Alumni Members

PhD Students Alumni

  1. Varadan, Priya, Flow induced microstructural evolution in colloidal particulate gels. Defended dissertation Summer, 2002. First employment: Flint Ink. Current position (as of 2009): at Wacker Chemicals.
  2. Almusallam, Wahab, A constitutive equation for prediction of stress in immiscible polymer blends. Defended dissertation Summer, 2002 (co-advised with R. Larson). First employment: post-doctoral fellow, Carnegie Mellon University. Current position (as of 2009): Assistant Professor, University of Kuwait.
  3. Seefeldt, Kurt, Multiple light scattering studies of attractively interacting and polydisperse colloidal suspensions. Defended dissertation Summer, 2002. First employment: post-doctoral fellow, University of Michigan. Current position (as of 2009): Senior Development Scientist, GSK Consumer Healthcare, Parsippany, NJ.
  4. Somwangthanaroj, Anongnat, Melt-state rheology, crystallization and microstructure of polymer clay nanocomposites. Defended dissertation, summer 2003. (Macro Science and Eng Program). First employment: Lecturer, Chulangkorn University, Thailand. Current position (as of 2009): Assistant Professor, Chulangkorn University, Thailand.
  5. Lu, Qiang, Microrheology of associating polymer systems. Defended dissertation, Summer 2003. First employment: GE Plastics.
  6. Mohraz, Ali, Effect of particle shape on the structure and rheology of colloidal suspensions and gels. Defended dissertation, Fall 2004. First employment: post-doctoral fellow, University of Illinois Urbana Champagne. Current position (as of 2009): Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of California Irvine.
  7. Wu, Kahn, Parametric study and optimization of ceramic stereolithography. (Joint with J. Halloran.) Defended dissertation: Fall, 2005. First employment: Intel.
  8. Vanapalli, Siva, Polymer chain scission in extensional and turbulent flow and implications for friction drag technologies. Defended dissertation: January 2006. First employment: post-doctoral fellow, Twente University, Holland. Current position (as of 2009): Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University.
  9. Solomon, Tesfu, Defect microstructure of field-assisted assembly of colloidal crystals. Defended dissertation: February 2006. First employment: Intel.
  10. Dibble, Clare, Origins of heterogeneous dynamics in colloidal gels. Defended dissertation: January 2007. First employment: SpheroSense, Indiana. Current position (as of 2009): NREL, Boulder Colorado.
  11. Kogan, Michael, Structural transformations in colloidal gelation with controlled particle interactions. Defended dissertation: January 2007. First employment: post-doctoral fellow, Institut Navier, Paris, France. Current employment (as of 2010): University of Michigan.
  12. Yin, Guangjun, Soft glassy rheology and structure of colloidal gels. Defended dissertation: January 2007. First employment: Dupont, China.
  13. Poeckh, Tyson, Microfabricated devices for viral genotyping. (Joint with R. Larson.) Defended dissertation: April, 2007. First employment: City of Lacey, Washington.
  14. Dan Hohne, Characterization of industrial and biological complex fluids using confocal microscopy. Defended dissertation: July, 2008. First employment: Bristol-Myers, Squibb.
  15. Mukhija, Deshpremy, Dynamics and structure of anisotropic colloidal suspensions using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Defended dissertation: March, 2009. First employment: Intel.
  16. Reginald Rodgers, Assembly of colloidal crystals with well-characterized pair interaction potentials. Defended dissertation: January, 2010. First employment: Post-doctoral fellow, Rochester Institute of Technology.
  17. Laura Shereda, Flow-assisted assembly of multilayer colloidal crystals studied using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Defended dissertation: January, 2010. (Joint with R. Larson.). First employment: Polymer Scientist.
  18. Abhi Shetty, Connecting structure and dynamics to rheological performance of complex fluids. Defended dissertation: April, 2010. First employment: Research and Development, Clorox.
  19. Aayush Shah, Synthesis and Assembly of Anisotropic Ellipsoidal Particles. Defended dissertation: January, 2014. First employment, Dow Chemicals.
  20. Lilian Hsiao, Engineering the flow behavior of colloidal materials through surface modification and shape anisotropy. Defended dissertation: May, 2014. First employment: Post-doctoral fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Current Employment: Assistant Professor, NC State
  21. Leonid Pavlovsky, Novel Methods for the Rheological Characterization of Polymers and Polymeric Biofilms. Defended dissertation: August, 2014. First employment: Research Engineer, Stryker.
  22. Mahesh Ganesan, Polymeric and microrheological characterization of the Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm polysaccharide. Defended dissertation: January, 2015. First employment: Post-doctoral fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.
  23. Elizabeth Stewart, Staphylococcal Biofilms: Microstructure, Mechanics, Self-assembly, and Multispecies Communities. Defended dissertation: January, 2015. First employment: Post-doctoral fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
  24. Youngri Kim, Beyond Equilibrium Assemblies: Applying Light, Flow and Confinement. Defended dissertation: October, 2015. First employment: Senior Engineer, Gilead Sciences
  25. Laura del Mar Colon-Melendez, Anisotropic Colloidal Assembly: Kinetics, Shape Complimentarity and Field-mediated Propulsion. Defended dissertation: August 2016. First Employment: Data Scientist at Wolters Kluwer. 
  26. Onajite Shemi, Self-Assembly and Self-Propulsion of Colloidal Particles Using Shape and Janus Anisotropy. Defended dissertation: September, 2016. First employment: Senior Engineer, Dow Chemicals.
  27. Joseph Ferrar, Self-Assembly and High-Rate Production of Colloids and Microprisms. Defended dissertation: January, 2017. First employment: Senior R&D Engineer, Dupont.
  28. Louise McCarroll, One-dimensional Differential Newtonian Analysis for Applications in Saliva Rheology (Primary Advisor: Prof. William Schultz, UM Mechanical Engineering). Defended dissertation: January, 2017. 
  29. Megan Szakasits, Controlling the Structure, Dynamics and Rheology of Colloidal Gels with Active Motion. Defended dissertation: 2018. First employment: Scientist, Axalta Coating Systems. 
  30. Abdulrazaq Adams, Multiscale Investigation of the Nonlinear Rheology of Wormlike Micelles (Joint with Prof. Ronald G Larson). Defended dissertation: April 2018. First employment: RET Design Engineer, Intel. 
  31. Tianhui (Maria) Ma, Fibrin Networks Infected by Staphylococcal Biofilms: Mechanics, Structure and Instability (Joint with Scott VanEpps). Defended dissertation: September 2018. First employment: Praxair
  32. Yufei Wei, Investigating and Modeling the Rheology and Flow Instabilities of Thixotropic Yield-stress Fluids (Joint with Prof. Ronald G. Larson). Defended dissertation: April 2019.  First employment: Eli Lilly
  33. Ryan Hall, Experimental Assessment of Constraint Release Physics in Entangled Polymers and Its Implication for Rheological Modeling (Joint with Prof. Ronald G. Larson). Defended dissertation: May 2019. First employment: Dow
  34. Nina Gasbarro, Microdynamics of Complex Fluids: Yield Stress in Chitosan Solutions and Active Colloids. Defended dissertation: January 2020. First employment: Nikon Instruments
  35. Peng-Kai Kao, Engineering Colloidal Microstructures for Functional Properties: Crystals and Gels. Defended dissertation: May 2021. First employment: Eli Lilly
  36. Tianyu Liu, Effects of Microstructural Properties on Structural Color of Self-Assembled Colloidal Crystals. Defended dissertation: June 2021. First employment: Honeywell UOP
  37. Joanne Beckwith, Characterization of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans Biofilms. Defended dissertation: October 2021. First employment: Assistant Teaching Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
  38. Keara T. Saud, Large Impacts of Small Particles: The Effects of Active Particles on Colloidal Gels and Crystals and of Inulin Microparticles on Gut Retention in Mice. Defended dissertation: September 2022. First employment: BASF

Post-Doctoral Fellow Alumni

  1. Mohammad Islam (Ph.D. Texas A&M University), July 2001 – August 2003: Turbulent drag reduction and polymer chain scission. Employment after post-doc: Cytec Industries.
  2. Georgina Wilkins (Ph.D. University of Leeds), April 2007 – April 2009: Anisotropic colloidal gels. Employment after post-doc: University of Central Lancashire.
  3. Michael Kogan (Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) , May 2010 – April 2011: Dry-state stabilization of colloidal particles. Employment after post-doc: Ashland
  4. Mahesh Ganesan (Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), March 2015 – February 2016: Structural color and high density assembly of colloidal ellipsoids. Employment after post-doc: Research Scientist, Avery Dennison
  5. Carlos Silvera Batista (Ph.D. University of Florida), March 2015 – June 2017: UM President’s Post-doctoral Fellowship Program; Janus particle assembly. Employment after post-doc: Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University
  6. Sepideh Razavi (Ph.D. The City College of New York), September 2015 – December 2017: Field-assisted assembly. Employment after post-doc: Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma

Visiting Scholars

  1. Heekyoung Kang (Ph.D. Seoul National Univ, Korea). 2010-2011: Change in dynamical heterogeneity in colloidal gels after yielding.