Early Life
I grew up in Storrs CT, just a few miles from the University of Connecticut (UConn). Both of my parents worked at the university, so I spent a lot of time on campus and learned about university academic culture. I went to public high school nearby, and participated in several clubs, including QuizBowl, ScienceBowl, Math Team, and Envirothon.
Brown University – Bachelor of Science
I attended Brown University in Providence RI for my undergraduate education, starting in 2008. I spent my first two years as a chemical engineer, took a lot of chemistry classes, and soon realized that my interests lay with machines, energy and their (physical and chemical) interaction with the environment. I switched to mechanical engineering and never looked back, graduating with my Bachelor of Science in 2012.
I performed undergraduate research in my junior and senior years, working on a project to develop a low-cost activated carbon substitute based on agricultural waste biochar. I learned about proper experimental procedures, the importance of writing everything down, and careful observation. I learned the process of making the char (pyrolysis), determining BET surface area and pore size distribution using physisorption techniques, and characterization using mercury porosimetry. I presented posters based on this research at two conferences during that time, and won presentation awards at each.
In summers I worked as an intern at a geothermal startup, as a research assistant in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, and as an engineering intern at Stanley Black and Decker. This was valuable experience that taught me about the different types of work that could await me after finishing undergrad – small company, big company, and more school. After my experiences, I decided to continue my education.
University of California at Davis – PhD
I attended the University of California at Davis, earning my PhD in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering starting in Fall 2012 and finishing in September 2016. I was a member of the Green Transportation Lab, headed by Professor Jae Wan Park. My doctoral research was on experimental investigations of low temperature hydrogen-oxygen polymer electrolyte fuel cells. The title was “Experimental Testing and Characterization of High Power Flow Field PEM Fuel Cell Design Parameters”. In the work I explored how design choices for a specific type of gas distributor plate affect the performance and stability of the fuel cell, with an eye towards vehicular applications.
During my time I had several papers published in journals such as Journal of Power Sources, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Journal of Alternative Powertrains. I have also attended several conferences as well to present my work, including the SAE 2014 World Congress, the 229th Electrochemical Society Meeting, and the 2016 ASME Power & Energy Conference.
Imperial College London – Postdoc
I joined Imperial College London in 2017, as a part of the RENESENG project, a European Consortium project on biofuels, biorefineries and the industry surrounding them. My project has two focuses – one, on supply chain optimization to improve the competitiveness of the nascent biofuel industry with existing fuel industries, and two, on supply chain visualization, for roadmapping purposes.
Future Plans
After my first post-doctoral project is completed, I am looking to continue into another post-doc, so that I can apply my expertise to important energy related topics in the field, contribute more to the literature, and to learn about being a professor.