Kelly Zhang (Hamers group, University of Wisconsin-Madison) defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Functionalization and characterization of carbon nanomaterials: Understanding mechanistic molecular interactions in biological systems,” on April 2. Kelly will be joining Merck as a Senior Scientist this summer. Congratulations Dr. Zhang!
Hyunho Kang (Haynes group, University of Minnesota) successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Design of Silicon Dioxide Nanomaterials and Understanding their Colloidal Behaviors for Sensing and Biological Applications,” on December 19. He has accepted a position with Merck.
Congratulations to Dr. Emily Caudill, who defended her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Interactions of Nanoparticles and Polymers with Bacterial and Eukaryotic Cell Surface Structures.” Emily is also currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Lake Superior State University.
Dr. Donald White (Curry group) successfully defended his thesis, titled “Synthesis, characterization, and application of cellulose nanofibrils for fabrication and biodegradable biobased materials.” Donald will be moving to Houston for a position at Occidental Petroleum. Congrats Donald!
Congratulations to Dr. Bo Zhi (Haynes group) for successfully defending his PhD thesis, entitledGroup IV Element-based Luminescent Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Environmental Impact Evaluation, and Bio-imaging Applications” on August 16. Shortly, Bo will be departing for a position as a senior research scientist at Zeon in Japan.
Congratulations to Dr. Gene Chong (Hernandez group) for successfully defending his PhD thesis, entitled “Bottom-up simulations reveal mechanisms of nanoparticle surface layering and corona formation,” on June 12! Gene will be joining Prof. Alex MacKerell’s group at the University of Maryland as a postdoc.
Jenny Klutts (Rosenzweig group) successfully defended her Master’s thesis, entitled “Molecular level studies of the impact of poly (oxonorbornenes) on D. rerio. embryos.” Congratulations Jenny!
CSN graduate student Sunipa Pramanik (Haynes group) recently defended her thesis, entitled “Interactions of Semiconductor Nanoparticles with Environmentally Relevant Bacteria Model.” Congratulations, Dr. Pramanik! Sunipa Pramanik (left) defends her doctoral thesis
CSN graduate student Joe Buchman (Haynes group) recently defended his thesis, entitled “An investigation of nanoparticle toxicity mechanisms against environmentally-relevant organisms and the potential for sustainable agriculture applications.” Congratulations, Dr. Buchman!
Stephanie's thesis focused on understanding the surface chemistry of functional materials and biointerfaces using nonlinear optics, such that knowledge gained at the molecular level can contribute to future efforts to design and control the properties of new materials for improved performances. More specifically, her work determined: How molecular ordering influences device performance in organic electronics. How metal binding interactions with DNA-functionalized surfaces impact molecular structure and biorecognition events in model biosensors. What drives nanomaterial interactions with biointerfaces to better design nanomaterials that are safe and sustainable. Stephanie will be continuing on as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor David Walt at Tufts University! Congratulations Stephanie!
