President: Zek (He/Him)

Zek [pronounced like Zeek] grew up in southern Colorado, and received his B.S. in Chemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. At Northwestern, he is a joint student with the Dravid and Kanatzidis research groups and is working on the advanced characterization of novel thermoelectric materials. In his free time he enjoys watching horror shorts, cooking, going to trivia, tie-dye, and exploring Chicago.

Vice President: Isabelle (She/Her)

Isabelle grew up in Muncie, Indiana and received her B.S. in Chemistry and Spanish from Ball State University. At Northwestern, she is a part of the Shull research group and SPIn Lab and studies the interfacial chemistry and synthesis of crosslinked biopolymers. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, reading, listening to music, and going to the beach.

Treasurer: Michele (She/Her)

Michele is a second-year PhD student in James Rondinelli’s Materials Theory and Design group investigating ferroelectric oxides. She graduated from the University of California, Merced with a dual BS in Materials Science and Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering. Since moving to Chicago, she enjoys thrifting, going to Six Flags, and trying new food spots and coffee shops.

Secretary: Julia (She/Her)

Julia grew up in Illinois and and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. At Northwestern, she works on studying dental enamel formation in the Joester group. She enjoys bouldering, drawing, and gaming with friends.

Student-Faculty Liaisons: Abhi (He/Him) & Anisha (She/Her)

Abhi is a second-year PhD student in the Barton lab, researching the effects of processing and fabrication on semiconductor materials for energy efficient photonic integrated circuits. He is originally from Northern California and attended UC Santa Barbara for his B.S. in Chemical Engineering. In his free time, he enjoys baking, birdwatching, and photography.

Anisha grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. She is a PhD student in the Shull group researching the effects of dynamic covalent bonds on the mechanical properties of silicones. In her free time, she likes to draw, paint, play volleyball, and read.

Outreach Chairs: Isaac (He/Him) & Bisrat (He/Him)

Isaac is a second year in the Olvera de la Cruz group studying ions in water in narrow channels. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, climbing, and reading.

Bisrat is a first-year PhD student in the Haile group, working on solid state battery electrolyte materials. He earned his BSc and MSc degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Adama Science and Technology University in Ethiopia. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, cooking, watching movies, and socializing with friends.

Social Chairs: Zach (He/Him) & Ryan (He/Him)

Zach was born and raised in the great city of Pittsburgh, PA. At Northwestern, Zach’s work in the Hersam lab is focused on the synthesis and fabrication of neuromorphic nanoelectronic materials and devices. Outside of school, Zach can typically be found on the disc golf course or cheering for his favorite baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ryan is an incoming second year graduate student in the Barnett group researching solid oxide cells. When not doing science, depending on the weather you can find Ryan on the golf course or in the kitchen cooking Japanese food.

Inter-Organizational Chair: Dawson (He/Him)

Dawson is the inter-organizational chair in the Voorhees and Rondinelli groups. He uses simulation and modeling to explore sustainable stress-driven materials synthesis. In his free time he plays video games, music, and spends time camping and hiking!

Historian: Danielle (She/Her)

Danielle is a second year in the Haile group studying thermochemical fuel production. She went to undergrad at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio for Chemical Engineering and enjoys singing and playing video games in her free time.

Webmaster: Sullivan (He/Him)

Sullivan is a second-year in the Olvera de la Cruz group doing research in coarse-grained computational models of proteins. He grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and moved to Chicago to pursue an undergraduate degree in Molecular Engineering from the University of Chicago. Outside of work, he enjoys playing music and singing, birding, and tinkering with electronics and computers.

Intramural Chair: Elias (He/Him)

Elias works in the Dravid group on the design and characterization of nanocomposite platforms for environmental remediation applications. He is originally from Maryland where he received his B.S. in Materials Science from the University of Maryland. In his free time, Elias frequents the gym, plays a variety of sports, and is also highly involved in his church.

Members at Large: Derek (They/Them), Nathanial (He/Him), & Greg (He/Him)

Derek grew up in a small Connecticut town and graduated from UCONN with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. They study the electrical properties of electrolyte materials for protonic ceramic fuel cells. In their free time, they like to watch trashy reality TV, going out, and eating good food around the city.

Nathaniel is a second-year in the Hersam group studying 2D materials for battery electrolytes. He did his undergrad at the University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!), but he is originally from Central, South Carolina. Nathaniel enjoys going into Chicago to see some of their famous comedy shows and musical theater, biking along the many lakefront paths, and playing IM sports with the hopes of someday winning a championship.

Greg grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida before moving to Tallahassee to study Chemical-Materials Engineering at Florida State University. At Northwestern, he’s co-advised between Professors Mark Hersam and Richard Schaller using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopies to study carrier dynamics in low-dimensional materials. Outside of the lab, Greg enjoys watching college sports and trying new bars and restaurants around Chicago.