This year Drexel Materials was unable to hold its annual commencement dinner, but graduating students and their families joined department faculty and staff online on Tuesday, June 9 to celebrate the Class of 2020’s achievements and perseverance through a challenging close to their studies. The virtual event’s program included a presentation of this year’s graduating seniors, master’s, and PhD students, faculty video tributes to the students, a presentation of department awards, and an interactive student roast of the faculty. Additionally, a portion of the program was dedicated to honoring outgoing Department Head Michele Marcolongo, who will be departing in July to become the Dean of the School of Engineering at Villanova University.
Degree Recipients
Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering
Bilen Akuzum
“Electrochemical and Rheological Analysis of Flowable Conducting Suspension Electrodes for Scalable Energy Storage”
Faculty Advisors: E. Caglan Kumbur and Yury Gogotsi
Elaf Anber
“Effect of Al addition on Thermal Stability of High Entropy Alloys using an in-situ TEM heating Approach”
Faculty Advisor: Mitra Taheri
James Hart
"Direct Detection Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy: Characterization and Application"
Faculty Advisor: Mitra Taheri
Christine Hatter
“Synthesis and Characterization of Multifunctional Polymer-matrix Nanocomposites with Transition Metal Carbides/Carbonitrides (MXenes)”
Faculty Advisor: Yury Gogotsi
Ariana Levitt
“Manufacturing of MXene-Based Fibers, Yarns, and Knitted Electrochemical Capacitors”
Faculty Advisor: Yury Gogotsi & Genevieve Dion
Kathleen Maleski
“Solution Processing and Optical Properties of 2D Transition Metal Carbides (MXenes)”
Faculty Advisor: Yury Gogotsi
Shan Mei
"Polymer Brushes Derived from Polymer Single Crystals: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications"
Faculty Advisor: Christopher Li
James Nathanial
"Grain Boundary Influence on Radiation Induced Detect Evolution in Nanocrystalline Metals"
Faculty Advisor: Mitra Taheri
Simge Uzun
“Multiscale Integration of Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Carbides (MXenes) into Textile-Based Devices”
Faculty Advisors: Yury Gogotsi and Genevieve Dion
Jiayi Wang
“Processing of Epitaxial Oxyfluoride Films and Characterization of their Physical Properties”
Faculty Advisor: Steve May
Master’s of Science in Materials Science and Engineering
Dominick Borrelli
Todd Brackman
Samantha Buczek
Hao Jing
Rebeka Khajehpour
Cassandra Lees
Kristine Loh
Pralav Pradhan
Robert Saporito
Zhiheng Song
Yansen Wang
Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering
Heather Berensmann
Zachary Foster
Charles Griffith
Luke Hanner
Sabrin Hilal
Kelly Kuang
Angela Le
Drew Magda
Kyle Matthews
Lydia Mayer
Riki McDaniel
Abigail Meyer
Sean Miller
Cosmin Popescu
Alexandra Pyrih
Bryce Rosicky
Ahmed Salah
Mckenzie Shea
Chun Shen
Jessica Wilson
Kevin Wu
Hunter Ye
Department of Materials Science and Engineering Awards
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Awards
Charles Griffith
Angela Le
Riki McDaniel
Undergraduate Student Innovation Awards
Chun Shen
Hunter Ye
Outstanding Graduate Student Awards
Ariana Levitt
Kathleen Maleski
Graduate Student Innovation Award
Simge Uzun
Faculty Innovation Awards
Michel Barsoum
Yury Gogotsi
Faculty Research Award
Andrew Magenau
Faculty Service Award
Michele Marcolongo
Faculty Teaching Award
Steven May
Outstanding Staff Award
Keiko Nakazawa