Solar Energy Technologies
In my current position as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, I work in conjunction with all of our technical teams and am well-informed about state-of-the-art research and development in:
- Solar Photovoltaics
- Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power
- Electrical Grid Systems Integration
- Soft Costs of Solar Energy
- Manufacturing and Commercialization of Solar Technologies
Doctoral Research
I earned my Ph.D. in December 2019 for my research on Powering Advances in Next-Generation Photovoltaics through Materials Synthesis and Characterization as a part of Professor D. Venkataraman’s ALIEN group (Advanced Laboratory for Iontronic, Electronic, and Nanomaterials). You can read my full list of scientific publications here.
- Advance fundamental understanding and commercial potential of a promising new family of solar cell materials called hybrid perovskites
- Investigate ion transport in hybrid perovskites, a highly debated phenomenon thought to contribute to their degradation
- Discover how perovskite solar cells degrade and synthesize new, more stable perovskite derivatives
- Examine how environmental factors such as light and applied bias affect their degradation
- Design parameters to evaluate different solar cell technologies for integration into energy-efficient buildings
- Create environmentally friendly methods for synthesizing organic solar cells
Previous Research and Internships
Noonan Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, 2013-2014
- Synthesize and characterize electronic properties of heterocyclic thiaphosphole and azaphosphole based organic monomers for photovoltaic applications
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Summer 2013
- Develop novel imaging techniques for creation of mathematical models correlating micron scale particle characteristics with active ingredient dissolution rates in pharmaceutical tablets
Washburn Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, 2012-2013
- Determine kinetics of Fe-TAML oxidation catalyst adsorbed to activated carbon for development of systems for purifying water of persistent contaminants
Dow AgroSciences, Summer 2012
- Develop methods for amine mixture separation using ion chromatography and ultra high pressure liquid chromatography as well as quantitative, non-invasive techniques for extraction of chemicals from leaf surfaces
Das Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, 2011-2012
- Synthesize RNA oligomers with novel “click chemistry” backbone linkages for construction of 3D RNA structures
Rule Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, Summer 2011
- Engineer EcoRV endonucleases with active site amino acid substitutions that will bind to but not cleave DNA for solid state NMR imaging of bound DNA-EcoRV complex structure