People

banner

Principal Investigator

Prof. Uwe Kortshagen

Name: Prof. Uwe Kortshagen

Position:

  • Distinguished McKnight University Professor
  • Ronald L. and Janet A. Christenson Chair in Renewable Energy 

Research: Primary research interest is in plasma processes for advanced technological applications. Recent investigations include the use of radiofrequency sustained plasmas for

  • Nanomaterial synthesis
  • Renewable energy
  • Semiconductor manufacturing
  • Advanced light sources
  • Plasma science

Postdocs

Graduate Students

Bailey is a graduate student who is smiling at the camera and is wearing a blue floral shirt.

Name: Bailey Klause 
Research: Bailey works on a project focused on the synthesis of aluminum nanoparticles using a nonthermal plasma, which have applications in the fields of photonics, composite engineering, battery technology, and more.

Thomas Cameron

Name: Thomas Cameron Jr.
Research: Thomas works on a project focused on the synthesis of aluminum nanoparticles using a nonthermal plasma, which have applications in the fields of photonics, composite engineering, battery technology, and more.

Sachin Kumar

Name: Sachin Kumar
Research: Sachin explores the application of atmospheric pressure plasma to reduce metal oxides/ores. The research aims to provide a green alternative to industrial conventional routes. 

Rebecca Zhao

Name: Rebecca Zhao
Co-advisor: Christopher Hogan, ME
Research: Rebecca studies the dynamics of particles in a dusty plasma. Her research is of fundamental importance in contamination mitigation for the semiconductor industry.

Masoumeh Amirifard

Name: Masoumeh Amirifard
Research: Masoumeh explores the non-thermal plasma synthesis of silicon quantum dots and their application for agrivoltaics. 

Mohammad Kazemi

Name: Mohammad Kazemi
Research: Mohammad's research aims to improve the understanding of the application of plasmas for green metal synthesis, from their respective ores. 

Shixuan Zhao is a graduate student and this is the photo she is around with yellow  flowers.

Name: Shixuan Zhao
Research: Shixuan is investigating fundamentals of plasmas interacting with two-dimensional materials for the manufacture of future semiconductors.

Yiwei Zhu is a graduate student holding an open book. He is wearing a red sweater and he has glasses.

Name: Yiwei Zhu
Research: Yiwei is investigating the processing of rare earth element chlorides using nonthermal plasma. 

Undergraduate students

Alumni

PhD Students

NameGraduation Field and YearCurrent Company/University

Prof. Gianluca Gregori

plasma diagnostics, 2001

Oxford University

Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar

nanoparticles (NP), 2003

IIT Bombay

Peng Zheng

plasma modeling, 2005

 McDermott

Prof. Lorenzo Mangolini

NP luminescence, 2006

UC Riverside, Cofounder SiLi-ion Inc

Ameya Bapat

Nanoparticles, 2007

Intel Corporation

Curtis Anderson

Photovoltaics, 2008

Air Liquide Electronics U.S.

Chin-Yi Liu

Photovoltaics, 2009

Lam Research

Jason Holm

NP surface chem, 2009

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

Richard Liptak

NP luminescence, 2009

Fluke Corporation

Federico Galli

Nanoparticles, 2010

Lam Research

Prof. Zak Holman

Photovoltaics, 2010

Arizona State University, Cofounder: Swift Coat, Cofounder: SunFlex Solar

Prof. Rebekah Anthony

NP luminescence, 2011

Michigan State University

David Rowe

Photovoltaics, 2013

3M

Song Guo

plasma actuators, 2013

Micron Technology

Lin Cui

Photovoltaics, 2013

 

Jason Trask

Si films, 2013

Sila Nanotechnologies

Meenakshi Mamunuru

plasma modeling, 2014

Lam Research

Andrew Wagner

Si films, 2014

Intel

Lance Wheeler

NP films, 2014

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Venkat R. T. Narayanan

Plasma modeling, 2014

Eaton Corp.

Nicolaas Kramer

NP films, 2015

McKinsey & Company

Ting Chen

NP luminescence, 2015

Intel

Jeslin Wu

NP luminescence, 2015

Micron Technology

Narula Bilik

plasma science, 2016

Micron Technology

Ben Greenberg

NP plasmonics, 2017

Naval Research Laboratory

Katelyn Schramke

NP plasmonics, 2017

Seagate Technology

Yunxiang Qin

dusty plasmas, 2018

Micron Technology

Katharine Hunter

NP devices, 2019

3M

Samantha Ehrenberg Hill

luminescent concentrators, 2019

Centre for Energy and Environment

Zachary Robinson

nanocrystal transport, 2020

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Chad Beaudette

2D-materials, 2021

Lam Research

Zhaohan Li

luminescent NPs, 2021

Lam Research

Toshisato Ono

plasma science, 2022

Lam Research

Qiaomiao Tu

oxide materials, 2022

KLA

Yaling LiuSilicon quantum dots, 2022Lam Research
Gunnar NelsonNP based films, 2022Diamond foundry
Chengjian ZhangNanocrystals, 2023Micron Technology
Ali EslamisaraySilicon nanocrystals, 2023University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Zichang XiongNP synthesis, 2023Lam Research
Chi XuSilver NP synthesis, 2024Intel Corporation 
Yeonjoo LeeSi NP synthesis, 2024Los Alamos National Laboratory
Kristine LohSi NP synthesis and Agrivoltaics, 2025Swarthmore College

 

M.S. Plan A                                                                                                                     

NameGraduation Field and Year

Paul Schwendinger

plasma diagnostics, 1997

Gurprit Singh Chandhoke

Nanoparticles, 1998

Brian G. Heil

plasma kinetics, 1999

Upendra Bhandarkar

Nanoparticles, 2000

Zhe Shen

Nanoparticles, 2000

Antonio Maresca

plasma kinetics, 2001

Giovanni Visentin

plasma diagnostics, 2001

Svetoslav Stoykov

plasma modeling, 2001

Lorenzo Mangolini

plasma modeling, 2002

Siri Thompson

Nanoparticles, 2003

Ameya Bapat

Nanoparticles, 2003

Michael Hebert

plasma kinetics, 2004

Patrizio Cernetti

Nanoparticles, 2006

Marco Gatti

Nanoparticles, 2007

Ross Cram

Nanoparticles, 2008

Ryan Gresback

Nanoparticle, 2010

Dart-Ken Poon

plasma actuators, 2011

Brian Merrit

Plasma Science. 2015

Darryl Lee

amorphous Si films, 2016

Ranee Skinner

thermoelectic materials, 2016

Elliot Combs

Plasma Science, 2016

Ben Pearce

Nanoparticle, 2017

Kelsey Mork

Thermoelectric materials, 2017

Jasmine Johnson

Nanoparticles, 2017

Sadhana Mishra

thermoelectric materials

Yueke Yang

thermoelectric material, 2019

Jesse Greenhagen

silicon luminescence, 2022

Andrew Arsenaulttitanium nanoparticles, 2023

 

M.S. Plan B                                                                                                     

NameGraduation Field and Year

Tony Borders

plasma diagnostics, 2002

Ghidewon Arefi

Nanoparticles, 2008

Ariel Chatman

Thermoelectrics, 2010

David Bruce

Thermoelectrics, 2011

Daniel Rave

Plasma science, 2011

Ben Greenberg

Nanoparticles, 2014

Katelyn Schramke

Plasmonics, 2015

Samantha Ehrenberg

luminescent concentrators, 2017

 

Post-doctoral Associates                                                                                                  

NameResearch Field and Year

Christoph Eggs

plasma modeling, 1998

Eli Stoykova

plasma modeling, 1999-2000

Vitaly Schweigert

plasma modeling, 2000-2001

Konstantin Orlov

plasma diagnostics, 2000-2001

Min Hur

plasma diagnostics, 2002-2003

Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar

plasma modeling, 2003

Prof. Dirk Uhrlandt

plasma modeling, 2003

Prof. Tomohiro Nozaki

carbon nanotubes, 2003-2004

Feng Liao

Nanoparticles, 2005

Prof. Xiaodong Pi

Nanoparticles, 2005-2008

Jason Schmidt

Nanoparticles, 2005-2006

Prof. Sonya Caston-Pierre

Nanoparticles, 2006

Guang Yang

plasma actuators, 2007

Jihua Yang

Nanoparticles, 2009-2016

Prof. Elijah Thimsen

Nanoparticles, 2012-2014

Woo Jin An

Nanoparticles, 2013-2014

Jujong Jang

Nanoparticles, 2014-2015

Prof. Shreyashi Ganguli

Nanoparticles, 2013-2016

Prof. Jong Jin Jeong

MURI, 2018-2019

Dr. Himashi AndaraarachchiNanoparticles, 2018 - 2024
Dr. Julian HeldNanoparticles and Diagnostics, 2022 - 2024