short biography

Originally from central Pennsylvania, I earned my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Penn State Altoona with a minor in Political Science. As an undergraduate, I became involved with the Penn State Altoona NanoScale Materials Research Group, where I conducted research under Dr. Kofi Adu. I am now a first-year PhD student in the Phases Research Lab at Penn State University Park.

At the Altoona campus, I worked on a variety of projects revolving around clean energy and photovoltaics. My lab work included synthesis of titanium dioxide nanotubes through electrochemical anodization and synthesis of quantum dots through laser ablation. Computationally, I developed software through MATLAB to apply the Shockley-Queisser detailed-balance efficiency limit method to arbitrary materials defined through absorbance data, allowing us to estimate the solar conversion efficiency of both novel and conventional materials. To complement this program, I also developed a COMSOL Multiphysics simulation of the absorbance, reflectance, and transmittance spectra for a tunable geometry made of any material defined by complex refractive index data. Using the absorbance data generated by this model, I created a graphical user interface to apply the Tauc plot methodology, producing high-quality estimates of the bandgap energy. Other research endeavors at Penn State Altoona include exploring alternative bandgap energy estimation methods to combat the downsides of the Tauc methodology.

I hope to contribute to some of the lab’s existing projects by extending them to include optical properties of materials.

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Systems Analysis Option, Summa Cum Laude, The Pennsylvania State University, Altoona College with a minor in Political Science

Academic Interests

• Renewable Energy

• Nanomaterials

• Optics

• Bandgap Energy Approximation Methods

• Mathematical Analysis

Non-Academic Interests

• Gaming

• Music

• Reading