My research interests lie in the area of polymer interfaces, with particular emphasis on polymer dynamics, molecular transport, and specific interactions. Specifically, I intend to focus on two research topics, which will build on my postdoctoral and graduate experiences, and address exciting problems currently faced in the polymer science and engineering field:

(1) The application of broadband dielectric spectroscopy, focused on a nm-sized interface using special techniques, to characterize the impact of an interface on bulk dynamics and the interface dynamics itself. There are a variety of applications (e.g., interfacial coupling agents in polymer nanocomposites, membrane transport for water purification, columnar design to increase fracture toughness, relaxor ferroelectric domains in electroactive polymers and composites, among many others) where such a technique would improve both the fundamental understanding and lead to specific technological advances.

(2) The use of properly-placed functional groups to enhance interactions between polymers and small molecules, with relevance to chemical sensors, impregnation of polymers with pi-conjugated small molecules for enhanced electronic properties, and the diffusion and partitioning of molecules across interfaces.

My postdoctoral studies at Sandia National Laboratories with Joe Lenhart have encompassed a variety of organic materials projects, including: self-assembled monolayers for anti-stiction in microelectromechanical machines, characterized by near-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS); rheological and mechanical properties of nano- and micron-filled composites; the incorporation of pi-conjugated small molecules into dielectric films for improved electronic properties, from both processing and materials characterization perspectives; processing of nanoporous epoxies using removable small molecules as templates; and incorporation of oxygen groups into polystyrene by UV-ozone, characterized by NEXAFS. These projects have utilized collaborations with Daniel Fischer of NIST (at Brookhaven National Laboratory) and Mike Dugger at Sandia, among other collaborations at Sandia.

My doctoral studies at Penn State University in Materials Science and Engineering with Prof. Jim Runt focused on the dielectric properties of ion-containing polymers, using broadband dielectric spectroscopy to examine ion and polymer dynamics in low-Tg transport membranes and high-Tg structural polymers. During my master's work, also at Penn State, I studied electroactive polymers with Qiming Zhang, specifically PVDF terpolymers: this work focused on electromechanical, dielectric, and structural characterization of the polymers and the impact of processing on electromechanical efficiency.

My undergraduate degree was in Chemical Engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara. There I spent some time working with Prof. Fred Lange to produce superhydrophobic ceramic surfaces via nano-silica coatings. I also spent a summer at Howard University, preparing (by molecular beam epitaxy) InGaAsN solar cells and performing electrical characterization.

Acknowledgement: Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.