and former lab members Alex Selimov, Sanjida Jahan, and Eric Barker worked in collaboration with scientists at Imperial College London, studying the effects of silane treatments on the dispersion properties of alumina nanoparticles in composite materials.

Lab member Zachary Stein has presented a poster on the research he has been conducting this summer as part of his participation in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), which he was awarded in April.  Zac has been studying the effects of sand ingression on thermal barrier coatings and the research presented was on some initial analysis of the experiments conducted at Argonne National Laboratory this July.

Zac presented at the Summer Research Academy’s “Meet Student Researchers: Poster Showcase.”  The Summer Research Academy introduces its participants to academic research and how to get started on conducting research themselves.

Lab member Debraliz Isaac-Aragones spent the summer at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Her research focused on alternative thermal management solutions for electronic devices using thermal interface materials. She investigated the conduction pattern of particle-filled polymer composites using infrared microscopy. The experimental results were validated with both simulation software and theoretical relationships found in literature. She presented her summer’s work at the 2018 SURF Symposium.

Debraliz also participated in a program called Pathways that provided additional mentoring, networking, and professional opportunities for underrepresented students interested in pursuing a PhD. “We had several informal meetings where a small group of students and I engaged in discussion with faculty and graduate students. It has been a valuable experience to ask questions first-hand about what life is like in and after graduate school.” Overall, SURF gave her a better outlook on her future as a researcher.