The Center for Nano Science and Technology at the University of Notre Dame (NDnano) will host the following finalists who have been selected for the sixth annual NDConnect undergraduate nanotechnology research competition:
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Joseph Burkhart, a senior studying chemistry at St. Olaf College. His research, conducted at Indiana University under the direction of Prof. Sara Skrabalak, is “Calculated packing-dependent optical behavior of Au octopods.”
- Yudong Chen, a senior in mechanical engineering at Purdue University. The title of his project is “Modeling of a roll-to-roll plasma CVD system for graphene.” He is advised by Prof. Timothy Fisher.
- Mohamed Kashkoush, a senior industrial engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh. His project is “Silver coated silicon nanocone arrays for enhanced antibacterial surfaces.” His adviser is Prof. Paul Leu.
- Jiajia Luo, who is a senior studying materials science and engineering at Northwestern University. Her project, advised by Prof. Mark Hersam, is “Self-aligned short-channel devices using monolayer MoS2 for high-speed electronics.”
- Sophia McClain, a chemistry major in her junior year at Indiana University. Sophia’s project is “Synthesis of Pd-Cu nanostructures via seed mediated co-reduction.” She is advised by Prof. Sara Skrabalak.
- Aaron McLeod, who is a junior studying chemistry at Temple University. Aaron’s project, advised by Prof. Katherine Willets, is “Super-resolution imaging of fluorophores bound to silica-coated gold nanorods.“
- Kirstin Schauble, a senior studying electrical and computer engineering at Seattle University. Her project, advised by Prof. Aaron Franklin at Duke University, is “Nucleating high-k dielectrics on MoS2 using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition.”
- Matthew Sis, a chemical engineering student in his senior year at the University of Nebraska. His project is “Ionic driven embedment of lipid nanoparticles in polymer films for local therapeutic delivery.” He is advised by Prof. Srivatsan Kidambi.
- Hyuk Joon (Jake) Song, a senior in materials engineering and science at Northwestern University. Jake is advised by Prof. Sinan Ketan. The title of his project is “Nanomechanical characterization of polymer nanocomposites.”
- Brittany Trang, a senior studying chemistry at Ohio State University. Her research, which she conducted under the advisement of Dr. J. Nathan Hohman at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is “Tarnishing silver into semiconductors."
- Hao Tian (Thomas) Yang, an electrical engineering student in his sophomore year at Northwestern University. Thomas is advised by Prof. Manijeh Razeghi. His project is “Quantum dot modeling, growth, and characterization for uncooled, high-performance long-wavelength infrared photodetectors.”
- Andrew Ye, a junior majoring in applied physics and engineering studies at Carnegie Mellon University. Andrew’s project, advised by Prof. Randall Feenstra, is “Efficient nanofabrication of 2D layered heterostructures.”
- Elliot Young, a senior materials science and engineering student at the University of Illinois. His project is “Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of TaS3 and TiS3.” He is advised by Prof. Joseph Lyding.
“Notre Dame’s Center for Nano Science and Technology is excited to welcome these high-potential undergraduate researchers from some of the best research universities in the country to compete in this year’s NDConnect event," said Dr. David Balkin, NDnano managing director. “This prestigious competition represents a fantastic opportunity for the students to meet and interact with potential future collaborators: Notre Dame faculty, a breadth of industry experts, and peer researchers.”
This year’s sponsors for NDConnect include HRL Laboratories, IBM, International Rectifier, Murata Electronics, Nikon Instruments, Raytheon, Serim Research, Texas Instruments, and WITec Instruments. Representatives from sponsor companies will serve as judges for the event.
Finalists will compete for first-, second-, and third-place prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000. The poster session, scheduled for 2:30 – 5:00 pm on October 18 in Jordan Hall Galleria, is open to visitors.
Originally published by Heidi Deethardt at nano.nd.edu on September 26, 2016.