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Principal Investigator

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Max Shtein

Professor, MSE

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Eva Pontrelli

PhD Candidate, Applied Physics

My work is under the pharmaceutical manufacturing umbrella with a focus on apparatus design for process control and scale-up (basically: how do we make the thing do what we want). I work at random hours, love quick benchtop experiments and occasional math, don't love anything that involves measuring liquids or writing. Outside the lab, I rock climb, woodwork, and take care of my plants.

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Jae Wan Lee

PhD Candidate, ChemE

As another PhD student under the pharmaceutical umbrella, I have been focusing on utilizing non-planar substrates with organic vapor jet printed materials. From integrating biodegradable polymers into organic vapor jet printed pharmaceutical ingredients to designing drug eluting devices, I have been more focused on the applications organic vapor jet printing can be used for. In my free time, I enjoy watching and playing soccer (go Arsenal).

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Dan Esterkin

PhD Pre-candidate, Applied Physics

I work on designing Kirigami strain gauges for wearable thin sensors, as well as for modifying fluid dynamics across foils. Also work on thin sensors for broader diagnostic applications (temperature, pressure, etc). In my free time I play volleyball and guitar.

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Ryan Harber

PhD Pre-candidate, Applied Physics

I work with photoactive dyes and piezoelectrics in collaboration with the Chemistry Department, but mostly end up on the optical side (spectroscopy + photography). It makes me use SolidWorks, Fiji, Lightroom, and Photoshop a lot. Outside of research, I enjoy playing/watching basketball, editing Wikipedia, and messing around on Adobe Illustrator!

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Yuhan Hu

PhD Pre-Candidate, ChemE

My work also focuses on utilizing organic vapor jet printing for active pharmaceutical ingredients processing. As a first year, I’m still figuring out my specific focus under this umbrella. Outside of the lab, I like to hike (the wrong hobby to have in AA), play instruments (I play Guzheng, a traditional Chinese string instrument, and am looking to learn electric guitar), cook, and watch/read sci-fi movies/books.

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Yi Qie

PhD Pre-Candidate, ChemE

My work centers on organic semiconductor devices that respond to temperature and mechanical force. I explore structure–property relationships using thin films and kirigami-inspired architectures to tune flexibility, sensitivity, and reliability. Outside the lab, I like reading books, visiting museums, and wandering through parks.

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Leah Marks

Associate Researcher

I work on creating photonic signatures for use in textile labeling (in collaboration with Brian and Fibarcode). In my free time, I enjoy going to Ohio, watching movies, and avoiding the Plymouth Kroger.

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Katie Wei

Dental Student, School of Dentistry

I'm working on creating platforms to culture cells in vitro that will mimic the forces in the cells experience in vivo (eg. how to mimic the forces caused by regular breathing). Outside of the lab I love traveling, crafting, and baking!

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Adelina Akhmetshina

Undergraduate, BFA

I'm a recent grad with a background that sits in between industrial & footwear design! As a designer, my work centers on function, aesthetics, and the implementation of innovative technologies. At the lab, I've been exploring the applications of Kirigami and Origami in high performance apparel/footwear. I have a hard time distinguishing between work & life, which I find a lot of joy in, because that usually just means I am working on the things I love to do! Outside of work I love going on runs, catching up on fashion news, and reading books!

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Janice Huang

Undergraduate, MSE

I’m an undergrad in materials science, and my current project involves making orodispersible films and testing them with dissolutions. I think high school me would be elated to know I get to mix polymers with drugs and work with such cool people(no but really, I feel so lucky and will miss it when I graduate). In the lab, I enjoy doing experiments, making sure my nose is still working by smelling chemicals after forgetting which one I put in a beaker, leaving PET circles from my experiments everywhere, and blaming my own mistakes on the equipment. If you visit, I WILL make you smell the optics lab to see if you’re the 3rd person who can actually smell it. Outside of the lab, I enjoy making illustrations(I am minoring in art, and hope to illustrate children’s books someday), repeatedly dying in video games, and spending time with my friends.

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Jialin Li

Undergraduate, MSE

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Bori Lee

Lab Mascot, ChemE

I enjoy eating cables, escaping enclosures, and hanging out with my dad (Jae). Don't take it personally if I fall asleep during group meeting.

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Current Students

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Binyu Wang, ChemE PhD 2025

Apple

My work is to improve performance and lifetime of organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) by introducing corrugated substrates. I’m in Chemical Engineering but doing electrical engineering work.

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Chao Huang, MSE PhD 2025

Huawei

My work is to explore the relationships of process-structure-performance of pharmaceutical molecules by vapor jet deposition. After work I like playing tennis and watching movies.

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Yash Dadeech, MSE MS 2025

BASF

I am working on photonic fibers that can work as barcodes for textile labeling. In other words, we can encode certain information into these fibers that can be read only under light having a certain wavelength range. Besides research I play badminton, read mystery novels and like to sing as well!

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Ben de Chazal, ChemE BSE 2025

Procter & Gamble

Helped Chao with pharma things

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Yinchi Lu, MSE MS 2025

ASM

I developed kirigami-based smart materials using PEDOT:PSS conductive polymers and machine learning for wearable sensing and robotics.

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Brian Iezzi, MSE PhD 2022

Fibarcode

Quick description from someone else: Brian worked on photonic fibers for integration into garments to identify their material content for recycling. He's a lovely person who ended up starting a company with this technology when he graduated and it's doing well four years later. Google it or email Brian if you want more info!

Alumni

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