Group Members

PhD Students

Eric Fell

G7 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


Eric is from Vancouver, Canada where he received his BSc in Chemistry at Simon Fraser University. In his undergrad, under the supervision of Prof. Gary Leach, he focused on photonics and electrochemical catalyst characterization. He also spent time in Germany developing water splitting catalysts and toxic gas sensors at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and the Universität Paderborn. He is currently exploring high-throughput electrochemical techniques for the screening of redox-active molecules for aqueous organic flow batteries.  Here is a video of him presenting our group research. While he is constantly excited about energy storage, he also has a passion for nuclear science, CO2 capture, and space exploration.

A picture of Eric

Tommy George

G5 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


Tommy studies ion exchange membranes for aqueous electrochemical reactors such as organic redox flow batteries and salt splitting for carbon dioxide removal. Tommy received a B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Tufts University, and did undergraduate research focused on catalysis and mechanism studies of the oxygen reduction reaction.

Tommy is sitting next to a fume hood, wearing a blue labcoat over a rainbow floral patterned shirt

Jordan Sosa

G5 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


I received my Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from the University of Tulsa, where I pursued different research areas from carbon electrode materials to optics to metallic glasses. By combining cycling experiments of static cells for faster and less noisy data with simulations of what happens inside the porous electrodes, I hope to better understand the effects from 1. physical properties of the electrode, 2. transport, chemical, and electrochemical properties of the electrolyte, and 3. the interface between those two phases. I am also a big fan of using open-source platforms to model and analyze our experiments. 

 

This is a picture of Jordan

Dawei Xi

G4 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering
 

Dawei received his B.S. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China, focusing on CO2 reduction and electrocatalysis. Now he is working on the development of molecules for redox flow battery and seeking applications based on the developed flow battery system, combining insights from inorganic chemistry and catalysis.

This is a picture of Dawei

Michael Emanuel

G4 - Applied Mathematics
Co-advised by Chris Rycroft


Michael got his undergraduate math degree from Harvard in 1999 and spent 17 years working in finance before returning to graduate studies in 2018 and completing a master's of data science at Harvard IACS in 2020. Michael is part of a team investigating the properties of porous electrodes used in redox flow batteries, where he performs numerical simulations. Michael has three young children and enjoys distance running and playing bridge and piano with his kids. In his younger days he placed 90th in the 2011 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:29:52.

This is a picture of Michael

Abdulrahman Alfaraidi

G3 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering
Co-advised by Richard Liu


Abdulrahman received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from KAUST. He did his master thesis under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Gascon, working on the design and application of Titanium-MOFs for photocatalytic hydrogen production. Currently, Abdul is working on designing molecules to advance Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Batteries. 

This is a picture of Abdulrahman

Sofía Edgar

G2 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


Sofía is from Boise, Idaho, and received her B.S. in physics at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Her past research used computational methods to model defects in nanocrystalline materials and quantify uncertainty in measurements of star formation rates in high-redshift compact starburst galaxies. She is currently exploring new research directions.

A picture of Sofía, smiling, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, thick-rimmed glasses, a red backpack, and jade green dress, leaning against the blue railing of an elevated platform with crystal-clear ocean water meeting a sandy beach below.

Kyumin Lee

G2 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


Kyumin received her B.S. in Material Science from Korea University, and M.S. in Material Science from Seoul National University. She did her master thesis under the supervision of Prof. Ki Tae Nam, exploring the use of redox-neutral reactions in electrochemical CO2 reduction to expand the product scope and achieve higher efficiency. Currently, she is interested in improving energy storage devices and developing CO2 capturing system.

Kyumin is smiling, wearing a beige sweater, seated on a patio where others are sitting in magenta chairs at tables in groups, all in front of a teal building with large windows, draped with strings of lights.

Taobo Wang

G2 - Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering


Taobo started his undergraduate as a Pharmacy major at Peking University and later transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, finished his degree with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an Honor Degree in Chemistry. In his undergraduate studies, he conducted research in organic synthesis and finished his thesis with Prof. Weiping Tang. Also, he worked with Prof. Marcel Schreier in electrochemistry and electrocatalysis, focusing on small-molecule transformations. As a newcomer in Aziz Lab, Taobo is always open to opportunities in discovering more about electrochemical engineering in batteries.

A picture of Taobo, smiling, wearing a black collared shirt with a few thin white stripes, stinding in front of a background of a sandy-colored stone building.

Undergraduates

Manav Bansal

Undergraduate Researcher


Manav is a freshman planning to cocnentrate in Environmental Science and Engineering with a secondary in Chemistry. His research focuses on investigating different cell structures and catalysts that can be utilized in (direct air) carbon capture.

This is a picture of Manav

Sedona Kessler

Undergraduate Researcher


Sedona is an undergraduate concentrating in Chemical and Physical Biology with a secondary in Statistics. Her research is focused on the all-green electrosynthesis of anthraquinones and their performance in aqueous organic redox flow batteries.

Sedona is standing on a grassy path with a backdrop of forested mountains and blue sky with scattered cumulus clouds in the distance