Research Experience for Undergraduates

2007 Research Experience for Undergraduates Participants


REU Participant Information		Research Advisors
	Chukwunomso Agunwamba will be entering his senior year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is majoring in physics and mathematics. His hobbies include soccer, tennis, reading, playing piano, and African drumming. *Project:* Modeling the resolution for photoacoustic biomicrosopy in the Giga-Hertz frequency range	Professor Shriram Ramanathan
		Funding: NNIN
	Musa Al Haj Ahmad is a Harvard student who will be working in the lab of Aravi Samuel. *Project:* C. elegans response to stimuli	Professor Aravi Samuel Linjiao Luo
		Funding: REU Materials for BRIDGE
	Brandon Bailey is a student at Duke University in the class of 2008. *Project:* Position and velocity dependence of early motor learning	Professor Maurice Smith Gary Sing
		Funding: REU Materials for BRIDGE
	Phillip Barton is just finishing his sophomore year at Northwestern University as a Materials Science and Engineering major. Chicago has been great for the past two years, but he is definitely excited to explore the Boston/Cambridge area. Being from the Seattle area, he loves going to concerts and hiking up mountains, but is generally up for anything. *Project:* Electromigration in single crystal copper whiskers	Dr. Michael Burns
		Funding: The Rowland Institute at Harvard
	Jennifer Boice is a rising senior double majoring in Physics and Chemistry at Simmons College in Boston, MA. In her free time, she enjoys running, listening to music, playing tennis, and stargazing. After graduation, Jennifer plans to go to graduate school and hopes to eventually work at NASA. *Project:* Particles with tailored electromagnetic properties	Dr. Peer Fischer
		Funding: The Rowland Institute at Harvard
	Sarah Brittman is a chemistry concentrator at Harvard who will be working in the lab of Prof. Hongkun Park. *Project:* Electronic properties of nanowires of antimony telluride, a phase change material	Professor Hongkun Park Nathalie De Leon Funding: NSEC
		Funding: The NSEC at Harvard
	Ayodele Buraimoh is a biology concentrator at Harvard.	Professor David Mooney Dr. Lan Cao
		Funding: The MRSEC at Harvard
	Justin Caram is a rising junior at Harvard University. He enjoys salsa dancing, and will be organizing social activities this summer.	Professor Vinothan Manoharan

	Amalchi Castillo just completed his freshman year at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus where he majors in Chemical Engineering. He enjoys writing poetry and reading everything from nineteenth century literature, to scientific articles and biochemistry books. He currently plans on pursuing another major in either industrial biotechnology or bioengineering. *Project:* Protein concentration using an integrated circuit/microfluidic chip for programmable manipulation with dielectrophoresis	Professor Robert Westervelt David Issadore Keith Brown
		Funding: REU Materials for BRIDGE
	Max Chalfin is a Harvard Physics concentrator who will be working in the lab of Professor Jenny Hoffman. Project: Building a magnetic force microscope (MFM)	Professor Jenny E. Hoffman

	Meaghan Colling is a chemistry concentrator at Harvard University. She is on the swim team at Harvard, and is a twelve-time Ivy Championship Finalist. *Project:* Water and styrene coadsorption studies on TiO2(110)	Professor Cynthia Friend Ryan Quiller

	Pablo De La Iglesia is a rising junior majoring in Chemical Engineering at the University of New Mexico. He is the Treasurer for both the Hispanic Engineering and Science Organization and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers at UNM. *Project:* Elasticity of collagen fibers	Professor David Weitz Louise Jawerth David Vader
		Funding: MRSEC PREM
	Laura DeLorenzo just finished her freshman year at Dartmouth, majoring in Engineering Sciences. *Project:* Particle Motion on an Oil/Water Interface	Professor Vinothan Manoharan Emily Gardel
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Thao Do is originally from Vietnam and is a rising sophomore at Virginia Tech University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with Minors in Computer Science and Mathematics. In her spare time, she enjoys ballroom dancing, cardio-boxing, swimming, and playing tennis. *Project:* Surface modification of PDMS channels	Professor David Weitz Dr. Adam Abate
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Joseph D’Silva is a rising junior majoring in electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. *Project:* Fabrication of ultra-flat micron-diameter gold surfaces for mechanical characterization of DNA molecules	Dr. Ozgur Sahin
		Funding: The Rowland Institute at Harvard
	Chimdimnma (Chi-Chi) Esimai is an biomedical engineering concentrator at Harvard. *Project:* Blowing on a bottle	Professor L. Mahadevan Dr. Shreyas Mandre
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Steven Fatur currently attends Tufts University in the class of 2008, majoring in Chemistry and Spanish. He returned this summer from Spain having spent my 2006-2007 school year studying Philology and History at the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. When not working or studying, he really enjoy playing soccer, going to the beach, and watching the Pittsburgh Pirates lose baseball games.	Professor Michael Aziz Jason Rugolo
		Funding: NNIN
	Ian Frank is a rising senior in physics and materials science at Pomona College. He was born and raised in Turkey, and speaks fluent Turkish. *Project:* Maskless nanolithography using an Atomic Force Microscope	Professor Marko Loncar Dr. JD Deng
		Funding: NNIN
	Danielle Garcia is a senior majoring in Chemical Engineering at the University of New Mexico. She is the Vice President of the Tau Beta Pi chapter at UNM. *Project:* Response of embryonic stem cells to constrained growth area	Professor Debra Auguste Renita Horton
		Funding: MRSEC PREM
	Mary Gloria is a rising senior at the University of Texas at Austin studying biomedical engineering. She enjoys music, traveling, and hanging out with friends. *Project:* Magnetic self-assembly of poly(dimethyl siloxane) sheets utilizing Concepts from Protein folding	Professor George Whitesides George Kaufman Dr. Meital Reches

	Joshua Grolman has just finished his freshman year at the University of Mass. at Amherst. He studies biochemistry and Marxian economics. He enjoys composing and listening to music, and random jam sessions with tea. *Project:* Image analysis with MATLAB: exploring effects of volume on ice nucleation	Prof. David Weitz Katie Humphry
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Marion Andrew Humphrey is a junior at Davidson College who hails from Little Rock, Arkansas. He participates in concert choir and acts in plays. In the Spring of 2005, he worked as a page for the U.S. Senate. *Project:* Estimating the gradient of CO concentrations between inland and coastal Amazonian sites	Professor Steve Wofsy Dr. Bill Munger V.Y. Chow Dylan Boyd
		Funding: NIRT in Nanogeosciences
	Elizabeth Jerison just completed her freshman year in physics at Yale. *Project:* Investigating cell mechanics with with digital holographic microscopy	Professor Vinothan Manoharan Professor David Weitz Dr. Tommy Angelini Ryan McGorty
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Angela Jimenez is originally from Colombia. Currently, she is a senior pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering at The City College of New York. She feels great passion about science, especially in Bio-engineering and Drug Delivery related topics and plans to attend to graduate school. She enjoys playing sports, dancing, sewing and listening to music. *Project:* Behavior of a droplet with a reactive interface	Professor Howard Stone Dr. Sigolene Lecuyer Professor Andrew Belmonte
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Matt Kauffman is a rising senior year at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA, majoring in electrical engineering and mathematics. He enjoys all sports, especially basketball, and is on the tennis team at ENC. Also, he is always up for a game of ultimate frisbee. He loves being in the Boston area, and enjoys eating great food and watching funny movies and TV shows. *Project:* USB interfacing to the Fabutron chip	Professor Robert Westervelt Keith Brown David Issadore
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Sean Kermes is a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is an expert grilled cheese chef. *Project:* Scientific computing with Doom 3	Professor Alan Aspuru-Guzik Dr. Ali Najmaie

	Hasan Korre Project: Constant vigilance! Being provenance aware	Professor Margo Seltzer

	Amorette Maestas is a rising senior majoring in Chemistry at the University of New Mexico. *Project:* Synthesis of metallic nanoparticles in a microfluidic device	Professor George Whitesides Dr. T. Fettah Kosar Dr. Rob Rioux
		Funding: MRSEC PREM
	Alexei Matyushov just completed his sophomore year at Arizona State University. He is studying microbiology and physics. He was born in the Ukraine, and has lived in Austria *Project:* Simulating a glacier in the lab	Professor Peter Huybers Professor Howard Stone Jacy Bird
		Funding: NIRT in Nanogeosciences
	Kyle McElhoney will be entering his senior year at Siena College, where he is majoring in Chemistry. He is interested in research and working towards becoming a professor. Outside of chemistry, he sits on the Student Events Board and enjoys intramural sports, movies and music. *Project:* Nitrogen isotopes in cretaceous oceanic anoxic event sediments	Professor Ann Pearson Meytal Higgin
		Funding: NIRT in Nanogeosciences
	Rebecca Murphy has just completed her sophomore year at the University of Rochester where she is majoring in Chemistry. She competes on the U of R Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track, and Equestrian teams. After college she would like to go on to get a PhD in Chemistry to become a medicinal chemist. *Project:* Design and synthesis of an improved red fluorophore for biological use	Dr. Jim Foley
		Funding: Rowland Institute
	Sarah Nam is entering her sophomore year at Harvard College. This summer, she worked in Professor Marko Loncar’s lab, performing nano-optical research. Sarah enjoys playing the oboe, dancing, traveling, and eating with her friends. *Project:* Synthesis and characterization of crystalline Ag nanowires for nano-plasmonics	Professor Marko Loncar Dr. Irfan Bulu
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Chiagozie Ononiwu is a senior Biology major in Howard University who hails from Nigeria. She loves learning new languages, and currently speaks three. In her spare time she enjoys watching TV, reading books, and talking with friends. She also plays the keyboard and violin. *Project:* Behavior of C. elegans upon exposure to blue light	Professor Aravi Samuel Linjiao Luo

	Katherine (Kasey) Phillips is a rising senior in physics and math at North Carolina State University. After attending graduate school in physics, she hopes to then work in science public policy. She loves traveling, cooking, and the arts. She cannot wait to spend the summer exploring Boston. *Project:* Silica nanowires: manipulating light at the nanoscale	Professor Eric Mazur Geoff Svacha
		Funding: REU Supplement
	Chris Quinn is a rising senior at Cornell University, majoring in Engineering Physics. He enjoys outdoor activities including running, biking, and swimming. He also enjoys a good book when he has time. *Project:* A fish out of water: the development of a micro-scale robotic fish	Professor Rob Wood

	David Rodriguez is a rising junior at Quinnipiac University majoring in Chemistry and with a minor in Criminal Justice. *Project:* Scanning electron microscopy on cardiomyocytes with fibronectin microbeads adhered to the surface	Profesor Kevin Kit Parker Eric Weiss
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Nicole Romano is a rising senior studying Biomaterials Science & Engineering and Viola Performance at Johns Hopkins University. She enjoys traveling, the wilderness, impromptu chamber music, and cooking. *Project:* Encapsulating single cells in monodisperse gel particles for high throughput genomic profiling	Professor David Weitz Dr. Jeremy Agresti Dr. Amy Rowat

	Ohad Rosenberg is a student at the Technion in Israel. He will arrive mid-July. *Project:* Thermal and electrical properties of very thin films	Professor Joost Vlassak Patrick McCluskey
		Funding: HSEAS
	Roanna Ruiz is a rising junior at Harvard concentrating in biomedical engineering.	Professor Eric Mazur Sam Chung
		Funding: REU Supplement
	Haley Ruther is an entering junior at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, majoring in biochemistry with a cell biology and music minor. She is into the Harry Potter series and anything that has to do with fantasy. She likes going out to see movies, watch concerts or theater shows, going to museums, shopping and practicing her instrument. Project: Effects of applied catechins on host performance and herbivory	Dr. Kristin Lewis
		Funding: The Rowland Institute at Harvard
	Amrita Saigal is a rising sophomore at MIT majoring in mechanical engineering. *Project:* Fabrication of thin-film solid-oxide fuel cells	Professor Shriram Ramanathan Dr. Alex Johnson
		Funding: NNIN
	Jennifer Sanders is a rising senior majoring in Physics at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri. Her greater desire is to use the study of Physics and Chemistry to observe the complexity of God's creation. After graduation she will pursue a joint degree from Washington University in St. Louis in the Chemical Engineering concentration. *Project:* Stains in clothing: capture of colloidal particles in a porous media	Professor Howard Stone Dr. William Ristenpart

	Derek Smith is a rising junior at Rochester University majoring in chemical engineering. *Project:* Functionalization of silicon nanoparticles for hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging	Professor Charlie Marcus Dr. T. Fettah Kosar
		Funding: NNIN
	Tobias Sontheimer is studying physics at RWTH in Aachen, Germany. *Project:* Crystallization kinetics and optical properties of tellurium compounds used for phase change recording	Professor Frans Spaepen Dr. Ingo Ramsteiner
		Funding: HSEAS
	Carolyn Stwertka, physics major at Middlebury College, will return for a second year as an REU affiliate.	Professor Susan Watson Professor Charlie Marcus

	Julia Sygiel is a rising junior at Brown University where she is concentrating in Chemical Engineering. She grew up in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky. This past spring she studied abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico, and is now missing tacos and chile peppers. She enjoys international travel, flamenco dance, and Girl Scout cookies. *Project:* Analysis of surface ozone concentrations	Professor Daniel Jacob Dr. Loretta Mickley Eric Liebensperger
		Funding: NIRT in Nanogeosciences
	Evan Thatcher is a rising senior at Haverford College majoring in physics and astronomy. His interests include food, sleep, fun and sports such as ultimate, soccer and golf. *Project:* Energy transfer in nanostructures	Professor Alan Aspuru-Guzik Dr. Ali Najmaie
		Funding: NIRT in Nanogeosciences
	Shaun Tiwari is a senior at Boston University majoring in Health Science.	Profesor David Mooney Yu Ching Yung
		Funding: Materials for BRIDGE
	Derek Vigil is a rising senior majoring in Materials Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He rode a bus from Biloxi, Mississippi to get to the REU program. Project: Towards an in vitro brain aneurysm model	Professor Debra Auguste Marjan Rafat
		Funding: MRSEC
	Stefan Wernli is a rising senior at Harvard University studying computer science and physics. *Project:* Control and analysis programs for scanning tunneling microscopy	Professor Jenny E. Hoffman
		Funding: NSEC
	Michael Wierzbicki is a rising senior majoring in Mathematics and Physics at Furman University. He is from Chicago and likes to play piano, run, hike, and read. *Project:* Single molecule force study using optical tweezers	Dr. Wesley Wong
		Funding: Rowland Institute at Harvard
	Laurel Wixson is a rising junior at UC Santa Barbara where she is currently pursuing a B.S. in chemical engineering and minoring in German. She plans on attending graduate school on the East Coast and getting a job in industry that makes use of both her chemical engineering background and her language skills. In her free time, Laurel enjoys reading, cooking, camping, Disneyland, long road trips, and spending time with friends and family. *Project:* Oxidation reactions on Au(111)	Professor Cynthia Friend Dr. Weiwei Gao Joel Yao

	Insun Yoon is a rising junior at Mount Holyoke College majoring in Biochemistry. She was born in Korea, and enjoys swimming and yoga. *Project:* Fabrication of giant phospholipid vesicles from double emulsions in microfluidics	Professor David Weitz Anderson Ho Cheung Shum Dr. Daeyeon Lee