Chemistry & Biochemistry
Meet the team! Read a brief description of each of our group members, and also check out our group alumni section. See also our past 10 years of fun and work in the Gallery.
The Team
Efrain E. Rodriguez
Principal Investigator
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Originally from West Texas, Efrain received his degrees from MIT and UC Santa Barbara. More on Efrain from the faculty page profile. For full CV click here, for short CV click here.
Ryan Stadel
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ryan received his doctorate in 2021 at Northern Illinois University. His dissertation topic was magnetic orders in the iron-pnictide superconductors, which he studied as part of the neutron and x-ray scattering group at Argonne National Laboratory. For CV, click here.
Marcus Carter
Postdoctoral Researcher
Marcus got his B.S. from Frostburg State University and furthered his education to get a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Maryland where he was an NSF Graduate Fellow. He is currently a postdoc at NIST where he partners with Dr. Rodriguez's group at UMD. His research focus on fabrication of polymers, inorganic, and composite materials for energy applications.
Stephanie Gnewuch
PhD Candidate
Stephanie fell in love with crystallography during her undergraduate program at Otterbein University in Westerville, OH. At Maryland she has enjoyed taking her understanding of crystallography to another dimension learning magnetic crystallography to study the symmetry of ferrotoroidic materials. She plays the violin and is learning the mandolin and viola.
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Tianyu Li
PhD Candidate
Tianyu is from a mountainous area of southwest China. He received his bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Nankai University in 2017. Tianyu loves nature and mountains. He travels a lot for hiking. CV
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Timothy Diethrich
PhD Candidate
Tim was born and raised in Maryland. He got his Bachelor's in Chemistry at Hood College in Frederick, MD in 2017. He enjoys traveling and anything that keeps him active. His research is focused magneto-electric materials that can be applied to ferrotoroidicity with specialties in synthesis, crystal growth, and instrumentation. linkedin
Huafei Zheng (郑华飞)
PhD Candidate
Huafei is from Wuhan,China. He got his Bachelor's in Chemistry at University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2015. His reseach is focused on the synthesis of transiton metal chalcogenides which have intriguing quantum properties. When he is not in the lab, he enjoys photography and travel.
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Matthew Leonard
PhD Candidate
Matt got his Bachelor's in Chemistry at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL. He then joined the Army Corp as an Engineer Officer in 2013 where he served for five years. He joined our group and is now focused on synthesis and characterization of porous metal oxides for toxic gas adsorption and degradation.
Lahari Balisetty
PhD Candidate
Lahari is from Hyderabad, a city in South India. She received her Masters in Chemistry from Pondicherry University, India. Her research is focused on synthesis and structure determination of heterolayered Iron based chalcogenides. Outside lab, she enjoys spending time outdoors in nature with friends.
Mario Lopez
PhD Candidate
Mario received his B.S in chemistry at the University of Illinois, Chicago in 2018. Currently, he is interested in the magnetic properties of thiophosphate compounds and the teaching of chemistry to a general audience.. When not in the lab, Mario is an avid follower of running, history, & investments.
H. Cein Mandujano
Graduate Researcher
Cein is from Chihuahua, MX, and got his bachelor's at Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, and later an M.S. in Physics at the University of Texas.
Stephanie J.
Hong
Graduate Researcher
Stephanie Hong graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics. Her current research involves the synthesis and characterization of oxygen storage materials. In her free time, she enjoys swimming and playing tennis.
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Akil Mondie
Graduate Researcher
Akil is from Washington DC with a bachelors degree received from the University of the District of Columbia
Dr. Austin Virtue
Dr. Rishvi Jayathilake
Current position:
Intel Corporation
Dr. Amber Larson
Group Alumni - Graduate Students
Dr. Daniel Taylor
Current position:
Data Science Supervisor-Ford Motor Compay
Justin Yu
Current position:
Product Owner - Stride, Inc.
Chris Borg
Current position:
Citrine Informatics
Dr. Jacob Tosado
Current position:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. Pouya
Moetakef
Current position:
Research Scientist - NASA Goddard Space and Flight Center
Dr. Tim E.
Stacey
Current position:
Data Scientist - Uptake
Group Alumni - Post Docs
Kaitlyn Dold
Current position:
Graduate Student - UC Irvine, Fall 2022
Vince Wedekind
Current position:
Graduate Student - UMD, College Park, Fall 2022
Noah Katz
Navneeth Babra
Current position:
Software Enginner - MircroStrategy
Noah Bender
Current position:
Graduate Student- University Illinois Urbana- Champaign
Group Alumni - Undergraduate Students
Hadas
Elazar-Mittelman
Current position:
Graduate Student - Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2020
Hector Vivanco
Following position:
Graduate Student - Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2017
Ben Levitas
Following position:
Graduate student - Boston University, Fall 2017
Natalia Schoch-Lopez
Following position:
Biochemist - Lancaster Laboratories
Brenna Hodges
Following position:
Graduate Student - Yale University, Fall 2016
Nathaniel Shreiber
Following position:
Graduate Student - Cornell University, Fall 2016
Gallery of past photos (fun+work)
