Education

• Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. (2012–2016)
• Ph.D. in Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. (2012)
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, U.S.A. (2006)

Appointments

• Assistant Professor, Lehigh University, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering (08/2016 — present)

Honors and Awards

• NSF CAREER Award (2021)
• P.C. Rossin Assistant Professorship, Lehigh (2019–2021):
  “awarded to the most outstanding junior faculty in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science who demonstrate high potential for establishing a successful academic career at Lehigh through the integration of teaching and research.”
• Outstanding Researcher — Scientific Achievement Award, SSLEEC/UCSB (2015)
• Outstanding Graduate Student — Scientific Achievement Award, SSLEEC/UCSB (2011)
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow (2007)
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Graduate Research Fellow (2006)

Competitive Funding (Awarded)

• NSF CAREER: Nitride Synthesis via Controlled Decomposition of Precursors under Moderate Pressure (2021)
• NSF: Ammonothermal cubic boron nitride single crystal growth near ambient pressure and temperature (2018)
• NSF MRI: Development of a High Pressure Spatial CVD for Functional Materials (2017)
• NSF Workshop: 10th International Workshop on Bulk Nitride Semiconductors (IWBNS-X) (2017)

Sessions, Workshops, and Conferences Organized

• Chair: International Workshop on Bulk Nitride Semiconductors (IWBNS-XI) (2021)
• Symposium Chair: Boron Nitride Epitaxial Growth & Characterization (ACCGE-22/OMVPE-20) (2021)
• Co-Chair: International Workshop on Bulk Nitride Semiconductors (IWBNS-X) (2017)
• Technical Program Committee Member:
  • International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS) (2021)
  • SPIE Optics and Photonics (Wide Bandgap Session) (2019)
  • IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC): Displays and Lighting (DISL) (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
  • International Workshop on Nitrides (IWN) (2016)
• Organizer: 1^st Ammonothermal Crystal Growth Summer School, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A. (2016)

Professional Service

• Co-editor Special Issue in Journal of Crystal Growth: Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Bulk Nitride Semiconductors
• Journal Reviewer: Applied Physics Letters, Ceramica, Chemical Engineering Communications, Chemistry – A European Journal, Chemistry of Materials, Crystals, Inorganic Chemistry, Inorganics, Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Crystal Growth, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Nuclear Science and Techniques, Optics Express, Physica Status Solidi B, Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials, Scientific Reports

Teaching

• MAT 495: Scientific Communications (new course)
• MAT 395/495: Scientific Data Analysis and Computing (new course)
• MAT 201: Physical Properties of Materials
• MAT 33: Engineering Materials and Processes

Florian Metzger
Ph.D. Student

Education:

• B. Sc. Chemical and Biological Engineering (2015), FAU Erlangen-Nurnberg (Germany)
• M. Sc. Chemical and Biological Engineering (2017), FAU Erlangen-Nurnberg (Germany)

Research Interests:

• Semiconductor materials (nitrides)
• Crystal growth
• Self-assembling of nanomaterials
• 3D-printing

Fun things in life: Hiking, biking, traveling and let’s not forget the cake baking! 

Team member:  2017—Present

Jacob Dooley
Ph.D. Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic Materials
• Crystal Growth

Team member:  2019—Present

Jonathan Valenzuela
Ph.D. Student

Education:

• M.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2021), Norfolk State University (USA)
• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2017),  University of Virginia (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic Materials
• Crystal Growth

Team member:  2021—Present

Tri Nguyen
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic Materials
• Advanced Materials
• Materials Characterization
• Single Crystal Growth

An interesting fact about myself: I won the National Chess Champions Trophy 2015 in New Zealand.

Team member:  2018—Present

Julio Martinez-Cuin
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Electrical Engineering (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Circuits
• Programming

Team member:  2019—Present

Saskia Schimmel
Post-Doctoral Student

Education:

• B.Sc. Materials Science and Engineering (2010), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany)
• M.Sc. Materials Science and Engineering (2012), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany)
• Ph.D. Engineering (2018), FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany)

Research Interests:

• Wide bandgap semiconductors
• Crystal growth at high T / high P
• PVT and ammonothermal growth
• Development of X-ray based in situ monitoring methods for ammonothermal processes

Team member:  2018—2019

Moved on to:  Post-doc in Amano’s Lab at Nagoya University

Pedram Yousefian
Ph.D. Student

Education:

• B. Sc. Materials Engineering (2014), Isfahan University of Technology (Iran)
• M. Sc. Mechanical Engineering (2017), University of North Florida (USA)
• M.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2020), Lehigh (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic & Magnetic Materials
• Solidification and Crystal Growth
• Materials Processing & Additive Manufacturing

CV: View

Team member:  2017—2020

Moved on to: Ph.D. at Penn State

Chris Mascetti
Master’s Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2018), Lehigh University (USA)
• M.Eng. Materials Science and Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic Materials
• Bulk growth of GaN

Fun things in life: Cross country running

Team member:  2017—2019

Vincent Rienzi
Master’s Student

Education:

• M.Eng. Materials Science and Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)
• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2018), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Electronic Materials
• Optoelectronic devices
• Thin film growth
• Ammonothermal growth

Fun things life: Frisbee!!

Team member:  2017—2019

Moved on to:  Grad Life at UCSB

Bryan Caruso
Master’s Student

Education:

• M.Eng. Materials Science and Engineering (2020 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)
• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Engineering

Team member:  2019

Kristine Phan
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Electrical Engineering (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Team member:  2020

Eddie Jeffs
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.E. Computer Engineering and Cognitive Science (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Team member:  2020

Sebastian Galdamez
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Electrical Engineering (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Circuits
• Programming

Team member:  2019—Present

Evan Willmarth
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Mechanical Engineering (2021 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Research Interests:

• Mechanical Systems
• CFD Modeling
• ANSYS

Team member:  2017—Present

Quot Al Nabhani
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2020 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)

Team member:  2018—Present

Jillian Cowles
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2020 exp.), Lehigh University (USA)
• Minor in Music

Team member:  2018—Present

Derek Hu
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)
• Minor in Philosophy

Team member:  2018—2019

Molly Hwang
Undergraduate Student

Education:

• B.S. Materials Science and Engineering (2019), Lehigh University (USA)
• Minor in Mechanics of Materials
• Nanotechnology

Team member:  2018—2019