People

People

Ph.D. Students

Jackson Powers
Ph.D. Candidates (Fall 2020 – )
B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New Mexico
Current Research: Cell-Free Protein Synthesis for Protocell Development
Interests: Traveling, swimming, biking, and cooking.

Jooyong Shin
Ph.D. Candidates (May 2021 – )
B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Yonsei University, South Korea 
Current Research: Engineering Structural Properties of Protein Vesicles towards Synthetic Cells
Interests: Driving, watching sports games, and playing computer games

Bornita Deb
Ph.D. candidate (Jan 2022 – )
M. Tech. in Oils and Surfactants at the Institute of Chemical Technology, India
B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Pune University, India
Current Research: Designing Minimal Synthetic Cells Capable of Sensing 
Interests: Cooking Indian food and singing.
Celine Jiayi Xu
Ph.D student (Fall 2024 – )
B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle WA
Current Research: Developing Artificial Antigen Presenting Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
Interests: cooking, music, photography, movies

 

 

Masters Students

Emma Thomas: Fall 2024 – 

M.E. Student in Chemical Engineering
B.S. in Biochemistry at UF

Current Research: Biopolymer Engineering 
Interests: Yoga, reading, movies

Undergraduate Students

Adriana LaVopa: Fall 2022 –
Materials Science and Engineering, Class of 2025 (4th year)
Research: Purification of sensory fusion proteins for vesicle incorporation
Interests: Rock climbing, fantasy novels, sketching
University Scholars Program 2023

Ken DeLisi: Summer 2023 –
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2025 (4th year)
Research: Size evolution of globular protein vesicles
Interests: Hockey, Anime, Diving

Shadia Helal: Spring 2024 –
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2027 (2nd year)
Research: Engineering sensory protein vesicles
Interests: Music, design, and sewing

Cullen Wyatt: Spring 2024 – 
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2027 (2nd year)
Research: Artificial antigen-presenting cells
Interests: Soccer, NFL, Poker, and Working out

Webley A. Woods: Spring 2024 –
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2025 (4th year)
Research: Engineering protein vesicles for enzymatic cascade reactions

Alexander Kazanowski: Fall 2024-
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2026 (3rd year)
Research: Self-assembly of recombinant fusion proteins 
Interests: Sports trivia, Naval History, Nintendo games, and Cooking

Lucy Mathy: Fall 2024 –
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2026 (3rd year)
Research: Engineering protein vesicle properties
Interests: Saxophone, baking, and going to the beach

Emma Koehler: Fall 2024-
Chemical Engineering, Class of 2027 (2nd year)
Research: Exploring phase transition of recombinant fusion proteins 
Interests: Travel, sports, cooking, and exploring nature

Saturn Louidort: Fall 2024-

Biochemistry, Class of 2027 (2nd year)
Research: Self-assembly of recombinant fusion proteins
Interests: Everything nature, rugby, crochet, and cooking/ baking, and webtoon

Alumni

  • Ph.D. Ruwen Tan: Fall 2018 – Fall 2021
    Thesis Title: Engineering Surfaces with Tunable Nanostructure and Stiffness to Mitigate Bacterial Adhesion
    Currently at Micron Technology

 

  • M.S. Elizabeth Meier: Fall 2021 – Spring 2023
    Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida
    Thesis Title: Investigating the balance of bactericidal and antifouling properties of thin film polymer surfaces to optimize the antibacterial effects  
    Currently at MycoWorks
  • M.S. Blair D. Cole: Fall 2020 – Summer 2021
    Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida
    Currently at the Savanah River Nuclear Site
  • M.S. Ting Shan: Spring 2020 – Spring 2021 
    Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida
    Currently at WuXi App Tech.
  • M.S. Gopal Marda: Spring 2023, Material Science & Engineering
  • M.S. Neelima Sharma: Fall 2022, Chemical Engineering

 

  • B.S. Sean Kochanowsky: Fall 2021 – Spring 2024. Chemical Engineering
  • B.S. Joseph Mancini: Fall 2022 – Fall 2023. Chemical Engineering
  • B.S. Stella Belony: Fall 2020 – Fall 2022. Chemical Engineering
  • B.S. Julio C. Zambrano: Spring 2020 – Spring 2022. Chemical Engineering (Honors Thesis)
  • B.S. Ryan Wind: Summer 2021-Spring 2022. Chemical Engineering
  • B.S. Macs Burke: Summer 2021 – Spring 2022. Chemical Engineering (Honors Thesis). Currently at Intel
  • B.S. Nicolas R. Marzolini: Fall 2018 – Spring 2021. Chemical Engineering (Honors Thesis). Currently an MD/PhD at UPENN 
  • Kristen Leong, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, UF (2021)
  • Shannon Glover, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, UF (2020) (Honors Thesis)
  • Jackson Parisey, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, UF (2020)
  • Gabriella Donofrio, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, UF (2020)
  • Imran Nasrullah: UG in Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2021)
  • Noah Pruitt: UG in Chemical Engineering (Spring 2021)
  • Pragati Patel, UG in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2020)
  • Josie Kilburn, UG in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2018 – Spring 2020)
  • Jiye Lee, UG in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2019)
  • Bradley Franco, UG in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2019)
  • Daniel Guiterrez, UG in Chemistry (Fall 2019)
  • Camilo Alvarez, UG in Chemical Engineering (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)

REU & SSTP Students

  • Jordan Schlautam-Sudik (Summer 2023)
  • Emma McDougal (Summer 2023 from Missouri University)
  • Elizaveta Radkevich (Summer 2022 from Virginia Tech), Ph.D. student @ UIUC
  • Tiffany Jeng (Summer 2021 from Georgia Tech), Ph.D. student @ UT Austin
  • Alicia Tsung (Summer 2019), Undergraduate student @USC
  • Arjun Tummala (Summer 2024)