People

Principal Investigator

Chibueze V. Amanchukwu
(Chi-boo-a-zay) (Ah-man-chu-ku). (Listen)
Email: chibueze@uchicago.edu

Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in Molecular Engineering, 2020-
Joint Appointee, Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Lab, 2020-

Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemical Engineering, Stanford University (2017-2019)
Visiting Fellow, Chemistry, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge (2019)
PhD, Chemical Engineering, MIT (2017)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, Texas A&M University (2012)

Awards
DOE Early Career Award (2023)
ACS-ENFL Early Career Investigator (2023)
NSF CAREER Award (2022)
Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Invitee, National Academy of Engineering (2022)
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Award (2022)
Scialog Fellow, Negative Emissions Science (2022)
12 under 12 Young Alumni by Texas A&M University (2021)
ECS-Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship (2021)
3M Nontenured Faculty Award (2021)
Emerging Investigator, Journal of Materials Chemistry (RSC) (2021)
TomKat Center Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainable Energy at Stanford
California Alliance Postdoctoral Fellow
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
Alfred P. Sloan Scholar
GEM Fellow
Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research, American Chemical Society (ACS)
Texas A&M ChemE Outstanding Graduating Student Award
Craig Brown Senior Engineer Award (Highest award presented to a student in the Texas A&M College of Engineering)

 

Graduate (PhD) Students

Priyadarshini (Priya) Mirmira (B.A., Chemistry, University of Chicago, 2019)
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Hobbies: Piano, reading, mountain biking, Dungeons and Dragons
Project: Hybrid solid state electrolytes
Email: pmirmira @ uchicago.edu

Reginaldo Jose Gomes Neto (B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Campinas, Brazil, 2018)
Roberto Rocca Fellow
Hometown: Salvador, Brazil
Hobbies: Pet lover, swimming, snorkeling, playing Smash Brothers
Project: CO2 electrocatalysis
Email: rjgomes@uchicago.edu

Peiyuan Ma (B. E., Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, Zhejiang University, China 2019)
Hometown: Hebei, China
Hobbies: Hiking, watching birds, playing basketball
Project: Liquid electrolytes
Email: peiyuanm@uchicago.edu

Hannah Fejzic (B.S., Chemistry and Applied Physics, California State University, San Bernardino, 2020)
NSF GRFP Fellow
Hometown: San Bernarndino, CA
Hobbies: Reading, hiking, yoga
Project: CO2 and CO electrocatalysis
Email: hrfejzic@uchicago.edu

Emily Doyle (B.S., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 2021)
NSF NRT AIMEMS Fellow
NSF GRFP Fellow
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Hobbies: Sailing, reading, swimming, and running
Project: Solid state electrolytes
Email: edoyle8@uchicago.edu


Hrishikesh (Hrishi) Srinivasan (B.S., Chemical Engineering, B.S., Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, 2022)
NSF NRT AIMEMS Fellow
Hometown: Katy, TX
Hobbies: Biking, trying out new recipes, reading, petting my cat
Project: Dual-ion batteries
Email: hsrinivasan@uchicago.edu


Ke-Hsin Wang (B.S., M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, 2021)
Hometown: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Hobbies: Bouldering, hiking, photography
Project: Liquid electrolytes
Email: kehsinw@uchicago.edu


Jaemin Kim (B.A., Chemistry, Boston University, 2022)
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Hobbies: Hiking, listening to music, watching baseball
Project: AI/ML for electrolyte discovery
Email: jaemink@uchicago.edu


Seunga Heo (B.S., Food Science and Engineering, M.S., Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Ewha Womans University, 2023)
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Hobbies: Swimming, Skiing, Watching movies
Project: Molten salt electrolytes
Email: saheo@uchicago.edu


Qingyang Zhu (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 2023; B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2021)
Hometown: Wuhan, China
Hobbies: Travel, photography, anime
Project: Electrolytes for sodium batteries
Email: qz3@uchicago.edu


Matin Mohebi (B.S., Material Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2023)
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Hobbies: Watching Movie, swimming, playing soccer
Project: CO2 electrocatalysis
Email: mmohebi@uchicago.edu


Theodore (Ted) Houser (B.S. Chemical Engineering, Drexel University, 2023)
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Hobbies: Hockey, reading, cooking
Project: CO electrocatalysis
Email: houser@uchicago.edu

Postdoctoral Scholars


Canh Minh Vu (PhD, Polymer Science and Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, South Korea, 2020)
Hometown: Quang Ngai, Vietnam
Hobbies: Football, Climbing.
Project: Micro Calorimeter, Solid electrolytes
Email: vmcanh@uchicago.edu


Ritesh Kumar (PhD, Materials Research Centre, Indian institute of Science, India, 2022)
Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow
Hometown: Bokaro, India
Hobbies: Watching movies and TV shows, hiking, and yoga.
Project: AI/ML for electrolyte discovery
Email: riteshk@uchicago.edu


Bidushi Sarkar (PhD, Indian Institute of Science, 2022)
Hometown: Ranchi, India
Hobbies: Hiking, reading, dancing
Project: CO2 electrocatalysis
Email: bidushi@uchicago.edu

Masters Student

Tarun Arora (MPCS 2024)

Undergraduate Students


Arnav Brahmasandra (UChicago Class of 2025)


Luke Philips (UChicago Class of 2025)

Alex Garcia (UChicago Class of 2026)

Luke Flees (UChicago Class of 2025)

Alec Chen (UChicago Class of 2025)

Nora Molten (UChicago Class of 2027)

 

 

JOIN US!

Graduate Students: Apply to PME or other UChicago departments! Once admitted, email me to discuss projects of interest and your desired career path.

Postdoctoral Scholars: Always interested in candidates with strong background in characterization (e.g, NMR, X-ray tools), in Organic Chemistry (small molecule and/or polymer synthesis), data science (NLP, ML), and Electrochemistry (e.g., electrocatalysis). Reach out to me (chibueze (at) uchicago.edu) with your CV, Statement of Research Interests/Career path, and list of 3 references.

Undergraduate Students: Reach out to me if interested in our work! We expect undergraduates in the lab to work with us for at least a year. These positions are mostly unpaid, but there are numerous funding opportunities on campus (Metcalf grants, PME funding, Astronaut Scholar, Stamps Scholars). Current undergraduates in the lab have won these grants, and the lab will assist you in your applications.

 

Alumni

Sarah Langham (PME REU, 2023, Next position: University of Florida undergrad)

Ishaan Roy (Undergrad 2022-2023, Next position: UChicago undergrad)

Zoe Umlauf (Undergrad 2022-2023, Next position: UChicago undergrad)

Michael Han (Undergrad 2020-2023, Next position: JP Morgan)

Uyen Le (Undergrad 2022-2023, Next position: UChicago undergrad)

Lucy Schmid (Undergrad 2021-2022, Next position: UChicago undergrad)

Trinity Hixson-Wells (MRSEC REU 2022, Next position: Xavier University undergrad)

Christina Pirrotta (Undergrad 2020-2022, Next position: Tesla)

Walker Gillett (Undergrad 2020-2022, Next position: Oklo)

Benjamin Kash (Undergrad 2021-2022, Next position: Twelve)

Claire Fuschi (Undergrad 2021-2022, Next position: Nanograf)

Cindy Xue (Undergrad, 2021, Next position: UChicago undergrad)

Oscar “Pecho” Rivera (PME REU 2021)

Jin Zheng (Postdoc, 2020-2021, Next position: Postdoc at Argonne National Lab)

Zifeng Kang (MPCS Masters, 2020-2021, Next position: Amazon)

Chris Birch (Undergrad, 2020-2021, Next position: PhD student at Carnegie Mellon)

Beamlak Lefebo (Undergrad, 2020-2021, Next position: Teacher at Churchill School)

Runtong Yan (Intern, 2021, Next position: BitGlass)