Graduate Students

Aidan Klemm

PhD Candidate

Aidan received B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 2020 from CWRU. He has been a member of the Energy Lab since 2018 where he worked on various aspects of ionic liquids and ionic liquid based membranes for CO2 separations. He started his PhD in the Fall of 2020. His thesis is focused on novel solvents and separation mechanisms for CO2 direct air capture (DAC). His other involvements include being a staff member at the CWRU LGBT Center and singing in the Case Concert Choir.

Ruth Dikki

PhD student

Ruth earned her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering in 2019 from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, after which she served for a year at the National Teacher's Institute in Nigeria. Her past research involved the use of Matlab for pipeline studies. As a PhD student, her research interest focuses on developing materials for the direct air capture of CO2. Outside the lab, Ruth enjoys watching cartoons, and writing.

Oguz Kagan Coskun

PhD student

Oguz has B.S. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. His research experiences include molten salt electrolysis and material characterization for electrocatalysis. His PhD project is about understanding the electrode-electrolyte interfaces during electrocatalysis.  Outside of the lab, he loves reading, cooking and hitting the gym.

Miguel Munoz

PhD student

Miguel earned his B.S. in Biological and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and M.S. in Chemical Science and Technology from the Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico. His past research involved DFT theoretical calculations and experimental work focused on quinone derivatives for energy storage applications. As a Ph.D. student, his research interest are eutectic solvents for redox flow batteries. Miguel enjoys watching and playing soccer, reading, and going to the gym during his free time.

Mukhilan Dhasarathaboopathy

PhD student

Mukhilan joined the group in 2023 after completing his B.Tech degree in Chemical and Electrochemical Engineering at CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute in India. His past research experience includes electrode material synthesis, characterization and electrochemical testing for supercapacitors. His PhD thesis work in the energy lab focuses on ionic liquid electrolytes for LIBs and especially understanding the Li-ion solvation and mobility. Outside of research, Mukhilan loves binge-watching, listening to Tamil songs, and checking twitter. 

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Post-doctoral Researchers

Saudagar Dongare

Saudagar earned his PhD in 2021 from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology,Patiala, India. He has BS in Chemical Engineering and MS in Petrochemical Technology. His PhD thesis was focused on the development of effective and less expensive electro-catalysts for CO2 conversion to ethanol. Saudagar uses different in-situ and ex-situ characterization methods to study catalyst’s physical, chemical and electrochemical properties. He currently studies the role of ionic liquids on the CO2 electrochemical reduction reaction. In his free time, he enjoys travelling and exploring historical places both near and far. He also enjoys learning new technologies and watching comedy shows.

Vaishali Khokhar

Vaishali earned her B.Sc degree in Chemistry from Miranda House and her M.Sc degree in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, India. Later, she joined IIT Delhi to pursue her Ph.D. in Chemistry. She graduated in March 2023 and her PhD thesis work was focused on the physical characterization and spectroscopic studies within Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) while developing a strong foundation in the fundamentals of these neoteric solvents. As a postdoctoral researcher in the Energy Lab, her work focuses on the characterization and development of novel DESs for their application as electrolyte media. Outside of research, Vaishali loves cooking and dancing to Bollywood music. She is also an avid cinephile.

Muhammad Zeeshan

Muhammad completed an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from BUITEMS, Quetta, Pakistan, in 2015. Subsequently, he joined Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey, and received his MS and Ph.D. degrees in 2018 and 2021, respectively. His doctoral dissertation was focused on modifying the structure of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Graphene Aerogel (GAs), and Activated Carbon (AC) with Ionic Liquids (ILs) to tune their gas adsorption and separation performances. In addition, his research interests also include the thermophysical modeling of ILs. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Energy Lab, his work is related to developing novel sorbent materials for direct air capture of CO2. Besides his lab work and research, Zeeshan loves traveling to explore nature, hiking, learning novel technologies, and cooking traditional Pakistani food.

Sabhapathy Palani

Sabha received M.Sc (2012) in analytical chemistry from the Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Madras and a PhD (2019) from National Tsing-Hua University (NTHU) as a TIGP fellow (TaiwanInternational Graduate Program -jointly with Academia Sinica and NTHU). After his PhD, he continued as a postdoctoral researcher at NTHU before joining CWRU in 2023. Sabha’s expertise include electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution, oxygenreduction, and carbon dioxide reduction reactions. Sabha is currently workingon developing electrolytes for redox flow batteries. In his free time, he lovesreading, playing badminton and cricket.

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Undergraduate Researchers

Amelia Tomak

Amelia is a first-year chemical engineering student with a minor in business management. Her research interest is in capturing CO2 by ionic liquids. Outside of the lab, Amelia enjoys playing tennis, pickleball, engaging in the WISER community, and listening to music.

Bella Drucker

Bella is a second year biology student at CWRU with minors in chemistry and art studio. Her research is on ionic liquid based membranes for CO2 separation. Outside of the lab, Bella enjoys skiing, cooking, painting, and listening to music.


Isabella Liu-Lopez 

Isabella is a second-year Chemical Engineering student with minors in Chinese and Biomedical Engineering. Her research interest is CO2 capture via ionic liquids. In her spare time, Isabella enjoys salsa dancing, playing tennis, and being involved in her sorority, Delta Gamma!

Harrison Liu

Harrison is a fourth-year chemical engineering student at CWRU. His research interest is in the application of ionic liquids in energy storage and carbon capture. Outside of the lab, Harrison enjoys skiing, hiking, and playing the bass guitar.

Euphemia Skinner

Euphemia is a first-year chemical engineering student at CWRU. Her research interest is in using ionic liquids for carbon capture and conversion. Outside of the lab, she enjoys skiing, playing tennis, and solving puzzles.

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Past Members

Graduates

William Dean, PhD 2023, Postdoc at Argonne National Laboratory

Drace Penley, PhD 2023, Postdoc at Argonne National Laboratory

Yun-Yang Lee, PhD 2022, Postdoc at National Energy Technology Laboratory

Jeffrey Klein, PhD 2021, Postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Qianwen (Vivian) Huang, PhD  2019, Engineer at Silicon Valley Startup 

Sanduni Wijesooriya, MS 2023, Researcher at Ecolectro, Inc.

Suchitra Selvaraj, MS  2018, Researcher at Ecolectro, Inc.

Ningjin (Karen) Xu, MS 2018, Currently a PhD student at UC Riverside

Brian Chen, MS 2020, Currently a PhD student at CUNY

Henry Squire, MS 2020, Currently a PhD student at UC Berkeley

Hongchao Mao, Postdoc 2019-20

Kavin Pachuta, Postdoc, 2021, Currently a senior scientist at SVKroma LLC

Raziyeh (Melina) Ghahremani, Postdoc, 2021-22, Currently a Researcher at Schaeffler Group

Eda Cagli, Postdoc, 2021-23, currently a postdoc at UC Davis

Undergraduate Researchers

Hazel Gerber (2019-23)

Asya Orhan (2020-21)

Max Pennington (2019-20)

Caleb Wilt (2018-19) 

Dylan Klaiber (2019)  

Evio Panichi (2018 summer)

Guillermo F Gonzalez (2018)  

Jinyi Zhang (2018 summer)

Neil Chavan (2017-18)

Phoebe Huang (2017 -18)

Nicholas Asher Day (2017) 


REU Students

Victoria Zubizarreta (2019), University of Pittsburgh

Reagan Hairston(2018), Mississippi State University

ViAnn Thuy Pham (2017), University of Arizona

Kyle Terraciano (2017), University of Connecticut(co-advised with Prof. Daniel Lacks)

Art Interns

Hannah Barkman (2021–2022)

Emily Durst (2021–22)

Alexander Stojkov (2018 – 19)

Joseph Williams (2017 – 19)

Ian Filo (2017)

Thomas Thornton (2016-17)

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