Hosted by: President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA)
Thursday, January 18, 2024; 1p.m. – 2p.m. Eastern US time
Sponsored by the ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA), the January webinar will feature a panel style discussion on Challenges in Graduate School: how to deal with failure and move on.
PANELISTS BIOGRAPHIES
Arjak Bhattacharjee, Ph.D., Tufts University, Boston
Arjak Bhattacharjee is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Kaplan Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Boston, USA, working under Prof. David L. Kaplan. Arjak did his Ph.D. from the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University (WSU), Pullman, USA. His research area is additive manufacturing of polymer-ceramic composites, sustainable food engineering, and bioceramics for bone disorders.
He completed his M. Tech (2018) in Materials Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He is the winner of a gold medal from then the president of India Mr. Ramnath Kovind for overall best performance among all IIT Kanpur graduate students. Arjak directed the world’s first documentary on ceramics which won two international awards, one in the USA (by Acers PCSA) and the other in India. He was felicitated by then the minister of science and technology, Govt. of India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan for his contributions towards scientific documentary making. Arjak is an Acers PCSA alumnus and served in PCSA between 2017 to 2020. He holds an undergraduate degree in ceramics, and he is passionate about popularizing ceramics and pottery among the masses.
Nathan McIlwaine, Ph.D., Penn State University
Nathan McIlwaine grew up in central Virginia and attended Virginia Tech to study engineering. Inspired by a passion for photography, specifically camera lens’ glass, he decided to pursue Materials Science and Engineering. Through a fortuitous conference encounter in 2018, he became avidly involved in the American Ceramic Society through Keramos and the President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA). Working for Dr. Carolina Tallon during his senior year, on ultra-high temperature ceramics, sparked the desire to pursue a PhD in that field of materials research.
He is currently in his 4th year as a graduate researcher in Jon-Paul Maria’s research group, enthusiastically studying ceramic materials with mechanical properties for extreme environments and strives to become a materials scientist for a DoD research laboratory. His research is focused on thin film synthesis and hardness characterization of high-entropy, transition metal borides, carbides, and nitrides for tooling and hypersonic applications.
Feray Ünlü, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Since November 2022, Feray Ünlü has been serving as a postdoctoral researcher at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in the research group of Prof. Eva Unger, where they specialize in the solution processing of lead halide perovskites for energy applications.
Having expertise in the solution processing of hybrid emerging material for solar energy application, Feray’s work entails investigation of perovskite inks, designing inks with greener solvents and using them in scalable thin film deposition techniques such as slot-die coating.
Previous to this role, Feray accomplished her PhD in the group of Prof. Sanjay Mathur at the University of Cologne, where she excelled in synthesizing new perovskite-inspired materials for solar cell application and investigating and rationalizing perovskite inks. Beside her research, she engages in science outreach i.e. collaboration with schools and science communication.
Michael Wilhelm, University of Cologne
Michael Wilhelm started his studies in education to become a teacher in sports and chemistry. After completing his Bachelor and Master at the German Sports University and University of Cologne, he decided to continue his studies with a PhD in chemistry. In the research group of Prof. Sanjay Mathur, he worked on the development and improvement of energy storage systems, e.g., Li-Ion and Li-sulfur batteries, photo-responsive cathode materials, as well as next generation Mg-batteries. During his PhD, he contributed to more than 20 publications throughout his academic career. In addition to his research, he volunteered on a local and global level in the ACerS and MRS. From 2020 to 2022, he served as the president for the MRS University Chapter Cologne. From the beginning of 2023, he started working in the innovation center of Orion S.A. in the position as Junior Manager for Advanced Analytics.
MODERATORS BIOGRAPHIES
David Patrun, University of Cologne
David Patrun is a second year PhD candidate in Prof. Sanjay Mathur’s group at the University of Cologne. The main goal of his research is the enhancement of electrode materials in energy storage devices. He is primarily focused on thin films and nanomaterials for use as anode and cathode materials in solid state and lithium‑ion batteries. David Patrun has been an active volunteer in the ACerS Chapter Germany since his bachelor’s studies. He has held the position of MRS Cologne Chapter President since 2022 and recently has joint as delegate in the PCSA.
Niusha Heshmati, University of Cologne
Niusha Heshmati, a materials science engineer, is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in materials and nano chemistry at the University of Cologne, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Sanjay Mathur. Her interdisciplinary research spans materials science, physics, and chemistry. Her journey into perovskite solar cells began during her master’s program, and her primary research focuses on synthesizing, characterizing, and enhancing the performance of lead halide perovskite materials for solar cell applications. She is a Germany chapter officer of the Materials Research Society (MRS) and she is a delegate to the President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA) for 2023-2024.
REGISTRATION
Registration is now closed. If you missed the webinar, ACerS members may view it in the ACerS Webinar Archives. Member log-in required.
If you have any questions, please contact Vicki Evans.
This webinar is brought to you by the ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors.
To view past ACerS webinars, click here.