short biography
I was born in Europe, where I spent my childhood and received pre-college education. The public school I attended was nationally recognized for its university-level chemistry curriculum, and my triple major in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology quickly propelled me toward seeking an advanced degree in physical sciences, eager to make my mark.
I first came to the United States in 2013 and moved entirely in 2015 when I joined the Materials Science Department at Case Western Reserve University. Within the first two months of enrollment, I began research in Prof. Welsch's group, and after my first year, I started to take graduate courses. Around the same time, I joined Prof. Willard's group, progressively moving from experiments toward theory, modeling, and simulations. In the Fall of 2017, this led me to enroll in graduate courses in Artificial Intelligence and specialize in applying Machine Learning to problems in Materials Science.
I earned my BSE degree in 2019 and moved directly to pursue my PhD at Penn State under world-renowned thermodynamics expert Prof. Zi-Kui Liu. Now, I have the pleasure of working on implementing a variety of computational techniques, including machine learning, while having the support of colleagues who are specialists in ab-initio modeling, thermodynamic calculations, and materials discovery. Since 2022, I have also extensively collaborated with LLNL and have spent two summers on-site at the lab.
Significant overarching themes of my work include (1) the creation of ML tools for predicting fundamental thermodynamic properties of atomic structures, such as pySIPFENN (pysipfenn.org), which have been applied in the discovery of new materials using several methods, including data-driven crystALL I created, (2) design of infrastructures for large datasets of materials on the level of atomic structures (MPDD with OPTIMADE API) and alloys, with particular attention to high-entropy alloys in ULTERA Database (ultra.org) which is currently the largest collection of HEAs, and (3) abnormal data detection and validation, including PyQAlloy tool for screening alloy datasets (pyqalloy.ultera.org), applicable to datasets used in structural steel industry and novel alloys alike.
EduCATION and Experiences
Visiting PhD Student at Gonville and Caius College (University of Cambridge), Fall 2023
CCMS Summer Program at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Summer 2023
MaCI Summer Program at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Summer 2022
B.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering with minors in Artificial Intelligence and Physics,
Case Western Reserve University, May 2019
Academic Interests
Computational Materials Science
Machine-Learning and Non-Machine-Learning Artificial Intelligence
Teaching and Teaching Methods
Parallel Computing
Casual Mathematics and Group Theory
Formal Logic
Low-Level Programming
Color Theory (Formal) and Morphological Image Processing
Novel Concepts for Space Exploration
Additive Manufacturing and Structural Materials
Non-Academic Interests
Film Photography (all the way up to wooden 4x5 view cameras), Camera Design, and Lens Design
Sailing both for recreation and work purposes (Summers of 2013-2019) with Captains License; also Sail Boat Design
Mult-Day Hikes
Paragliding (Civil Pilot License since 2016)
Traveling (mostly sailing or with a backpack). Countries visited (in alphabetical order): Albania, Antigua, Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Morocco, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Netherlands, Norway, Isle of Man, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican, Vietnam, and 39 US States
Skiing (since 3 years old)
Coffee Preparation
