LaShanda Korley, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor

 

LaShanda T.J. Korley is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Prior to Prof. Korley’s appointment at UDel, she held the Climo Associate Professorship of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, where she started her independent career in 2007. Prof. Korley is the Principal Investigator of the recently awarded NSF PIRE: Bio-inspired Materials and Systems.

She received a B.S. in both Chemistry & Engineering from Clark Atlanta University as well as a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999.  Dr. Korley completed her doctoral studies at MIT in Chemical Engineering and the Program in Polymer Science and Technology in 2005. LaShanda Korley was the recipient of the Provost’s Academic Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell in 2005, where she completed a two-year postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Zachary Hinton, Ph.D.

Zachary Hinton, Ph.D.

Senior Experimentalist, Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI)

Hometown: Southern New Jersey

Undergrad university: Rowan University (BS), Drexel University (PhD)

Project: Valorization of polymer plastics waste

Hobbies: cooking, guitars, linguistic anthropology

zhinton@udel.edu

Min Soo (Minsoo) Kim, Ph.D.

Min Soo (Minsoo) Kim, Ph.D.

Associate Scientist

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Undergrad university: Hanyang University, South Korea (BS), University of Houston (PhD)

Project: Biobased polymers

Hobbies: Hiking, traveling, gardening, home repair

msk@udel.edu

Co-supervised by Dr. Thomas Epps

Alex Balzer, Ph.D.

Alex Balzer, Ph.D.

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

Undergrad university: North Carolina State University (BS), Georgia Institute of Technology (PhD)

Project: Valorization of polymer plastic wastes

Hobbies: Golf, basketball, cooking, video games

ahbalzer@udel.edu

Francis Klincewicz

Francis Klincewicz

MSEG

Hometown: Central New Jersey

Undergrad university: University of Delaware

Project: Responsive bilayer systems

Hobbies: Fencing, board games, Pokemon Go

francisk@udel.edu

Jignesh Mahajan

Jignesh Mahajan

MSEG

Hometown: India

Undergrad university: Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai; Masters degree – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

Project: Sustainable polymers

Hobbies: Listen to music and travel

jignesh@udel.edu

Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps

Yu-Tai Wong

Yu-Tai Wong

CBE

Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan

Undergrad university: National Taiwan University

Project: Biobased polymer networks derived from lignin

Hobbies: Photography, stargazing, reading, manga

ytwong@udel.edu

 

Jessica Thomas

Jessica Thomas

MSEG

Hometown: Weston, FL

Undergrad university: University of Florida

Project: Supramolecular polymer-peptide hybrids, 3D printing of elastomers, supramolecular nanocomposites

Hobbies: flute, ukulele, plant care

jthomas@udel.edu

Maida Mahmood

Maida Mahmood

MSEG

Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan

Undergrad university: University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Project: Bio-based polymeric materials

Hobbies: Sketching, traveling and watching TV

maida@udel.edu

Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps

 
Sampanna Mhatre

Sampanna Mhatre

MSEG

Hometown: Mumbai, India

Undergrad university: Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai

Project: Renewable polymers, plastics upcycling

Hobbies: Playing harmonica, listening to music

sampanna@udel.edu

Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps

Haesoo Lee

Haesoo Lee

CBE

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Undergrad university: University of Texas at Austin

Project: Biobased polymers, depolymerization

Hobbies: Movies, music festivals, coffee shops

leeh@udel.edu

Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps

Catherine Lewis

Catherine Lewis

MSEG

Hometown: Bel Air, MD

Undergrad university: University of Maryland

Project: Reinforced Hydrogels

Hobbies: Baking, hiking, listening to music

catlewis@udel.edu

Jackie Arnold

Jackie Arnold

CBE

Hometown: Charles Town, WV

Undergrad university: West Virginia University

Project: Biobased polymers

Hobbies: Painting, crocheting, cooking, baking

jackiera@udel.edu

Stephanie Synnott

Stephanie Synnott

MSEG

Hometown: Falls Church, VA

Undergrad university: University of Delaware

Project: Sustainable Polymers 

Hobbies: Reading, hiking, and painting

stephsyn@udel.edu

Jessica Williams

Jessica Williams

Research Experiences Undergraduate, CHEM

Hometown: New Castle, DE

Undergrad university: Johns Hopkins University

Project: Bio-based polymers

Hobbies: Listening to and playing music, reading, board games, & RPGs

jelywi@udel.edu

Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps

Graduate Students and Postdocs

Dr. Tianwei Yan, 2023

       Post-doctoral fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Mridula Nandi, 2023

       Post-doctoral fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology

Daseul Jang, Ph.D. 2023

       Senior Chemical Engineer & Senior Scientist, Carbon Reform

Dr. Laura Beckett, 2022

       Materials and Process Engineer, Airbus

Yang Yu, 2022

Joanne Norris, 2021

       CEO & Co-Founder, Carbon Reform

Kris Van de Voorde, Ph.D. 2021

       Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Defense

Akash Vaidya, 2020

      University of Delaware

Chase Thompson, Ph.D. 2020

       Post-doctoral fellow, Georgetown

Ada Anyanwu, MS 2019

       University of Delaware 

Michelle T. Brannum, Ph.D. 2019

       AFRL

Symone Alexander, Ph.D. 2018

       Associate Professor, Auburn

Lindsay Matolyak, Ph.D. 2017

        Research Chemist, PPG

Alex Jordan, Ph.D. 2016

        Faculty, University of Wisconsin – Stout

Casey Johnson, Ph.D. 2014

Research Engineer, DuPont Circleville Research Lab

Nandula Wanasekara, Ph.D. 2014

       Faculty, University of Moratuwa

Keon Soo Jang, Ph.D. 2014

Faculty, University of Suwon (South Korea)

Bingrui Li, MS 2016

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Tiffani Burt, Ph.D. 2012

       Global Process Platform Leader, Sealed Air

Nicholas R. Wheeler, MS 2011

Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Lindsay Bolisay (2007-2008)

Dr. Jong Keum (2009)

Dr. David Stone (2009-2010)

Dr. Vidya Viswanath (2015-2016)

Dr. Sourav Chatterjee (2018-2019)

Dr. Yanchun Tang (2019-2020)

Undergraduate and Exchange Students 

Eduardo Nombera, BS

Will Quintana, BS

Mya Soukaseum, BS

Erica Hild, BS

Sofia Alfieri

Ajay Sapre, BS

David Jones, BS

Thomas Cotey, BS

William Lenart, BS

Shadi Ahmadmehrabi, BS

Kristin Jones, BS

Emily Vrbensky, BS

Sri Vidy Uppalapati, BS

James Covello, BS

Bailey Flint, BS

Jonathan Petrozzini, BS

Kevin Van der Ploeg, MS