‘Meet Our Graduates’
Meet Our Graduates: Anna Douglas
Jan. 25, 2022—Anna Douglas earned her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Materials Science at Vanderbilt University in 2019. While at Vanderbilt, Anna began her studies developing nanostructured materials that can improve the performance of energy storage devices including lithium and sodium ion batteries. During her graduate studies, Anna co-invented a novel electrochemical synthesis method to produce high quality carbon nanotubes from...
Meet Our Graduates: Austin Howes
Jan. 4, 2022—Austin Howes earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 2020 under Jason Valentine. His work advanced the field of metasurfaces to include new types of miniaturized optics that can be dynamically tuned. During his time at Vanderbilt, Austin witnessed VINSE’s construction and was one of the early super-users on many of the nanofabrication tools. He took...
Meet Our Graduates: Justin Mollison
Dec. 20, 2021—Justin Mollison graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering in 2020 with a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Nanoscience. As an undergrad, Justin was a member of the VINSE Technical Crew where he learned fundamental micro- and nanoscale fabrication skills in photolithography, etching, deposition and metrology. He then used those skills...
Meet Our Graduates: Westley Bauer
Dec. 16, 2021—Westley Bauer earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry under the tutelage of Dr. David Wright. His research was focused on developing new and improving existing diagnostics for the “big three” infectious diseases most closely linked to poverty: Malaria, Tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. This research pursuit afforded him the opportunity to travel to sub-Saharan Africa in collaboration with...
Meet Our Graduates: Rayni Jules
Dec. 13, 2021—Rayni Jules received his B.E. in Electrical Engineering in 2019 from Vanderbilt University. As an undergraduate, Rayni was part of the inaugural VINSE Technical Crew where he learned valuable skills in process development, photolithography, and deposition. Rayni’s concentration was on using Electron Beam Lithography to create fine structures on thin surfaces. Rayni currently works as...
Meet Our Graduates: You Zhou
Dec. 10, 2021—You Zhou earned his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Materials Science in August 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Jason Valentine. You Zhou’s PhD research is to address the current trend towards miniaturization of photonic devices and nanophotonic systems. In one key advance, You developed 3D cascaded flat optics as a pathway for adding complexity and functionality to...
Meet Our Graduates: Brandon Jacome-Mendez
Dec. 8, 2021—Brandon Jacome-Mendez received his B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology from Vanderbilt University in May 2021. As an undergraduate, Brandon worked on the VINSE tech crew during the academic year and mainly focused on process development for various cleanroom services. These included photolithography, soft lithography for microfluidics devices, and material characterization using profilometry, ellipsometry, and Raman...
Meet Our Graduates: Amy Ng
Dec. 6, 2021—Amy Ng earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University in December of 2014 under the supervision of Sandra Rosenthal. In the research team, Amy synthesized, fabricated, and characterized nanocrystalline-polymer photovoltaics. Her passion in electron microscopy opened an opportunity to work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the guidance of Stephen Pennycook. ...
Meet Our Graduates: Samantha Kaczaral
Nov. 30, 2021—Samantha Kaczaral graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2019 with a degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. While an undergraduate, Samantha was a member of the VINSE Technical Crew. She learned valuable skills including photolithography, thin film deposition techniques, and selective material etching. These skills we applied primarily to photolithography process optimization as well as thermal...
Meet Our Graduates: Patia Fann
Nov. 17, 2021—Patia Fann received her B.E. in Electrical Engineering in May 2020. While an undergraduate, Patia worked as part of the VINSE Tech Crew. She assisted in the cleanroom’s move to the new Engineering and Science building and the optimization of photolithography and metal deposition processes. She currently works in Covington, Louisiana as a facilities engineer supporting Chevron’s offshore deepwater...