Team

	Prof. Martin Mwangi Thuo (Gikuyu: Thuo wa Mwangi) Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Previously: Schafer 2050 associate Professor (2020-2022), assistant Professor (2014-2020) at Iowa State University Phone: 5-5363 Twitter: (at) mmthuo, email: mthuo (at) ncsu.edu
	Staff: Valerie W. Batta (Director of Outreach and Engagement) Valerie joins us to support outreach and engagement efforts at the Center for Complex Particle Systems (COMPASS). Valerie is the outreach and engagement coordinator for COMPASS. She holds a BS/MS in international development administration (U. Konstanz-FRG, Germany) followed by graduate degrees in international studies (NCSU) and dispute resolution (SMU). Contact: cera-compass (at) ncsu.edu

	Dr. Andrew Martin, PhD Andrew received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Iowa State University, where he developed a surface-driven understanding of metastable state in metal alloys. After graduating in 2020, he went to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to work in the Thermal Energy Group on Thermochemical Materials for Heat Storage. Andrew is currently a postdoc working on the topic of engineering energy landscape in materials through metastable states.
	Dr. Julia J. Chang, PhD Julia received her BS in chemical engineering from China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing (CUMTB), China and a PhD in materials science and engineering from Iowa State University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Fudan University before joining the SMMT group. Her work is geared towards directed self-organization of synthons for development of neoteric computing platforms.
	Alana Pauls Alana graduated with a bachelors in materials engineering from Iowa State University. As an undergraduate student, she worked on engineering size polydispersity in undercooled metal particles. As a PhD candidate, she is exploring light-matter interactions as a pathway to engineering the energy landscape of materials. She is interested in interdisciplinary research across material classes to provide comprehensive technology solutions.
	Dhanush U. Jamadgni Dhanush is a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from India in 2020. He is currently working on developing a generalized model to understanding granular materials with potential applications in multi-stimuli materials processing, granular flow, and associated lubricants. Dhanush is part of COMPASS (Center for Complex Particle Systems) and serves as a member of the centers Junior scientists board.
	Daisy Kiptoo Daisy joins as a PhD student in computer Engineering. She holds a BS and MS in computer science and has worked on various efforts in application of AI/ML. She is working on application of complex particle systems in information science. Daisy join as part of COMPASS (Center for Complex Particle Systems)
	Lianett Pineda Lianett is a GEM fellow working towards a PhD on sustainable polymeric materials. She joined us from Univ. of Florida via Disney and Oakridge national lab where she held internships after graduating.
	Thabiso Masole Thabiso is a CERA-COMPASS fellow in our lab working on energy efficient ‘point-of-use’ informed AM. Her work is primarily based at CAMAL where she is using tunable frequency AM systems to engineer local properties of metallic builds. She come to us from University of Botswana where she is pursuing her PhD.
	Prof. John Gitua Prof. Gitua is a visiting scientist in the lab for the fall semester. He joins us from Drake University, a private PUI institution in Iowa. He will be bringing an organic chemistry and chemical characterization insights to our polymeric materials projects.
	Eva Boyce I’m a student in materials science and engineering department, I’m interested in low-energy engineering of material states. I’m currently focusing on undercooled metal particles and engineering of the crystalline state.
	Patrick Moran Patrick is studying material science and engineering. He is primarily investigating the application of undercooled metals in 3D printing on human tissue, with an interested in materials for biomedical applications.
	Ashley Reyes Ashley is a biomedical engineering student. She is interested in biomedical devices.
	Sebastian Zaatini Sebastian is a material science and engineering student. He is currently investigating effect of surface modification of metal particles in additive manufacturing.