Alumni

Graduate Students

Juan Wang (M.S., Minnesota, 1992; Dow Chemical)
Thesis: A Quartz Resonator-Based Study of the pH Dependent Behavior of Amphoteric Polymer Films and Self-assembled Thiol Monolayers

Hei-ku Park (w/ W. Smyrl; Ph.D., Minnesota, 1992; Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea)
Thesis: Intercalation Processes in Thin Electroactive Materials

Alex Katz (M.S., Minnesota, 1994; Cal Tech Ph. D.; Universite’. Louis Pasteur postdoc; faculty, Chem. Eng., Berkeley)
Thesis: A Quartz Resonator-based Rheometer for the Dynamic Investigation of Viscoelastic Films
https://chemistry.berkeley.edu/faculty/cbe/katz

Shulong Li (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1993, Milliken Research)
Thesis: Conductive Polymer Fibers and Low Dimensional Organic Crystals
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shulong_Li

Lynn M. Frostman (Ph.D., Minnesota,1995; Baker Chemical)
Thesis: Growth of Molecular Crystals on Functionalized Monolayers
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnfrostman

Andrew Hillier (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1995; faculty, Chem. Eng., U. Virginia; faculty, Chem. Eng., Iowa State)
Thesis: Assembly of Crystalline Molecular Lattices on Highly Ordered Substrates
http://www.cbe.iastate.edu/the-department/facultystaff/?user_page=hillier

Victoria Russell (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1995; 3M)
Thesis: Hydrogen-bonding and Control of Molecular Packing in the Organic Solid State with Implications for Materials Design
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-tori-russell-317637/

Christopher Yip (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1997; faculty, Chem. Eng., U. Toronto)
Thesis: Molecular Self-Assembly at Interfaces: From Crystallization to Protein-Ligand Binding
http://biochemistry.utoronto.ca/person/christopher-m-yip/

Zuxuan Lin (Ph. D., Minnesota, 1996; Seagate)
Thesis: Characteristics and Applications of the Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Liquid Media
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuxuan-lin-11717921/

Cara Evans (Ph. D., Minnesota, 1998, UCSB postoc, Nestle, Lausanne)
Thesis: Confinement of Dyes in Nanometer-Scale Domains
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-evans-16061a45/

Wei Wei Lee (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1999; Start up company, CA)
Thesis: Structural Study of Vanadium Pentoxide Sols, Gels, and Xerogels

Julie Last (Ph.D., Minnesota, 1999, Sandia, New Mexico)
Thesis: Design and Fabrication of Crystalline Molecular Monolayers
https://loci.wisc.edu/people/julie-last

Dan Hooks (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2000, Los Alamos, New Mexico)
Thesis: Epitaxial Nucleation and Growth of Molecular Films
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-hooks-08ab644a/

Adam M. Pivovar (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2000, NIST)
Thesis: The Dynamic Behavior and Inclusion Selectivity of Guanidinium Organodisulfonate Host Lattices
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-pivovar-1807b73/

Eric P. Codner (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2001, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI)
Thesis: Simultaneous Spectroscopic and Adhesion Measurements with a Tandem IR-JKR Instrument

David Plaut (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2003; 3M)
Thesis: Structural Characterization of Crystalline Ternary Inclusion Compounds at the Air-Water Interface
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-plaut-9992951/

Taesung Jung (BK-21 visiting student, Seoul National University, 2003 – 2004)
Project title: Atomic Force Microscopy of Calcium Oxalate Crystal Growth

Sidartha Mohapatra (w/ C. D. Frisbie; M. S., Minnesota, 2004, OrganicID, Austin, TX)
Thesis: Stuctural, Morphological, and Electrical Characterization of Thin Films of Novel Organic Semiconductors

Stephen A. Martin (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2004, MIT, postdoc; faculty member, University of Virginia)
Thesis: Structure and Properties of Organic Materials Reinforced by Hydrogen Bonding
http://www.che.vt.edu/people_smartin.php

Xiaoxia Sheng (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2004, MIT, postdoc; (Abbot, SoliPharma LLC, Hangzhou, China))
Thesis: Probing Crystal Growth and Adhesion Processes at the Molecular Level
https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiaoxia-sheng-65766a5/

Jeong-Myeong Ha (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2006, Berkeley, postdoc; KIST, Seoul, Korea)
Thesis: Crystallization, Polymorphism and Reactivity in Nanoscale Reactors
https://sites.google.com/site/kistcatal/faculties-and-staffs/jeong-myeong-ha

Sang-Jae Park (M. S. 2005, Minnesota, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Thesis: Reinforced Hexagonal Networks of Hydrogen-bonded Nanotubes
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sang-jae-park-80299149/

Jinsoo Kim (KOSEF visiting student, Seoul National University, 2004 – 2005)
Project title: Inclusion-based Separations of Molecular Isomers and Chiral Compounds

Matthew J. Horner (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2006; W. L. Gore & Associates)
Thesis: Lamellar-Cylindrical Isomerism at Short Length Scales
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewhorner/

Brian Olmsted (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2010; Electrical Engineering, Minnesota)
Thesis: Tandem Computational and Experimental Combinatorics for Controlled Crystallization of Polymorphs
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkolmsted/

Airon Soegiarto (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2010; Singapore, Import/Export)
Thesis: Crystalline Hydrogen-bonded Frameworks

Benjamin Hamilton (Ph.D., Minnesota, 2009; Mustang Engineering)
Thesis: Crystallization in Nanoscale Reactors
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-hamilton-b8505644/

Yuzhou Liu (Ph.D, NYU, 2011; Milliken Corporation)
Thesis: Rationally Tailoring Free Space within Hydrogen-bonded Frameworks by Designed Molecular Features
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuzhou-liu-2a7000b/

Pengcheng Song (Ph.D, NYU, 2015; Co-founder & CTO at factube.com)
Thesis: From micron to nano: Crystallization of colloid particles that mimic molecular crystals
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pengcheng-song-738aa124/

Zina Zhu  (Ph.D. NYU, 2013; postdoc, MIT; Milliken Corporation, Shanghai)
Thesis: Rational Design of Crystal Growth Inhibitors for Treatment of Cystinuria Kidney Stones
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zina-zhu-7a444030/

Wenchang Xiao (Ph.D., NYU, graduated 2015, startup, China)
Thesis: Structures and Properties of Designer Hydrogen Bonded Frameworks
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenchang-xiao-36259a33/

Qi Jiang (Ph.D., NYU, 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim)
Thesis:  Manipulating Crystallization: From Nanoscopic to Microscopic
https://www.linkedin.com/in/qijiang/

Laura Poloni (Ph.D., NYU, 2016, McKinsey & Co.)
Thesis: Site Discrimination by Molecular Imposters at Dissymmetric Molecular Crystal Surfaces
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurapoloni/

Xiao Zhong (Ph.D., NYU, 2017, Lux Research)
Thesis: Self-Assembly at the Colloidal Scale
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhongxiao/

Isabel Olson (Ph.D., NYU, 2018, Gilead Sciences)
Thesis: Simulations of Screw Dislocations in Molecular Crystals

Yuantao Li (Ph.D., NYU, 2019, RTW Investments)
Thesis: Stereochemistry, Photophysics and Diffusion in Designer Molecular Frameworks

Keke Zhang (visiting student, Tianjin University)

Yunhui Hao (visiting student, Tianjin University)

Xiaolong Zhu (Ph.D., NYU, 2021, Merck & Co.)
Thesis: Manipulating Solid Forms of Contact Insecticides for Infectious Disease Prevention

Xiaodi Zhong (Ph.D. NYU, 2021)
Thesis: Dislocation Generation in Situ and in Silico: Consequences for Crystal Growth and Form

Noalle Fellah (Ph.D., NYU, 2021, Pfizer)
Thesis: Profiles and Pathways of Polymorphism

Fangyuan Dong (Ph.D., NYU, 2022)
Thesis: Crystallization of Symmetry-controlled Colloidal Particle Assemblies

Yang Wu (Ph.D., NYU, 2023)
Thesis: Fabrication and Guided Motion of Microscale Swimmers

Anna Yusov (Ph.D., NYU, 2023, McKinsey & Co.)
Thesis: Creative Applications and Machine Learning Studies with Hydrogen Bonded Guanidinium Organosulfonate Frameworks 

Postdocs

Phillip Carter (1991 – 93, Nalco)
Project: Regulating Heterogeneous Crystallization and Polymorphism Through Substrate Design
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-carter-5b541812/

Mamoun Bader (1993 – 1994, faculty, King Faisel University, Saudi Arabia)
Project: Molecular Interfaces for Controlled Nucleation of Organic Crystals
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamoun-bader-02a5547/
http://cos.alfaisal.edu/faculty_staff_dep_chemistry

Michael Dvorak (1993 – 1994, faculty, Chemistry, St. Cloud State University)
Project: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Organic Conductors and Superconductors
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/madvorak/

Kelly Moran (1992 – 1993, postdoc, Bristol, UK)
Project: Vanadium Oxide Energy Storage Materials

Joachim Hossick-Schott (1994 – 1995, Medtronic, Minneapolis)
Project: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Organic Nanocrystals
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joachim_Hossick_Schott

Salvatore Bonafede (1994 – 1995, NRL)
Project: Regulating Polymorphism Through Ledge-Directed Epitaxy on Crystal Substrates
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sal-bonafede-50343b2/

Guangzhao Mao (1995 – 1996, faculty, Chem. Eng., University of New South Wales, Australia)
Project: Probing Crystallization of a Photographic Dye through Real-time in situ Atomic Force Microscopy
https://engineering.wayne.edu/profile/ad5223

Tim Stoebe (1996 – 1998, Seagate, Minneapolis)
Project: Superspreading Surfactants

A. Mannivanan (1996 – 1997, research associate, Univ. West Virginia)
Project: Epitaxial Crystalline Organic Films

Wenjie Li (1996–1997, Herbalife, California)
Project: Pillared Hydrogen-bonded Host Frameworks
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenjie-li-ba101521/

Melanie Sullivan (1998 – 1999, Roche, Indianapolis, IN)
Project Topic: Combinatorial Electrode Arrays for Optimizing Chiral Electrocatalysis

Jennifer Swift (1997 – 1999 (faculty, Chemistry, Georgetown)
Project Topic: Design of Crystalline Host Frameworks
https://chemistry.georgetown.edu/jenniferswift

Mike Vela (1998 – 1999 (high school instructor, Boston)
Project: Nanoscale Energy Storage Materials

Travis Holman (1999 – 2001, faculty, Chemistry, Georgetown)
Project: Symmetry and Metric Control in Hydrogen-bonded Host Frameworks
https://chemistry.georgetown.edu/Holman

Christine Mitchell (2000 – 2001, SSCI, West Lafayetter, IN)
Project: Regulating Polymorphism of Pharmaceutical Crystals with Crystal-on-Crystal Epitaxy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cschertz/

Shouwu Guo (2000 – 2002, postdoc, Northwestern University, Evanston)
Project: Direct Visualization of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization with Real-time in situ Atomic Force Microscopy

Radu Custelcean (2000 – 2002, Oak Ridge)
Project: Introducing Chirality in Crystalline Hydrogen-bonded Frameworks
https://www.ornl.gov/staff-profile/radu-custelcean

Brian Holmes (2002 – 2004, Dean, The National Intelligence University, Anthony G. Oettinger School of Science and Technology Intelligence)
Project: Synthesis of Organic Transport Molecules for Field Effect Transistors
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-holmes-287561155/

Sang-Ok Lee (Department of Defense, Seoul, Korea)
Project: Enantioselective Separations via Self-assembly of Hydrogen-bonded Host Frameworks

IlWon Kim (Soongsil University, Korea, Chemical Engineering, faculty)
Project: Crystal Growth in Kidney Stones: Pathological Mineralization
https://www.linkedin.com/in/il-won-kim-762704b5/

Sam Hawxwell (2007 – 2008)
Project: Adjustable Molecular Capsules

Galia Mayaan (Technion, Chemistry, faculty)
Project: Peptidomimetic Assemblies
https://gmaayanlab.net.technion.ac.il/

Jeffrey Rimer (University of Houston, Chemical Engineering, faculty)
Project: Crystal Aggregation in Kidney Stones: Pathological Mineralization
http://rimergroup.com/

Zhihua An (NYU, clinical faculty)
Project: Crystal Aggregation in Kidney Stones: Pathological Mineralization

Daniele Musumeci (CUNY, York University, Chemistry, faculty)
Project: Amorphous-to-Crystalline Transitions in Organic Solids
https://www.york.cuny.edu/portal_college/dmusumeci

David Ehre (Wiezmann Institute, research scientist)
Project: Crystallization in Levitated Microdroplets
http://www.weizmann.ac.il/Staff_Scientists/david-ehre

Trina Mandal (NYU, clinical faculty)
Project: Nanoscale Adhesion at Crystal Surfaces

Stephanie Lee (Chemistry, New York University, faculty)
Project: Colloidal Particle Assembly under Electric Fields
http://personal.stevens.edu/~slee23/

David Connors (Georgia State, lecturer)
Project: Molecular Solid State Frameworks
http://chemistry.gsu.edu/profile/david-connors/

Takuji Adachi (University of Geneva, Switzerland, faculty)
Project: Molecular Solid State Frameworks and Crystal Growth Dynamics
https://www.linkedin.com/in/takuji-adachi-12831a38/

Ran Drori (Yeshiva University, faculty)
Project: Regulation of Ice Nucleation with Biomimetic Molecules using Microfluidics
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdrori/

Marcel Handke (startup)
Project: Molecular Solid State Frameworks

Jingxiang Yang (Nankai University, faculty)
Project: Polymorphism and Lethality of Contact Insecticides