(4cl) Polymer Films One Monomer at a Time: Bringing Moore’s Law to Membrane Separations

My mission is to create sustainability through surface engineering with a focus on thin film techniques within membrane applications.

Membrane desalination is vital to the economic success and well-being of key regions throughout the world and is essential for addressing the growing global need for adequate and safe water. Large desalination plants have been constructed in water stressed regions such as California, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The heart of these vital infrastructural facilities is a polymer film, less than one micron thick.

My research interests are at the confluence of membrane separations and polymer thin films grown by molecular layer deposition (MLD). As an offshoot of atomic layer deposition (ALD) within the semiconductor industry, MLD is a vapor phase, layer-by-layer deposition technique with monomer-level precision. I leverage MLD to engineer semipermeable polymer films to address shortcomings of the status quo, such as inhomogeneous water passage, a propensity for fouling at the membrane surface and the extensive use of environmentally harmful solvents.

Beyond constructing selective films, MLD and ALD are versatile techniques for engineering the surfaces of porous polymers, imbuing the flexible, high-surface-area substrates with inorganic and hybrid material properties to improve performance. These properties include electrical conductance, thermal stability, photocatalytic activity, hydrophilicity, and oleophilicity. My research focuses on understanding fundamental substrate-monomer interactions using in-situ techniques and reaction-diffusion modeling.

Teaching Interests:

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” - Xunzi

Teaching is a passion of mine. My goals as an instructor include maximizing student outcomes and equipping them with skills and comprehension for their future endeavors. To achieve these goals, I employ pedagogy from past teaching experience, with a focus on active learning, communication, and continuous improvement. My teaching experience includes two semesters as a teaching assistant at the University of Colorado in heat transfer and thermodynamics courses where I delivered two guest lectures. In addition to serving as a TA, I have done over six years of one-on-one teaching as a tutor for the I Have a Dream Foundation, the BOLD Center, and Thrive Denver Tutoring.

With my educational background in chemical and mechanical engineering and teaching experience, I am confident in my ability to teach any core undergraduate chemical engineering course. Drawing from my industry experience and research area, I am most eager to teach courses such as chemical engineering lab and senior design as well as graduate level courses in surface science, materials science and membranes separations.