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Yingling Research Group

AIMS Laboratory Group Members

We are a multidisciplinary team of researchers working at the intersection of materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, molecular modeling, and artificial intelligence.

PI: Prof. Yaroslava (Yara) G. Yingling

Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering,
University Faculty Fellow, 
Director of Undergraduate Program,
Associate Department Head, 
Director of Graduate Certificate in Materials Informatics

Bio

Prof. Yingling received a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from St. Petersburg State Technical University in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering and High-Performance Computing from Penn State in 2002. She completed postdoctoral research at Penn State Chemistry and the NIH National Cancer Institute before joining NC State University in 2007.

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Contact Prof. Yingling

Phone: +1(919) 513 2624
Email: yara_yingling@ncsu.edu
Office: 3014 Engineering Building I, 911 Partners Way, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Complete Shipping Information 

Prof. Albert L. Kwansa

Research Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Bio

Prof. Kwansa earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then earned a Ph.D. from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (Blacksburg, VA campus), while advised by Prof. Joseph Freeman and Prof. Raffaella De Vita.

Research

Molecular dynamics simulations, electronic structure calculations, and method development involving polymers and chemical additives, cellulose and cellulose synthases, and reflectin proteins
Email: alkwansa@ncsu.edu

Prof. Alexey Gulyuk

Teaching Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Bio

Prof. Gulyuk received his B.S. in Engineering Physics from the Belarusian State University in Minsk, Belarus, his M.S. in Physics from NC Central University, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from NC State University. He is a part of the NSF STC Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center at NC State University. 

Research

Convergence Informatics and Data-science approaches for materials design, artificial intelligence in education, and advancing AI literacy in engineering
Email: agulyuk@ncsu.edu

Dr. Sabila Kader Pinky

Postdoctoral Fellow of Materials Science and Engineering

Bio

Dr. Pinky received her M.Sc. in Materials Science from Missouri State University (MO, USA) in 2019. She earned her B.Sc. in Materials and Metallurical Engineering from Banfladesh University of Engineering & Technology (Dhaka, Bangladesh) in 2014. 

Research

Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center – advancing convergent informatics approaches to integrate data science, molecular modeling, and materials research for sustainable phosphorus solutions.
Email: spinky@ncsu.edu

Sergei Rigin

Graduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering

Sergei earned his B.S. and M.S. in Laser Technologies from ITMO University (Saint Petersburg, Russia) and an additional M.S. in Chemistry from New Mexico Highlands University (Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA). 

Research:  Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Nanoparticle-embedded Polymer Brushes, STEPS

Andrew Hans Cannon

Graduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering

Andrew recieved his B.S. and M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from NC State

Research: Molecular dynamics simulations of peptide-based materials such as phosphate-binding proteins and reflectin proteins, as well as prediction of their mechanical and optical properties.

Merve Fedai

PhD Candidate in Materials Science and Engineering

Merve earned her Bachelor of Science in 2021 and her Master of Science in 2023, both in Materials Science and Engineering, from North Carolina State University.

Research: Molecular modeling of cellulose-based materials and modification of carbonic anhydrases for environmental remediation.

Christina Vilchez (Bayard)

Graduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering

Chrissy received her B.S. in Mechanical and Energy Engineering from the University of North Texas in 2022.

Research: Molecular dynamics simulations of nucleic acid nanoparticles and their supramolecular assemblies

Michael Kirsch

Graduate Student in Chemistry

Mike received his B.S. in Biochemistry along with a Minor in Mathematics from SUNY Oswego in 2020.

Research: Molecular modeling of cellulose synthase proteins and cellulose materials, lipid nanodisks

Patrick Hogsed

Graduate Student in Chemistry

Patrick earned his MS in Comprehensive Chemistry from Western Carolina University (2019-2021) and his BS in Chemistry from Young Harris College (2016-2019).

Research: Phosphorus binding protein (PBP) molecular dynamics simulations for phosphate specificity

Abishec Sundar Senthilvel

Graduate Student in Materials Science and Engineering

Abishec received his Master of Nanoengineering with a concentration in Biomedical Sciences in Nanoengineering from NC State University in 2023 and B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Anna Univeristy (Tamil Nadu, India) in 2020.

Research: Modeling of Organized Nanochannel Materials from Biomolecular Magnetic Organic Frameworks

Dr. Barry Farmer

Adjunct Professor

Chief Scientist emeritus at Air Force Research Laboratory

Research: DPD modeling of complex materials

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Siri Mudunuri

Undergraduate student in Computer Science

Research Project: Machine Learning Assisted Characterization and Analysis of Material Properties

Arjun Kancharla

Undergraduate student in Computer Science

Research Project: Machine Learning Force Fields for RNA

Sanchit Shah

Undergraduate student in Computer Science

Research Project: Machine Learning Methods for Functional Peptide Engineering

Anne Chabaneix

Undergraduate student in Materials Science and Engineering

Research Project: Diffusion of antioxidants in tire materials

Stephanie Euceda Trujillo

Undergraduate student in Materials Science and Engineering

Research Project: Materials for Phosphorous Sustainability

ALUMNI

Graduate Students:

  • Ph.D. 03/2024 Thomas (Tad) Deaton, B.S. Biomedical Engineering, East Carolina University, 2012; now Engineering Lead at Mayin Consulting Inc. 
  • Ph.D. 04/2023 Akhlak Ul Mahmood, Physics, B. S. University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2016; now postdoc at Georgia Tech
  • PhD. 06/2021 Thomas Oweida, B. S. NC State University, 2017; now Principle System Engineer at Northrop Grumman
  • Ph.D. 06/2019 Yuxin Xie, B.S. Central South University, 2013, now Data Scientist at AXB Bio
  • Ph.D. 03/2019 James Peerless, B.S. Northeastern University 2012, now Product Manager, Artificial Intelligence at Citrine Informatics
  • Ph.D. 06/2017 Jessica Nash, B. S. UNC-CH 2012, (NSF Fellowship, 2013-2016), now a Software Scientist at MolSSI
  • Ph.D. 06/2017 Ho Shin Kim, M. S. Inha University, 2012 (ACS graduate Research Award); now a Staff Scientist at PNNL
  • Ph.D. 05/2016 Nan K. Li, M. S. Jillin University, 2011 (ACS, MRS, AIChE graduate student research awards); now a Senior Data Scientist at Johnson & Johnson
  • Ph.D. 05/2013 Latsavongsakda Sethaphong, B. A. Harvard University, M. S. Vanderbilt University, 2008; now HPC Lead Platform Engineer (Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning) at General Motors
  • Ph.D. 12/2012 Rakhee Pani, M. S. Indian Institute of Technology, 2008; now Instructor/Lecturer at Clemson University, SC.
  • Ph.D. 08/2012 Abhishek Singh, M. S. Michigan State University, 2007; now Scientist at BASF
  • M.A. 05/2012 Hamed Eksiri, M.A. Materials Science and Engineering; now a Senior Technical Product Manager at Chevron

Postdoctoral Associates:

  • 01/2024-05/31/2025 Dr. Quanpeng (Sam) Yang, Ph.D. from University of California, Merced
  • 09/2014-01/2021 Dr. Abhishek Singh , Ph.D. 2012 from NCSU, now Scientist at BASF
  • 08/2012-present Dr. Ho Shin Kim, Ph.D. 2017 from NCSU; now a Staff Scientist at PNNL
  • 9/2015-8/2016 Dr. Sanket Deshmukh, PhD 2010 from UDublin; now an Associate Professor at Virginia Tech.
  • 12/2012-9/2015 Dr. Rakhee Pani, PhD 2012 from NCSU; now an Instructor at Clemson University
  • 7/2013-7/2015 Dr. Jung-Goo Lee, PhD 1985 from University of Texas; now in Korea
  • 1/2013-7/2013 Dr. Sergei Y. Ponomarev; now a High Performance Systems Integrator at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA
  • 10/2007-11/2008 Dr. Andrey Semichaevsky; now an Associate Professor at Lincoln University, PA
  • 1/2009-12/2009 Dr. Stacy Snyder; now a Crystal Growth Process Engineer at II-IV Incorporated, PA.

Visiting Graduate Students:

  • 10/2018-10/2019      Haolong Xue, Jiangnan University, China
  • 03/2013-04/2014      Doyoung Eom, Inha University, Korea
    Research Assistant:
  • 2016-2021 Matthew Manning, MSE, NCSU
  • 2018-2020 Nina Milliken, MSE, NCSU
  • 2016-2017 Kudiyar Orazymbetov; now Data Scientist at Blue Cross Blue Shield, NC
  • 2009-2010 Ganesh Krishnan; now an Engineer at FormFactor, San Francisco, CA

Undergraduate students:

  • 2024 Mat-Dat REU Leala Carbonneau, RPI
  • 2023-2024 Joshua McClure, MSE, NCSU
  • 2023-2024 Tori Crunkleton, MSE, NCSU, now a graduate student at Stanford University 
  • 2023 Mat-Dat REU Carolina Cunningham, UNC CH
  • 2022 Grant Blankenberger, MSE, NCSU
  • 2021-2022 Harry Antoniades, MSE, NCSU
  • 2021-2022 Patrick Sullivan, MSE, NCSU
  • 2022 Sarthak Mehta, Biochemistry, NCSU
  • 2022 Trey Tolston, MSE, NCSU
  • 2022 STEPS REU Brooklynn Blackwell, Howard University
  • 2019-2022 Justin Williams, CHE, NCSU, now Exxon Mobil
  • 2020-2022 Tiernan Baucom, MSE, NCSU, now Grad Student at U Mich
  • 2021-2022 Mitch Hayes, MSE, NCSU, now at Wolfspeed
  • 2018-2021 Merve Fedai, MSE, NCSU, now grad student at NCSU
  • 2019-2020 Jonathan Wendrock, MSE, NCSU
  • 2019-2021 Ibrahim Ahmad, MSE, NCSU, now at Amazon
  • 2019-2020 Johnny Donald, MSE, NCSU
  • 2018-2019 Kevin Kronk, MSE, NCSU
  • 2018-2019 Branden Hawkins, MSE, NCSU
  • 2017-2018 Devin Junkins, MSE, NCSU
  • 2018 REU Amani Reed, UNC-CH
  • 2016-2018 Lukas Harries, Biochemistry, Vassar College
  • 2016-2017 John Johnson, Chemistry, NCSU
  • 2016-2017 Nathan Brown, Chemistry, NCSU, now graduate student at NCSU
  • 2016-2017 Graham Gatwood, Engineering, NCSU
  • 2015-2017 Thomas Oweida, MSE, NCSU, now graduate student at NCSU
  • 2015-2017 Benjamin Peterson, MSE, NCSU, now graduate student at Penn State University
  • 2016 REU Leo Sutter, Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
  • 2013-2016 William H. Fuss, Computer Science and MSE, NCSU, now at Broadband Inc.
  • 2014-2016 Danielle Stallings, MSE, NCSU
  • 2015- 2016 Graham Bowers, AROSPACE, NCSU
  • 2015 Lauryn Flynn, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2014 William Therriault, REU student from Durham Tech Community College
  • 2013-2014 Sabrina Huang, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU, now PhD student at Purdue University
  • 2014 REU Micheal Tarver, REU student from Texas State University, now graduate student at Ohio State
  • 2013 Daniel Richter, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2013-2014 Tasha Tucker, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, NCSU
  • 2013 REU Jeremy Loffredo, Engineering Program, University of Virginia, VA
  • 2013 REU Trisha Dupnock, Chemistry Department, Clarkson University, NY, now PhD student at Duke University
  • 2012-2013 Joshua Amick, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, NCSU
  • 2011-2012 Joshua McKenney, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2012 REU Ramyata Upmaka, Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, PA, now PhD student at Rutgers University
  • 2011-2012 Michael Williams, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2010-2011 Benjamin Bond, Nuclear Engineering, NCSU
  • 2010-2011 Andrew Veasey, Biochemistry, NCSU
  • 2009-2011 Andy Vargas, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU; now PhD student at UC Berkley
  • 2007-2010 Ashley Marlowe, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2009-2010 Evan Keresi, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2008-2010 Garik Sadovy, Materials Science and Engineering, NCSU
  • 2010 Habtom Amde, Chemical Engineering, NCSU