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.
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
Mridula Nandi, Ph.D.
Hometown: Kolkata, India
Undergrad university: University of Calcutta (BS), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (MS), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (PhD)
Project: Valorization of biomass
Hobbies: Travelling, cooking, upcycling old items, watching movies
Tianwei Yan, Ph.D.
Hometown: Beijing, China
Undergrad university: Peking University (BS), University of Illinois Urban-Champaign (PhD)
Project: Valorization of polymer plastic wastes
Hobbies: Reading, video games
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
Daseul Jang
MSEG
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Undergrad university: Inha University, South Korea
Project: Silk-inspired functional peptide-polymer hybrids
Hobbies: cooking, swimming, dancing, and board games
Francis Klincewicz
MSEG
Hometown: Central New Jersey
Undergrad university: University of Delaware
Project: Responsive bilayer systems
Hobbies: Fencing, board games, Pokemon Go
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
Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps
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
Yu-Tai Wong
CBE
Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
Undergrad university: National Taiwan University
Project: Biobased polymer networks derived from lignin
Hobbies: Photography, stargazing, reading, manga
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
Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps
Sampanna Mhatre
MSEG
Hometown: Mumbai, India
Undergrad university: Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Project: Renewable polymers, plastics upcycling
Hobbies: Playing harmonica, listening to music
Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps
Haesoo Lee
CBE
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Undergrad university: University of Texas at Austin
Project: Biobased polymers, depolymerization
Hobbies: Movies, music festivals, coffee shops
Co-advised by Dr. Thomas Epps
Catherine Lewis
MSEG
Hometown: Bel Air, MD
Undergrad university: University of Maryland
Project: Reinforced Hydrogels
Hobbies: Baking, hiking, listening to music
Jackie Arnold
CBE
Hometown: Charles Town, WV
Undergrad university: West Virginia University
Project: Biobased polymers
Hobbies: Painting, crocheting, cooking, baking
Eduardo Nombera
CBE & MSEG
Hometown: Lima, Peru
Undergrad university: University of Delaware
Project: Sustainable Polymers
Hobbies: Music, soccer, cooking
Will Quintana
MSEG
Hometown: Middletown, DE
Undergrad university: University of Delaware
Project: Electrospun Nanocomposite Bilayers
Hobbies: Basketball, football, fan of Milwaukee Bucks and New York Giants, collecting Pokémon cards
Stephanie Synnott
MSEG
Undergrad university: University of Delaware
Project: Sustainable Polymers
Hobbies: Reading, hiking, and painting
Graduate Students and Postdocs
Dr. Laura Beckett, 2022
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
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