Directory
MUSE Leadership
Prof. Milind Deo
Director - EFRC-MUSE
Professor of Chemical Engineering, Peter D. and Catherine R. Meldrum Endowed Professor,
University of Utah
Interim Director, Energy and Gescinece Institute
Dr. Milind Deo’s work spans size scales ranging from the kilometer scale for reservoir design to the submicrometer scale. He and his students have been studying thermodynamics and flow in shales, characterized by nanometer-sized mesoporous media.
Dr. Michael H. Bartl
Depty Director, EFRC-MUSE
Research Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Utah
Dr. Michael H. Bartl is a materials chemist with research expertise in functional nanostructured materials for energy and information technology applications, including nanocrystals, porous materials, and thin films.
Dr. Greeshma Gadikota
Deputy Director, EFRC-MUSE
Assist. Prof., Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell University
Dr.Greeshma Gadikota's group studies multi-scale reaction kinetics by connecting nano- and meso-scale measurements with process-scale developments and field-scale observations using advanced synchrotron characterization methods, computational tools, and laboratory scale reaction systems.
Principal Investigators
Dr. Adri van Duin
Professor and Kenneth Kuan-Yuo Kuo Early Career Professorship,
Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, Penn State University
Dr. Adri van Duin is the inventor and main developer of the ReaxFF reactive force field method - which enables fully dynamical, fully reactive atomistic-scale simulations on realistic materials.
Dr. John McLennan
Assoc. Prof., Chemical Engineering Department, University of Utah
Dr. John McLennan’s research covers scales ranging from developing enhanced geothermal reservoirs to comprehending chemo-mechanical mechanisms, consequences and applications at a nanometer scale.
Dr. Pania Newell
Assist. Prof., Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah
Dr. Pania Newell’s research interest lies in understanding fundamental underlying
sciences associated with coupled processes in porous media. She is mainly focused
on crack initiation and propagation in these systems through integration of theoretical,
numerical, and experimental tools across multiple length and spatial scales. Integrated Multi-Physics Laboratory
Dr. Ilya Zharov
Professor, Det. of Chemistry, University of Utah
Prof. Daryl Butt
Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
EFRC-MUSE
Chair, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Utah
Prior to joining the University of Utah, Dean Butt was a Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University. He was with BSU for eleven years, serving as Department Chair and as an Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and has held research and leadership positions with Ceramatec, Inc., A. P. Green Industries, the University of Florida, and LANL. The author or coauthor of approximately 240 peer reviewed publications and ten patents, his research and interests have been diverse including development of sensors and materials for extreme environments and energy applications, membrane technologies for gas separation and syngas production, technical issues associated with nuclear non-proliferation and international security, chemical and engineering solutions to carbon dioxide emissions including early work on sequestration, and materials issues associated with art and cultural heritage.
Dr. Jiaoyan Li
Assist. Prof., Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SUNY-BuffaloDr. Li formerly worked in the Xia group at INL, and was involved in a number of collaborative efforts within MUSE.
Dr. Jules Magda
Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Dr. Jules Magda's research group studies the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymer hydrogels for use in sensors and separation processes, sensor arrays for monitoring single-use bioreactors during manufacture of pharmaceutical proteins, biomedical sensors and hyaluronic acid derivatives for biomedical applications.
Dr. Michael Hoepfner
Assist. Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Info coming soon.
Dr. Swomitra "Bobby" Mohanty
Assist. Professor, Chemical Engineering and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah
Info coming soon.
Dr. Joshua Kane
Staff Scientist, Idaho National Lab
Dr. Joshua Kane's work involves microstructural characterization of materials. Dr. Kane collaborates with the University of Utah’s experimental team (PI: Milind Deo) on the FIB-SEM of synthetic silica. He also provides processed stack images to the INL modeling team for pore network reconstruction used in mesoscopic pore-flow simulations
Dr. John Kaszuba
Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming
Dr. John Kaszuba'sresearch focuses on integrated laboratory and computational approaches for multiphase fluid-rock interaction and evolution in crustal systems; contact metamorphism; quartz and carbonate veins and textures; redox equilibria in crustal-scale (deep) aquifers; and mass and energy transfer in the crust.
Dr. Yidong Xia
Staff Scientist, Idaho National Lab
Dr. Xia leads the INL group and performs pore-scale flow simulations for predicting
and validating key material properties (e.g. permeability) of synthetic silica. He
collaborates with the University of Utah’s experimental team (PI: Dr. Milind Deo)
for obtaining the 3D stack images of core samples by FIB-SEM and core samples’ permeability
data by lab measurement.
Dr. Jiaqi Jin
Assist. Prof., Materials Science & Engineering, University of Utah
Dr. Jin's work focuses on the wetting of silica surfaces as a function of surface polarity, as well as the characterization of pore structure in sintered silica porous samples by XCT.
Technical staff, PostDocs and Gradute Students
Dr. Mark Koopman
Research Assist. Professor, Office of the Dean, CMES, University of Utah
Dr. Mark Koopman's research focuses on structure-property relationships across a wide range of materials systems, including syntactic foams. He has extensive experience in electron microscopy, as well as AFM and nano-indentation techniques. Within MUSE his efforts include facilitating overall program goals, as well as technical assistance to select investigators.
William Nguyen
Ph.D. candidate, Chemical Engineering University of Utah
Mr. Nguyen is currently working on Thrust 2, chemomechanical effects on mechanical properties using nanoindentation.He uses the nanoindentor to apply and measure Young's modulus and hardness for the silica samples provided by Thrust 1 in dry and wet conditions. Wet conditions currently are done using DI water.
Samantha Curry
Ph.D. candidate, Chemistry, University of Utah
Working in the Zharov group, her project focuses on the preparation of porous silica nanomaterials with various porosities, pore sizes, and surface modifications. These materials can then be used to study the behavior of liquids in confinement.
Mahmoud Elmehlawy
Ph.D. candidate, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Simulation of equilibrium properties of confined hydrocarbons. I use currently two model; Molecular dynamics simulations to understand how structure and density in confinement can be different, and Peng-Robinson with capillary modification to understand phase change properties.
Bonan Wang
PhD student, Chemical Engineering, University of UtahWorking with the Magda group, he is developing in-situ synthesis methodologies for mesoporous silica (i.e. SBA-15) inside enclosed microchannels for nanofluidic analysis. They are investigating the efects of controlled pore diameter, pore alignment, morphology, and rheology on mesoporous silica.
Tao Wang
Postdoctoral Researcher, Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, Penn State University
Working in the van Duin group, her efforts will focus on developing ReaxFF reactive force fields for Ca- and Mg- silicates and exploring multiphase chemical reactions during carbon mineralization for carbon dioxide capture/storage.
Dr. Janet Coker Dewey
Research Scientist, Geology & Geophysics, University of WyomingDr. Dewey is working with the Kaszuba group, and is measuring the properties and characterizing the surface charge chemistry of aerogels and other synthesized amorphous silica materials.
Dr. Viktoriya Semeykina
Postdoctoral Researcher, Chemistry, University of UtahMy scope of research consists in the preparation of macro-, meso- and microporous materials (silica, alumina, titania, CaO, minerals) with controllable textural properties using template methods and nanoparticle self-assembly. The developed materials are studied in catalysis, adsorption, separation, energy storage and conversion. In the MUSE project, these architected structures serve as a model porous material for the fundamental investigation of the thermodynamic properties/flow of liquids in the confined media.
Wei Jia
Research Assistant Prof., Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of UtahDr. Jia is working on evaluating reactivity and flow properties of the geo-architected materials, as well as the effect of chemo-mechanical coupling.
Dr. Ting Xiao
Postdoctoral Researcher,Energy & Geoscience Institute, University of Utah
Working primarily wth Dr. McPherson's group, Dr. Xiao's work investigates the properties and characterization measurements of geo-architected materials, specifically flow and reactivity characterization in pores.
Dr. Chen-luh Lin
Research Prof. Emeritus, Materials science & Engineering, University of UtahDr. Lin works with Prof. Jan Miller's group and he works with determining pore network structure and associated geometric features from nanoscans of geo-architected samples
Lani McKinnon
PhD Student, Chemical Engineering, University of UtahCurrently working on in-situ synthesis and characterization of SBA-15 inside enclosed microchannels and studies of fluids through nanoscale channel devices
Ahmed Elnashar
PhD Student, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of UtahAhmed is developing a new procedure for synthesis of mesoporous material, as well as, testing the thermodynamic behaviour of nanoconfined fluids. He has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and a M.Sc. in Nanomaterials Science and is now working Prof. Michael Bartl and Prof. Milnd Deo as part of MUSE.
Dr. Xuming Wang
Research Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, University of UtahDr. Wang is working with Prof. Miller's group on wettability of silica and fabrication of silica structure using halloysite mineral.
Dr. Hassnain Asgar
PhD Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell UniversityHis work in the Gadikota research group focuses on the dynamic characterization of materials to understand and capture the real-time changes in systems at different experimental conditions (elevated temperatures and pressures and different external stimuli). In our group, we make use of different X-ray and Neutron Scattering techniques.
Milad Hatamlee
PhD Student, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, SUNY-Buffalo
Dr. Jinfeng Zhao
Postdoctoral Researcher, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Dr. Zhao is working on the SBA-15 powder synthesis for uniform particles with large pore size, around 20-30nm, and also with different morphologies. She is also working on SPS with high pressure, up to 2 GPa at moderate temperature, 600-800 degree C. She is using both the electrophoretic deposition method and the ice-templating method to make porous discs.
Dr. Sohaib Mohammed
PhD Student, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cornell UniversityHis work in the Gadikota research group focuses on understanding the influence of solid surfaces on the microstructure and dynamics of
interfacial fluids using molecular dynamics simulations.
Dr. Qi Rao
Postdoctoral Researcher, Idaho National LabDr. Rao's work in the Xia group involves molecular simulations to predict thermodynamic, structural and dynamic properties of hydrocarbon fluids confined in nanoscale silica pores. He is also developing an upscaling approach from atomistic models to mesoscopic models to support the experimental measurements on fluid flow transportation.
Dr. Lianbo Hu
Postdoctoral Reseacher, University of Utah & Cornell University
Dr. Hu is working jointly with the Gadikota research group at Cornell University and the McLennan group at the University of Utah. His research is focusing on 3D printing for geo-architected materials with different printing strategies and numerical modeling of mechanical characterization tests, such as nanoindentation in the framework of the Material Point Method.
Seo Young Anh
PhD student, Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah
Seo Young Anh's work in the Newell group centers on the nanomechanical characterization of heterogeneous porous media.
Zachary Diermyer
Postdoctoral Researcher, Idaho National Lab
Zach is working with Dr. Xia on dissipative particle dynamics simulations of two fluid flows through silica nanopores. Their goal is to provide insights into hydrocarbon recovery from tight reservoir rock with varying pore geometry and relative surface wettability.
Abdur Shazed
PhD student, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Abdur works with the Hoepfner and Sutherland reseach group. His work centers on optimization of many-body Dissipative Particle Dynamics (mDPD) parameters from reference data i.e. experimental or simulated thermodynamic and transport data, which will enhance the predictability of thermodynamic and transport properties of real fluids in mesoconfinement.
Luiz Moraes
PhD student, Chemical Engineering Dept., Unversity of Utah
Luiz is working in the Deo research group, studying the effects of confinement in flow through nanosized porous materials (pores with sizes less the 10 nm). This research is focused on materials that are similar to shale rocks, hence, utilizing silica in various forms.
Former MUSE members
Dr. Hyeyoung Cho
Dr. Cho worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher with both Dr. Deo at the University of Utah and Dr. Bartl at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mikaila Hunt
Worked in Prof. Zharov's research group in the Chemistry Dept. at the Unikversity of Utah, synthesizing nanoparticles of various sizes, packing them into membranes, and sintering them into pellets that were then used for flow analysis.
Dr. Truong Vo
Dr. Vo worked in the Newell group in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. He investigated the coupled thermal-chemical-mechanical (TCM) processes in amorphous silica at nanoscale using reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) approach. The scenarios of interest include tensile loading, compression, and indentation.
Dr. York Smith
Assist. Professor, Metallurgical Engineering, University of Utah
Dr. York Smith and his group studied heterogeneous reaction interfaces and the synthesis of functional inorganic nanomaterials. We are investigating the synthesis and surface properties of silica-based geo-architectured nanomaterials.
Dr. Krista Carlson
Assoc. Prof., Chemical & Materials Engineering, Uinv. of Nevada
Dr.Krista Carlson's research group when at the Univ. of Utah worked on fabrication and analysis of architected geomaterials.
Dr. Murali
Muraleedharan
Oak Ridge National LaboratoryDr. Muraleedharan conducted reactive molecular dynamics simulations of: aluminosilicate/fluid chemistry, chemistry of synthesis processes, and reactive flow through nanoporeswith Adri van Duin's research group at PSU while working with MUSE.
Sid Agrawal
Intel Corp., Portland, ORHis work with MUSE focused on understanding fluid behavior in confined spaces using DOSY NMR.
Dr. Josh McConnell
Sandia National Laboratory
Dr. McConnell's work in the Sutherland group concerned calibrating parameters for Dispersive Particle Dynamics (DPD) models from atomistic Monte-Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulations. The end goal of this work is to obtain estimates of thermodynamic and transport properties of fluids confined in nanometer-scale pores at high pressure though DPD calculations.
Dr. Thang Tran
Research Associate, Chemical Engineering, University of UtahDr. Tran’s research in the McLennan and Deo groups involved chemo-mechanical testing on our geo-architecture material SBA-15 and SBA-16 disks, including how fractures propagate under different conditions (dry or wet). He was also investigating the permeability of the geo-architected materials by chemicals (water,hexane, toluene).
Pranay Asai
LAM Research
Freemont, CA
His work in the Deo research group focused on running molecular dynamics simulations and experiments to assess flow in silica nanopores, as well as fluid wall interactions.
Rajashekhar Marthi
PhD student, Materials Science & Engineering, University of UtahHis work in the Smith group involved synthesizing kaolinite-slica composite geomaterials for flow studies, incorporating well-ordered slica nanoparticles to obtain materials with varying porosity.
Yiqing Xia
Corning - ShanghaiYiqing is working on the freezing depression study of confined water (and other glassy liquids) in porous materials (including Vycor glass, SBA-15, SBA-16 and other silica);
Dr. Vivek Patil
Dr. Andy Jacobson
Dr. Jordan Taylor
Northrop Grumman
Dr. Qi Rao
Dr. Nabankur Dasgupta
Sandia National Lab
Dr. James Sutherland
Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Utah
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Dr. Bryony RIchards
Research Scientist, Energy and Geosciences Institute, University of Utah
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Dr. Subhash Risbud
Blacutt-Underwood Distinguished Professor, Materails Science and Engineering Dept., UC-Davis
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Dr. Brian McPherson
Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Utah
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Dr. Ting Xiao
Postdoctoral Researdcher, ENergy & Geosciences Institute, Univ. of Utah
Dr. Jinfeng Zhao
Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Davis
Abdur Shazed
PhD student, Chemical Engineering, University of Utah
Prof. Jan Miller
Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering,
Univ. of Utah
Dr. Jinfeng Zhao
Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Davis